© 2024 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Up To Date

'Marijuanamerica'

From the crackdowns on the drug in the 1950s and ’60s to its legalization for recreational use in two states last year, marijuana has a complicated past in America.

Some have called marijuana legalization the next big civil rights issue. Colorado and Washington have officially said it’s okay, and 19 other states allow it to be used for medical reasons.

But some big debates about the drug certainly persist. What exactly are the health consequences of using marijuana? What kind of impact is it having on our society? Should we be banning it or legalizing it in more states?

Monday on Up to Date guest host Elizabeth Alex welcomes journalist and author Ryan Nerz to talk about his own complicated relationship with pot. Nerz is the author of Marijuanamerica: One Man’s Quest to Understand America’s Dysfunctional Love Affair With Weed.

Alfred Ryan Nerz is a freelance journalist whose pieces have appeared in Esquire, the Village Voice, and Time Out New York. In addition, he has written for NPR and produced television shows on Spike TV and the Biography channel. He lives in Brooklyn.

Tags
Stephen Steigman is director of Classical KC. You can email him at <a href="mailto:Stephen.Steigman@classicalkc.org">Stephen.Steigman@classicalkc.org</a>.