According to the United States Government, marijuana is just as dangerous as heroin, cocaine, opiates, LSD, ecstasy, MDMA… do you really believe that? I mean really, do you? Is it because you have personal experience to back up your belief that it is that dangerous, or is that what you have always been told so you just go along with it? Well you might ask, if it is not so dangerous then why is it illegal? There are a few reasons, all of which are bogus.
1. Racism
I know, how is weed racist? It is not, but statements that were made that led to its prohibition was. Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics stated, and I quote…
“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.”
Followed shortly after the statement…
“Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.”
Now if that is not racist, I don’t know what is. Although, I must digress, those statements were made almost 80 years ago, and surely we have evolved past that level of racism. Or have we?
2. Greed
In the 1930s, it was realized that hemp was a cheap replacement for paper pulp that was used to create newspapers, among the many other things the plant can be used for. This posed quite the threat to some of our nation's richest and most powerful people. William Randolph Hearst, who held a substantial share of the timber industry, was presented with the threat of losing profits if hemp were to be used for the creation of paper. The Du Pont family had just invented a new synthetic fiber called nylon, and one of our nation's wealthiest individuals and former Secretary of the Treasure of the United States, Andrew Mellon, had invested heavily in Du Pont and their synthetic fiber, which stood to lose its value if hemp were to continue to be used. The greed of a few wealthy men played a major role making a useful, cost effective plant illegal.
3. Fear (Racism)
After the Mexican Revolution in the early 1900s, there was an influx of Mexican immigrants moving to the United States, and with it they brought their customs with them. One of their customs was the use of “marihuana” for medicinal and recreational purposes. “Marihuana” was nothing new to the people of our country, it was used freely, and present in many forms of medication distributed by doctors and pharmacists around the country. The only real difference was here in the states, we knew of it as cannabis.
The media not only demonized Mexicans (back to the racism thing again), but they demonized marijuana as well—building fear, and trying to take control over these new citizens. El Paso, Texas outlawed cannabis with the full intention to search, detain and deport Mexicans. In short, marijuana was used as propaganda to rid our nation of Mexicans, and Mexicans were used as propaganda to rid our nation of marijuana.
4. A Big, Fat Lie
A big fat lie was told that ultimately lead to the criminalization of marijuana. Again, Anslinger was at the heart of this one. In 1929, Anslinger was put in charge of the Department of Prohibition, which we all know was a huge failure, and was—in the grand scheme of things—short lived. Once Prohibition ended, Anslinger was facing unemployment, which is a reasonable fear that led to a huge lie.
At this point Anslinger admittedly stated that marijuana was not an issue, explaining that does not harm people, and it is an absurd thought that it makes people violent—but desperate people take desperate measures in times of desperation. Anslinger went all Donald Trump on the issue and changed his stance. He went from stating that marijuana was harmless to making statements that you will fall into a “delirious rage,” have dreams of an “erotic character” and eventually fall into the grips of insanity.
More disturbing is that Anslinger had written to 30 scientists is search of their opinion on marijuana. 29 of those scientists wrote back explaining that it was not dangerous, and that it should not be banned. I bet you know which one of those scientists he went with—the one that said what he wanted to hear.
