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Posts Tagged ‘Logical Reason’

Why is cannabis illegal in the United States?

March 27th, 2011 11 comments

It seems strange to me, there is not one recorded death from cannabis anywhere on earth, the first cannabis related law in the United States was in Jamestown in 1619 ordering farmers to grow it, you could even pay your taxes with it! George Washington grew the plant, and the declaration of independence was written on hemp paper. So after all that, there must be a logical reason why it was made illegal.

Big C is actually the closest to the real answer.

Marijuana was made illegal due to a single man, Harry J. Anslinger, who became director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1930. Remember that 1930 was in the middle of Prohibition, meaning that alcohol was illegal at the time and the puritanicals in power were against all mind altering substances. Also, the Bureau of Narcotics was part of the Treasury Department, which was also in charge of enforcing Prohibition (see Elliot Ness, for example).

Anslinger was quite power hungry (also common in in the BOI and BOP during the 1930’s — see J. Edgar Hoover). Anslinger quickly latched onto marijuana as his way to obtain more power through outright lies and misrepresentations, playing on the racism and fear of immigrants of the time. Here’s a few quotes:

“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.”
“…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”
“Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.”
“Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.”
“Marihuana [sic] leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing”
“You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother.”
“Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.”

Of course, today, we all know this is all hogwash, but Anslinger and his good friend and yellow journalist William Randolph Hearst (who never let facts get in the way of a good headline) managed to convince the public of the dangers of marijuana.

By 1937, his campaign worked well enough that marijuana was made illegal.