To
understand how cannabis became so stigmatized, you have to understand
something about a plant that is very similar to cannabis but different
enough that making it illegal would be preposterous: hemp.
If I told you there was a plant
available to us today that could be grown in pretty much any soil,
could thrive without the use of pesticides, and could be farmed with
very little maintenance, and that this magical plant could be used for a
very large number of necessities and goods we use today, but we are
doing nothing about it, would you think to yourself, “Joe you must be
high or on some other cheap drug”?
Well, I’m not high nor do I get high,
but let me tell you, there is a plant available right now and it is
often mistaken for marijuana, but it has capabilities that are beyond
what you could imagine. It’s called hemp.
Right off the top, hemp looks very much
like marijuana and is technically in the same family of plants. But
unlike modern maryjane, it does not contain anywhere near the amount of
THC needed for someone to get high if they were to smoke it. The funny
thing is, in the United States, hemp is just as illegal to grow as
marijuana is. But how can this be? If we can’t get high from it, then
what’s the problem?
In the past, hemp was used for many
things: clothes, cars, plastics, building materials, rope, paper,
linens, food, medicine and so on. In fact, it used to be mandatory in
the United States for farmers to grow hemp if they had the land. You can
find out even more about hemp
here.
The fact is, hemp was very popular
throughout the 1800s and 1900s because it was incredibly useful and easy
to grow, and its derived products were so long lasting. But one day
that all changed; it became illegal and so did its friend cannabis
(marijuana). How did this happen?
The History
During Hoover’s presidency, Andrew
Mellon became Hoover’s Secretary of the Treasury and Dupont’s primary
investor. He appointed his future nephew-in-law, Harry J. Anslinger, to
head the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
Secret meetings were held by these
financial tycoons. Hemp was declared dangerous and a threat to their
billion dollar enterprises. For their dynasties to remain intact, hemp
had to go. This then led them to take an obscure Mexican slang word –
‘marihuana’ – and push it into the consciousness of America. The reason
why they changed the name was because everyone knew of hemp and how
amazing it was for the world. They would never be able to get away with
banning hemp, so they used a name they knew no one would recognize.
Not long after this plan was set in
place, the media began a blitz of ‘yellow journalism’ in the late 1920s
and 1930s. Yellow journalism is essentially journalism where stories
with catchy headlines are put into the mainstream media to get
attention, yet these stories are not well researched or backed up. They
are often used simply to sway public opinion. Many newspapers were
pumping stories emphasizing the horrors and dangers of marihuana. The
“menace” of marihuana made headlines everywhere. Readers learned that it
was responsible for everything from car accidents to looser morals, and
it wasn’t long before public opinion started to shape.
Next came several films like Reefer Madness (1936), Marihuana: Assassin of Youth (1935) and Marihuana: The Devil’s Weed (1936), which were all propaganda films designed by these industrialists to create an enemy out of marihuana. Reefer Madness
was possibly the most interesting of the films, as it depicted a man
going crazy from smoking marijuana and then murdering his family with an
axe. With all of these films, the goal was to gain public support so
that anti-marihuana laws could be passed without objection.
Have a look at the following regarding marihuana from The Burning Question, aka Reefer Madness:
- A violent narcotic
- Acts of shocking violence
- Incurable insanity
- Soul-destroying effects
- Under the influence of the drug he killed his entire family with an axe
- More vicious, more deadly even than these soul-destroying drugs (heroin, cocaine), is the menace of marihuana!
Unlike most films with a simple ending, Reefer Madness ended with bold words on the screen: TELL YOUR CHILDREN.
In the 1930s, things were different from
today in significant ways. The population did not question authority or
the media to the extent that we do now, and they did not have tools
like the Internet to quickly spread information and learn about things
that were happening. Most built their opinions and beliefs off of the
news via print, radio, or cinema. As a result (and thanks to the
explicit instruction of mainstream news), many people did tell their
children about marihuana. Thus, public opinion about this plant was
formed.
On April 14, 1937, the Prohibitive
Marihuana Tax Law, the bill that outlawed hemp, was directly brought to
the House Committee on Ways and Means. Simply put, this committee is the
only one that could introduce a bill to the House floor without it
being debated by other committees. At the time, the Chairman of the Ways
and Means was Robert Doughton, who was a Dupont supporter. With vested
interest, he insured that the bill would pass in Congress.
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In an attempt to prevent the bill from
being passed, Dr. James Woodward, a physician and attorney, attempted to
testify on behalf of the American Medical Association. He mentioned
that the reason the AMA had not denounced the Marihuana Tax Law sooner
was that the Association had just discovered that marihuana was hemp (or
at least a strain of it).
Hemp and marijuana are both varieties of
Cannabis sativa, but this distinction was purposefully obscured from
the public. Since the law was not focused on banning one or the other,
both found their way into the ban. The AMA recognized cannabis/marihuana
as a medicine found in numerous healing products sold that had been
used for quite some time. The AMA, like many others, did not realize
that the deadly menace they had been reading about in the media was in
fact hemp.
In September of 1937, hemp prohibition
began. What was arguably the most useful plant known to man at the time,
at least in the West, became illegal to grow and use: cannabis
(marijuana) and hemp, one used to give a bad name to the other, even
though neither should have realistically garnered that negative
backlash. To this day, this plant is still illegal to grow in the United
States.
To the public, Congress banned hemp and
cannabis because it was said to be a violent and dangerous drug. In
reality, hemp does nothing more than act as an amazing resource to
virtually any industry and any product, and cannabis is and can be a
useful medical substance that, when administered correctly, can
have many benefits. But it should also be mentioned that cannabis has
been abused over the years and does have its negative side effects. This
is a reality many in the community don’t want to admit but it has to be
said. We know the effects it has on regular users under 25 years old as
well as what heavy regular use can do to serotonin levels.
[1]
Fast forward to today, and it is clear
we are in some trouble when it comes to how we treat our environment.
The resources and practices we use today for energy, as well as product
creation, are very harmful and toxic to not just our planet but
ourselves. Despite the awareness that exists about hemp as an option to
transform how things can be done on this planet, governments continue to
ban this plant, and it is still often mistaken for marihuana due to
their similar appearance.
Luckily, much more cultural and
regulatory progress is being made on the side of cannabis to not only
illustrate the value of it medically, but also to better understand
its potential dangers. This helps to work out the difference between
fact and fiction so we can use the plant responsibly while taking
advantage of its benefits.
Sources:
https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/study-cannabis-double-edged-sword-27677
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