The Stigmatization of Cannabis is still a reality in 2018 and Cough Country's main goal is to eliminate that completely. Monica Viera explains why we are still not where we need to be in society in relation to the acceptance of Marijuana both Medicinally and from a recreational standpoint.
Despite there being benefits to cannabis, there’s still a pretty heavy stigma about using it. It doesn’t help that it’s not legal in most parts of the United States, which obviously gives this forbidden fruit an even worse rep. But it’s also illegal because it’s stigmatized, so it’s kind of an endless cycle.
Here’s another reason that cannabis is still stigmatized. Frankly, it’s a hallucinogen and that scares the majority of people. Hallucinogens are associated with insanity and the unknown and that makes most people really nervous. Many, if not most people, try not to venture out into metaphysical spaces that could alter the way they see reality and reexamine themselves.
For those that don’t even know it’s a hallucinogen, they probably just grew up their entire lives hearing that cannabis was bad and that fear or hatred of it is still deeply embedded in them. These are the kinds of people that are probably more reserved and don’t have the kind of mentality to question authority.
Because education about cannabis isn’t usually promoted to the public, there’s the risk that someone could have smoked it for the first time without knowing what strain or how much they were smoking and then had a bad trip. Then after they had this bad trip, they not only lose their interest in smoking cannabis, but they advise others not to smoke it as well.
And then there’s also the fact that a great value of American culture is “productivity” in a more traditional sense. Working a lot to make a lot of money is an ideal to millions of people in this country. That being said, those who are interested in a different pace of life and have more of the “stop and smell the roses” mentality may feel out of place. If you think about it, stoners are rather antithetical to what the American ideal stands for, which is why cannabis remains stigmatized.
It is truly astounding how cigarettes and alcohol are legal across the United States but marijuana has yet to be legalized nationally. This is stupid of the government, who could potentially make more of a profit if they legalized it anyway. And then there could be more education available to the public where people can truly understand the effects of certain dosages and strains so they can use cannabis responsibly.