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New Course at FGCU Explores the Impact of Marijuana on American Culture

Marijuana Seedling
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Marijuana Seedling

There’s a new course on the schedule at Florida Gulf Coast University this semester that might raise a few eyebrows called "Weed: The impact of marijuana on American life." Its syllabus opens with the following statement: “First things first -- this class does not teach: How to cultivate marijuana; how to consume marijuana; how to distribute marijuana; or how to commit any illegal activity. What this course does teach is a multi-faceted examination of the major impact a simple plant has had on American culture.”

Pot has come a long way in this culture, from the days of Reefer Madness in the 1930s, the war on drugs begun in the 1970s during the Nixon administration, through today where more than 30 states have legalized some form of marijuana use, for both medicinal and recreational reasons. We’re joined by the two people teaching this new class: Dr. Martha Rosenthal, Professor of Neuroscience and Physiology at FGCU, and Sam Walch, and Integrated Studies instructor Sam Walch.

Copyright 2018 WGCU

Julie Glenn is the host of Gulf Coast Live. She has been working in southwest Florida as a freelance writer since 2007, most recently as a regular columnist for the Naples Daily News. She began her broadcasting career in 1993 as a reporter/anchor/producer for a local CBS affiliate in Quincy, Illinois. After also working for the NBC affiliate, she decided to move to Parma, Italy where she earned her Master’s degree in communication from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Her undergraduate degree in Mass Communication is from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Mike Kiniry is producer of Gulf Coast Live, and co-creator and host of the WGCU podcast Three Song Stories: Biography Through Music. He first joined the WGCU team in the summer of 2003 as an intern while studying Communication at Florida Gulf Coast University.