Highly Kosher Professionals: Ethan Nadelmann

JIW: How would you describe your Jewish identity?

Ethan: I’m definitely a Jew. It’s part of my daily consciousness. I keep kosher – a relic of my traditional, Shomer Shabbas upbringing. My dad was a Conservative rabbi who became a leader of the Reconstructionist movement; my Jewish identity now is very consistent with that. I read The Forward online almost every day. Before I got into drugs as a PhD candidate, my focus was Middle East studies; I’m pretty sure I taught the first course ever at Harvard on Israel and the Palestinians, back in 1982. Tikkun Olam is fundamental to my commitment to Judaism. It’s why I’ve spent most of my life working to end the war on drugs.

JIW: What’s your cannabis origin story?

Ethan:I got high for the first time as a freshman at McGill University in Montreal. Criminalization struck me as wrongheaded from the start. Writing a PhD dissertation on international drug control gave me the opportunity to read and think deeply about drug policy. Being thrust into the public eye in 1988, at the height of drug war hysteria, as an assistant professor at Princeton speaking out against the drug war gave me a taste for public advocacy and activism. Proselytizing for cannabis legalization and broader drug policy reform became my passion. All the most valuable skills are rooted in being a mensch.

JIW: Why create the Drug Policy Alliance?

Ethan:It didn’t take long in academia to realize the research already existed. What was missing was the capacity to amplify the science and the values being violated by the drug war into the public domain through media and activism. Playing a role in legalizing medical marijuana in California in 1996 — and then six more states in four years — showed that drug policy reformers could compete and win politically.

JIW: How will federal rescheduling change things?

Ethan: It’s important but not transformative. Eliminating 280E will help both big and small businesses. Research barriers will lessen. Federal penalties will soften. The claim that cannabis has “no accepted medical use” will finally be behind us. Momentum will grow. But it won’t end prohibition, fix racial disparities, or resolve federal-state conflicts.

JIW: What about psychedelics reform?

Ethan: The federal government usually trails the states. They can remove psychedelics from Schedule I, allow the VA and other agencies to move faster in providing therapy, and fund serious research. I’d especially like to see cost-benefit studies comparing psychedelic therapy to other healthcare the government already funds.

Ethan Nadelmann has been deeply involved in cannabis policy and cannabis policy reform advocacy for over 35 years. He is the founder, host, and executive producer of PSYCHOACTIVE, a podcast addressing cannabis and other drug issues. He is the founder of both the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit organization where he was executive director from 2000 until 2017, and, prior to that, The Lindesmith Center, an Open Society Institute project that he directed from 1994 to 2000. He has been responsible for transforming public and elite opinion as well as state, federal and foreign cannabis and other drug policies through assorted advocacy efforts, including overseeing ballot initiatives and legislative efforts in the USA to legalize cannabis for medical and adult use purposes.