Ryan Grim Discusses His New Book "This Is Your Country on Drugs" On CNN (VIDEO)

HuffPost's Senior Congressional Correspondent Ryan Grim was a guest on CNN's "American Morning" to discuss his new book "This Is Your Country On Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America," as well as the current rise in prescription drug abuse in America.

Watch the interview below.

Comments

[AndyWright68]

If there is no victim there is no crime. All drugs need to be legalized. The government has no right to legislate morality.

[twogunmojo]

i would think that murder and sexual abuse of a child are both moral concerns..­...

[atawfik25]

legalize weed. seriously.

[twogunmojo]

if smoking weed is healthy will they reopen smoking sections at restaurant­s.....

[Aron Cohen]

It's not healthy, it's just not going to kill you.

[Bcasey11]

not politically viable, well if the congress and senate don't respect america's will then there not our congress

[Z-Liberator]

FAMOUS POT SMOKERS.

Aaron Sorkin, creator of ''The West Wing".
Art Garfunkel , singer, Simon and Garfunkel.
Abbie Hoffman, Activist.
Al and Tipper Gore Politicians
Aleister Crowley, Author and Famous Satanist.
Alexander Dumas. Was a member of the "Club de Hachichins". Author - "The Three Musketeers"
Ali Campbell, Singer with UB40
Alice B. Toklas. Famous Cook - Wrote recipe for Hash Fudge Filmed as. 'I Love You Alice B. Toklas'
Allen Ginsberg, Poet.
Andrea Corr, musician, "The Corrs".
Anjelica Huston, Actress.
Arnold Schwarzenegger. Actor. ``I did smoke a joint and I did inhale.''
Art Garfunkel. Singer of, "Simon and Garfunkel" fame.
Arthur Rimbaud
Balzac.
Beatles.
Benjamin Franklin, Many claims but little proof.
Bill "...but I didn't inhale." Clinton, Politician.
Bill Gates. Not confirmed, just very strongly hinted at in his Playboy interview.
Bill Murray Arrested for possession.
Bing Crosby. Famous crooner of "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas". Now the Film "High Society" makes sense!
Bix Beiderbecke Jazz musician.
Black Crowes, musicians
Bob Denver, Star of "Gilligan's Island".
Bob Dylan, musician.
Bob Marley, musician
Burt Reynolds, actor. He left his first wife because of her drug use. But he has been seen in Cannabis Cafes.
Bruce Lee.
Cab Calloway, Jazz musician. Claimed he only used it once.
Carl Sagan, Scientist - SiFi writer - film "Contact" More info here.
Carlos Santana musician.
Carrie Fischer, Actress
Charlie Sheen, actor.
Charlize Theron, Actress.

More here. http://www.slatts.ukfsn.org/famous.htm

[twogunmojo]

they listed art garfunkel twice...ha­hahahahahh­aha...too stoned to proof read......

[RazeTemple]

Plus, a lot of the founding fathers wore hemp clothes like they were going out of style..goi­ng back to europe with big weed necklaces and hats and tons of smoke. It's one of the most beautiful(and renewable) resources of our country.

[Z-Liberator]

If George Washington, Samuel Adams, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama smoked it, why cant we?

Regulate it, Tax It and Forget It!

[AmericanWarrior]

AMEN...

[october2009]

I'd rather they don't tax it because if they do, they wouldn't let people grow their own... We'll be forced to buy it from corporations.

Just like today, it's illegal to make your own alcohol in certain quantities­... The government did that because it can't tax it.

Just legalize it and be done with it.

Give the people the freedom they deserve.

[Onedog]

I worked for King of Beer for over 12 years and I can assure you they will spend a fortune to keep MJ illegal, each year they cut a chunk of hair out of each employees head and check for cannabis use, I don't know of any other company that does this to such an extreme. The alcohol industry spends more on lobbyist and donate more money on political campaigns than any other industry to maintain the status quo. They know MJ would take a big cut in alcohol sales and I mean big and they are not going to let it happen, it's to easy to just scare the ignorant or the uninformed. And many counties and towns depend on the revenue from alcohol tax. Just since the recent recession many areas that were dry (alcohol is illegal) have gone wet in order to help make their budget. It's next to impossible to tax something that grows like a weed and besides that, because MJ is illegal quality MJ has the value of Gold. Drug bust money is kept by the law enforcement and in today's recession helps them in buying new equipment. I'm telling you MJ will never be legal it's worth to much. And I can guarantee that the cost of locking up those nonviolent offenders make the best cheap labor you can find because they are nonviolent. Wake up people the war on drugs is the biggest scam going on in the good old USA.

[AmericanWarrior]

Amen...

[october2009]

The alcohol lobby also got their politician buddies to regulate us and not allow us to make moonshine or other types of alcohol.

The government wants to make sure that people depend on corporations (or the government) for their daily needs. They don't want us to be free from the corporate iron grip.

[RazeTemple]

I believe the nylon and plastics lobbyists are pretty hardcore too, they don't want hemp to replace their crappy rope and clothes and crappy containers or something.­.weak.

