California cannabis defense attorney, Allison Margolin, was no stranger to the plight of the California cannabis farmer, healer, or patient, when she decided to follow in her father Bruce Margolin’s footsteps, defending victims of the failed War on Drugs in California.
Her father jumped right into defending those caught up in the drug war right out of Harvard Law School in 1967, representing Timothy Leary in his cannabis trial in 1969. He was also the first attorney to have a jingle on the radio, “1-800-420-LAWS, Bruce Margolin is down for the cause.”
And while Margolin has been practicing in California since she herself graduated Harvard Law School in 2002, eventually earning the honorary title of “L.A.’s Dopest Attorney,” the extent of her experiences in the space, along with stories from her lineage hasn’t fully been told, until now.
In her first published effort, Just Dope (Penguin Random House), she bares everything. Not just about her own personal experiences with drugs—recreational and otherwise—but her story also includes a deep history of the failed War on Drugs; a refreshing perspective on the perception of what it means to be addicted; and a deep dive into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that goes far beyond a soldier’s trauma from war, with Margolin examining the malady on a cellular level, using her own family history and the Holocaust as direct examples.
Just Dope is a truly astonishing and enlightening work that educates the reader beyond what’s expected, based on decades worth of rhetoric, where cannabis is concerned. Her work shows us just how damn smart this woman is, and how fortunate we are to have her fighting for the plant and our rights to self-medicate—no matter the substance.
From the book’s Introduction, “Jury Selection,” Margolin …
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Author: Sharon Letts / High Times
