Just Dope
A Leading Attorney's Personal Journey Inside the War on Drugs
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About this listen
Spoiler: everyone uses drugs. Whether you’re popping an aspirin for a headache, pushing through the day with an extra jolt of caffeine, unwinding with a perfectly rolled joint, or availing yourself of harder substances, chances are--at some point in your life--you’ve consumed mind-altering substances.
Getting high is something most of us do, and in many cases do safely--yet drugs remain a singular public enemy. The number of Americans arrested for drug possession has tripled since 1980. A whole fifth of the incarcerated population is in on drug charges. The War on Drugs--systematically designed to disenfranchise Black communities and leftist political activists--continues to wreak havoc to this day. The ugly truth is that drug prohibition doesn’t stop drug use. It only makes it more harmful.
Allison Margolin, an LA-based criminal defense attorney, is one of the nation’s leading experts in cannabis licensing and law. Integrating pop culture and personal stories into social analysis, she puts drug criminalization on trial to advocate for an evidence-based, commonsense approach to drug use and legalization. From a fresh policy and social commentary perspective, Margolin explores:
• The history of drug prohibition in the United States--when it started, how it evolved, and where it stands now
• The problem with campaigns like “This Is Your Brain on Drugs”
• How our current drug policy is rooted more in racism, bias, and pharma money than science or psychology
• The false dichotomy between “good” and “bad” drugs
• The grifting and exploitation of the Rehab Industrial Complex
• What real drug education can (and should) look like
For readers of Dopesick and In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Just Dope is part memoir, part whip-smart policy critique, part social drug history of LA, and a vital call to knowledge and action.
Critic Reviews
“ . . . Margolin’s best arguments draw on her courtroom experience to reveal how harsh and convoluted drug laws can be, even in states like California, where recreational cannabis sales are permitted.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Allison’s book could become a call to action for many.... As someone who has often been called the godfather of the Progressive Prosecutors’ Movement in this country, I am excited for Allison’s book to be published. Just Dope has the potential to become one of those once-in-a-generation books, shaking up popular beliefs about the role of drugs in American culture and tipping the scales towards a more humane and thoughtful approach in the future.”
—George Gascón, currently elected district attorney of LA, former two-term district attorney of San Francisco, and former chief of police of San Francisco
“Allison is a true marijuana lover from the heart—it's in her bloodline. She knows nothing else and is always trying to help. If you really wanna know about marijuana laws, you must read this book.”
—“Freeway” Rick Ross
“With Just Dope, Allison Margolin uses a fluid writing style that seamlessly weaves together disparate threads of her own life and sense of justice with courtroom drama, history, science, and a blistering critique of the Drug War. She chronicles her very personal odyssey from hippie child to D.A.R.E. student to drug user to Dopest Defense Attorney and offers frank appraisals of political and prosecutorial policies along the way.... Masterful and well written, I highly recommend this book.”
—Chris Conrad, cannabis author, activist, and court-qualified expert witness
“Allison Margolin has addressed America’s drug abuse crisis in a uniquely honest and compelling autobiography.”
—Eugene Schoenfeld, MD, author of the 1960s–70s newspaper column “Dr. Hip” and Dr. Hip’s Natural Food and Unnatural Acts
“ With Just Dope, Margolin uses a fluid writing style that seamlessly weaves together disparate threads of her own life and sense of justice with courtroom drama, history, science and a blistering critique of the Drug War.”
—The Leaf
“Masterful, expansive, well-written and fun to read, we highly recommend this book.”
—L.A. Cannabis News
“[Margolin] presents a footnoted argument that decriminalizing drug possession could broadly benefit U.S. society by justly treating drug use as an issue of health, not crime.”
—Library Journal
—Publishers Weekly
“Allison’s book could become a call to action for many.... As someone who has often been called the godfather of the Progressive Prosecutors’ Movement in this country, I am excited for Allison’s book to be published. Just Dope has the potential to become one of those once-in-a-generation books, shaking up popular beliefs about the role of drugs in American culture and tipping the scales towards a more humane and thoughtful approach in the future.”
—George Gascón, currently elected district attorney of LA, former two-term district attorney of San Francisco, and former chief of police of San Francisco
“Allison is a true marijuana lover from the heart—it's in her bloodline. She knows nothing else and is always trying to help. If you really wanna know about marijuana laws, you must read this book.”
—“Freeway” Rick Ross
“With Just Dope, Allison Margolin uses a fluid writing style that seamlessly weaves together disparate threads of her own life and sense of justice with courtroom drama, history, science, and a blistering critique of the Drug War. She chronicles her very personal odyssey from hippie child to D.A.R.E. student to drug user to Dopest Defense Attorney and offers frank appraisals of political and prosecutorial policies along the way.... Masterful and well written, I highly recommend this book.”
—Chris Conrad, cannabis author, activist, and court-qualified expert witness
“Allison Margolin has addressed America’s drug abuse crisis in a uniquely honest and compelling autobiography.”
—Eugene Schoenfeld, MD, author of the 1960s–70s newspaper column “Dr. Hip” and Dr. Hip’s Natural Food and Unnatural Acts
“ With Just Dope, Margolin uses a fluid writing style that seamlessly weaves together disparate threads of her own life and sense of justice with courtroom drama, history, science and a blistering critique of the Drug War.”
—The Leaf
“Masterful, expansive, well-written and fun to read, we highly recommend this book.”
—L.A. Cannabis News
“[Margolin] presents a footnoted argument that decriminalizing drug possession could broadly benefit U.S. society by justly treating drug use as an issue of health, not crime.”
—Library Journal
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