Learning to bloom through growth found in connecting with others -30-

If you know my face or byline, you would know that I am a first-generation college student born to Mexican immigrants. You would know that I am bisexual and a feminist who loves the Earth. And you would know that I wear these identities proudly. What you wouldn’t know is how I got to this […]

Jasmine Aquino: Federal barriers to funding prevent essential cannabis research

Marijuana’s popularity keeps growing, but the sprouting knowledge surrounding its dangers and benefits are nipped at the bud by a lack of research funding. Daily Bruin Opinion columnist Jasmine Aquino explores the hazy future of cannabis research and Proposition 64’s effects on its obstacles, arguing that there are innovate resources for these efforts. The Daily […]

Jasmine Aquino: State regulation of marijuana must keep constituent needs at forefront

California is moving marijuana from an unregulated to a regulated market – and there’s more green than the just the plants themselves. Daily Bruin columnist Jasmine Aquino argues that people in the industry must make a proactive effort in not only learning but also creating the rules of the market.

Jasmine Aquino: UCLA community must work to combat stigma surrounding marijuana

The Daily Bruin sent four staffers across the stretch of the West Coast to uncover the cannabis culture after the legalization of recreational marijuana with Proposition 64. Here, columnist Jasmine Aquino writes California needs to be at the forefront of federally overturning the drug’s prohibition

Throwback Thursday: The medical benefits of LSD

It’s April 20, better known as the day everyone smokes a lot of weed. But today, we’re going to give attention to a different drug, one that was popular in the 1960s. A Daily Bruin article from 1967 describes how UCLA’s then-Neuropsychiatric Institute found that LSD may offer treatment for children suffering from child schizophrenia, […]

Jasmine Aquino: The UC needs to officially declare as sanctuary campuses

The University of California has repeatedly described itself as a “sanctuary campus” that protects the rights of undocumented students, but it’s missing an important step: actually making that description an official designation. While the undocumented immigrant population in the United States, especially in the Latino community, is having a crisis-level standoff with the federal government, […]

Jasmine Aquino: City leaders must pursue sexual education reform

I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley – also known as the porn capital of the world. The “San Pornando Valley,” just 10 miles north of Hollywood glamour, offers a different kind of setting for actors to try their skills. That is, until 2012. That’s when Measure B, better known as the […]