Marijuana, Racism and Big Business

 

                The history of marijuana criminalization in the United States is an interesting one.  It was not made illegal because of any scientific or medical evidence that proved it was harmful.  The reasons marijuana was made illegal in the United States were based on blatant racism, self-interests of big corporations and misinformation.

                The marijuana plant (hemp) was used at Jamestown Colony in the 1600s where a law was enacted making it illegal not to grow hemp.  Hemp had many uses including food, incense, cloth and rope. There were thousands of hemp farms counted on the 1850 census.

                Starting in the early 1900s, tensions increased between Western states and the influx of Mexican Americans.  The depression came and increased those tensions-there were less resources for everyone and the small farmers did not like the fact that the larger farms used cheap Mexican labor.  Many of the Mexicans brought marijuana with them and California passed the first law outlawing hemp.  Other states followed suit.

                Later on, in the Eastern part of the country, marijuana was being used by Latin Americans and jazz musicians in the cities of New Orleans, Chicago and New York City.  According to the article “Why is Marijuana Illegal?”, “Again, racism was part of the charge against marijuana as newspapers in 1932 editorialized: “Marijuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at a white woman twice.””  (Guither,15)  As evidenced in that quote, no real reasons were given to support an argument against marijuana.

                The Bureau of Narcotics was established in 1930 and a man named Harry Angslinger was named director.  He wanted to make marijuana illegal and make a name for himself so he set out to do just that.  He used racism and violence to garner attention from the general public to demonize marijuana and make it illegal.  Anslinger referenced the “Gore Files” which was a compilation of exploitative accounts of marijuana use.  “You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother.” (Guither, 40)

                William Randolph Hearst, a corporate giant, helped Anslinger make marijuana illegal for his own reasons.  He had large investments in timber companies and he wanted hemp to be illegal so he would not have competition from the hemp paper that could be produced from the plant.  He also hated Mexicans because he lost thousands of acres at the turn of the century to Pancho Villa.  Making marijuana illegal would benefit Hearst greatly.

                This evidence just proves that you cannot believe everything you hear or read and that there are sometimes different reasons for things than what you are lead to believe.  Information is powerful.  Marijuana became illegal through misinformation, propaganda and racism.  This country should take another look at legalizing this innocuous substance.