It's been 53 years since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act, and the damage that little bit of legislation has caused is truly hard to quantify. It's destroyed countless lives, pushed past the individual to decimate families and entire communities, and it's helped to create the out-of-control prison population that we have today. It's accurate to say ruined lives because mandatory minimum sentencing laws in many cases mean that people are serving life in prison for selling cannabis.

A few weeks ago, the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Legislation (NORML) celebrated their 50th Anniversary. Only three years after the passage of the Controlled Substances Act, NORML was fighting to repeal it and they've been fighting for the past 50 years. Ian Rassman is the Executive Director of the Los Angeles chapter of NORML. Jesse Betend talks to Ian to find out what the last 50 years have meant for the original group fighting for cannabis legalization in America.

Los Angeles NORML Website

On The High Ground, we feature leaders of the cannabis industry. We talk to everyone from farmers to CEOs, and public officials - anyone making an impact on the cannabis community and beyond.

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