[Onedog]

I worked for Anheuser Busch for over 12 years and I can assure you they will spend a fortune to keep MJ illegal, each year they cut a chunk of hair out of each employees head and check for cannabis use, I don't know of any other company that does this to such an extreme. The alcohol industry spends more on lobbyist and donate more money on political campaigns than any other industry to maintain the status quo. They know MJ would take a big cut in alcohol sales and I mean big and they are not going to let it happen, it's to easy to just scare the ignorant or the uninformed. And many counties and towns depend on the revenue from alcohol tax. Just since the recent recession many areas that were dry (alcohol is illegal) have gone wet in order to help make their budget. It's next to impossible to tax something that grows like a weed and besides that, because MJ is illegal quality MJ has the value of Gold. Drug bust money is kept by the law enforcement and in today's recession helps them in buying new equipment. I'm telling you MJ will never be legal it's worth to much. And I can guarantee that the cost of locking up those nonviolent offenders make the best cheap labor you can find because they are nonviolent. Wake up people the war on drugs is the biggest scam going on in the good old USA.

[RevBookburn]

Thank you Ryan. It is high time to legalize marijuana and free the weed prisoners. Rev. Bookburn - Radio Volta

[Luvial]

Pot laws are one of the main cultural cleansing tools used by the government. Plus it brings it lots of money for cops and judges.

[bhrandon]

Legalizing pot would help a lot of states out of debt...

i love horrible economic times!!!

think of all the money we tax payers would save on prisons, on the war against pot, the outlandish prices these morons make pot....

[RazeTemple]

Silly people. Why fight against legalizing this when you know people will never give up.

You legalize proven killers like cigarettes and alcohol,
but arrest people for smoking a plant that causes no deaths at all.

Why fill your prisons with non-violent drug offenders?
Prison's aren't for rehabilitation, they're only agression enhancers.

Legalize, tax, and de-criminalize small posession under an O. C'mon now people, I know change is scary, but it is inevitable so just deal with the couple extra public pot smokers and I will continue to deal with the alcoholics that drive drunk, abuse their families, and destroy their livers legally.

[SuperBenFranklin]

>but arrest people for smoking a plant that causes no deaths at all.

Duh, lung cancer?

[Nicon]

DUH: Marijuana has never been shown to cause cancer.

[hipsmantis]

Hey, Marijuana smoke isn't carcinogenic. How about you get your facts straight.

Better yet, how about you line up your next sentiment laiden argument about why marijuana is worse than Hitler and I'll shoot it down with medical studies and logic.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,196678,00.html

it's even on foxnews so you can't accuse it of having a liberal bias.

[RazeTemple]

When you vaporize it(sorry vaporize didn't fit in the flow of the rhyme as well as smoke:)) it is basically like smoking it only the essence or 'smoke' is first put through a cooling fan, which will eliminate any harshness on the lungs.
That's what cancer patients going thru chemo do in places that are smart enough to at least legalize it for medicinal purposes. Or eat it, or grind it up in a smoothie, or heck, make it into a hat if you want. Many uses and it is a shame that its potential profit is left out of our steps to economic recovery when it could provide medicine, rope, paper, clothes, bags, etc. Many things that we waste money oversees on and waste plastic and trees on.

[Z-Liberator]

I hope you dont teach your kids to be that ignorant.

[my1408]

NO , the tar from smoking weed does not stay in your lungs , therefore does not respiratory

[StonyStoner]

Think for yourself:

http://www.benefitsofmarijuana.com/benefits.php
http://cannabis.net/health/index.html
http://www.globalhemp.com/Archives/Essays/Hempseed/hempseed_nutrition.html
http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/basicfax.htm
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/view/letters/4759325.html
http://www.cannabisconsumers.org/reports/drug_testing.php
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-284.html
http://www.norml.org/
http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/stories/2003/12/22/whyIsMarijuanaIllegal.html

[SuperBenFranklin]

You pot smokers are worse than a religion..­.

You are fundamentalists about it.

Seriously, your arguments on why pot is so great, are similar in nature and craziness to why people think Jesus is so great.

Bottom line. Pot is a drug. Addictive. And if you are smoking weed every day, you are just a plain drug addict.

[Kalarchis]

Alcohol's a drug too, and it's legal. It causes thousands and thousands of deaths each year. Pot causes none.

I'm an adult, and what I put in my body is my business.

[PlaceboStudman]

Cigarettes are addictive. Alcohol is addictive. Chocolate is addictive. Salt is addictive. Sugar is addictive. All those substances can cause harm if over used or abused. You simply draw the line differently than we do

[Kalarchis]

Nicotine and alcohol are drugs too. Do you think they should be illegal? And if not, why not?

Really, I'm curious.

[donnajr]

bottom line . paranoia will destroy you

[exxman]

There is no evidence that pot is addictive. Why do you insist on making stuff up? What are you afraid of?

[RevRayGreen]

Remember when celebrity overdoses were full of stories with the dead found with a needle in their arm.

in the last year, Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole-Smith and MJ all died from presctiption overdose, as did many parents who lost their kids.

Ryan you hit the nail on it at the end.

[RevRayGreen]

RYAN YOU ROCK !!!!!!