MEDIA: A Nothing Conversation –
May 17, 2019 – To add to this, Grisel says that some of us are wired to be more susceptible to drug addiction, including herself. She raises a red flag on the increasing legalization of marijuana. While she does not oppose legalization, she warns that not enough research is available about the drug’s addictive properties and, therefore, we should proceed with more caution. “Let’s put money into education,” suggests Grisel. ”Let’s understand the risks we are taking and share those risks widely, so people aren’t confused about what they’re doing.”
What we have been doing, she says, when it comes to trying to keep drugs out of the country, does not work. She argues the issue is demand, not supply. “If you look at the data and our efforts over the last 50 years to regulate and control drug access, it has been [an] unbelievable failure,” Grisel said. With opioid addiction reaching a crisis point in America over the past few years, Grisel is convinced that more science and wider dissemination of that science lie at the heart of tackling the issue.
