Pot Theory

The origins of Pot Theory are unclear but it’s thought to have emerged out of a series of seminars at MIT in the late 1980s. Originally, it was used exclusively in relation to policy decisions on drugs, but despite the punning title, it doesn’t refer specifically to that debate and since the mid-90s has been applied to numerous other areas of social and foreign policy, as well as in the search for business solutions.

The “Pot” in Pot Theory refers to Pol Pot who infamously returned Cambodia to the Year Zero when the Khmer Rouge seized control. Put simply then, Pot Theory takes an intractable problem and looks at how it might be tackled if the clock were reset to the year zero.

The connection to drugs policy is immediately apparent. The policy on the use and control of drugs is driven primarily by various cultural and historical factors, rather than by a reasoned system for determining the relative danger of different products.

The application of Pot Theory would see tobacco ruled as of greater danger than many currently illegal narcotics. It might also bring into question the right of government to determine how its citizens might make use of their leisure hours.

The drawback of Pot Theory is perhaps obvious – unless policy-makers can actually introduce Year Zero Thinking (another buzz phrase of the theory) the solutions developed will still be unpalatable to the majority of voters, consumers or shareholders.

The theory also requires radical change and that is rarely welcomed by even those who have a vested interest in seeing drug laws relaxed (for a further examination of this tendency, see a subsequent post on the ostalgie paradox).

Nevertheless, although Pot Theory in its purest form rarely provides solutions which are useful in a normal democratic framework, many political theorists now consider it an ideal method for exploring the range of paradigm shifts available in any given policy area.