Legality of Cannabis

[drain.you]

Hey everyone,

Perhaps I should have put this in Learning? I'm not sure.

Anyway, I would like some evidence to suggest that cannabis/hemp was made illegal in majority of western countries due to its production threatening other industries or because of at least some corporate interests and how that has shaped public opinion of the plant. I basically want to put something together about how public views and morality regarding drug use has been shaped by capitalism.

[RebelOutcast]

Yeah, I was pondering the reason certain drugs are illegal earlier, and I cannot think of a decent reason for it, why should the govt. care what we do to our minds and bodies?

[Forward Union]

Originally posted by [email protected] 16 2006, 04:33 PM
Yeah, I was pondering the reason certain drugs are illegal earlier, and I cannot think of a decent reason for it, why should the govt. care what we do to our minds and bodies?
I would assume its originally a result of religious puritinism, rather than Capitalism. Obviously drugs were concluded to be "immoral" and even "satanic" before capitalism. Though that's largely not the case with capitalism today. But many Captialists, and especially the government officials are religious, and influenced by religious values...yes this contradicts the free market principals some strive for, and don't make any mistake, many capitalists do think drugs should be legal.

So why is it illegal today? well don't forget, we don't live in a totally capitalist (Anarcho-Capitalist or "libertarian-capitalist") society. We live in a Statist one. That means that the State has an active part in the control of the market. It can ban things, legalise things, restrict companies etc. And in this instance it has banned companies from refining and distributing some drugs. We all know Alcohol, Tobacco, Asperine, Ibuprofine,Alkyl nitrites ( :) ) etc are readily available to most of the wetsern population, drugs such as Heroine (opium) cannabis etc, arn't. The government most probably banned it for a few reasons, one of them being, as I said, "religious values" but for economic reasons, which is what you were askign about, consider Hemp, possibly posed a threat to some of the big industries, it can apaprently be used to replace cotton, some Feuls and as something like 80% of wood, it could essentially wipe out the logging firms.

The more I think about it the less simple it becomes, theres no one answer really. Maybe im totally wrong. Hope this helps a bit :P

[drain.you]

Hmm...so why do some religions condemn certain drugs as being immoral while others embrace them as part of their spirituality, notably the rastafarian movement and hinduism. Also historians reckon that ancinet jews, christians, etc used cannabis as part of spirituality long ago so what changed?

[Ricardo]

i think cannabis used to be legal, maybe in the 1920's or '30 but was made illegal when a wave of immigrants from Mexico came in. I think the government then made it illegal because Mexicans used it.

I also remember watching a PSA which said something about how when black people smoke it they become white-women rapists and causes people to go insane.

So, i think it was made illegal because of racism.

I could be completely wrong though.

[Hegemonicretribution]

I have posted at length (as a subject close to my heart) on this before, but can't seem to find my responses so I will give a rough outline for now anyway...

The first actions by states against cannabis were enacted just prior to the turn of the last century. Previously hash was popular, and had even started appearing in pharmacies, but with amongst black and hispanic workers the trend was towards green. Following the Spanish-American war attitudes, especially in southern states, were very anti-hispanic, and media smear campaigns included fabricated tales of hispanic people perpetrating many acts whilst "high" on grass.

Jack Herer thought that this ran deeper than race relations, and names Harold Aslinger as of the main villains in the demonisation of cannabis. Aslinger was involved heavily in the (alcohol) prohibition era, and when this ended his uncle got him a job founding the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.

His uncle had vested interests in both paper mills and synthetic fabric industries, both of which were threatened by the more efficient hemp crop. Outright prohibition would have caused a big stir, especially after the prohibition of alcohol, so an anti-cannabis campaign was adopted first. The smear campaign in the press continued, but with firmer backing from government also, and this had impact. "Cannabis addicts" were apparently prone to rape and murder as a result of their vice, and the rumours became beyond laughable by today's standards. Movies such as cult-classic "reefer madness" did their bit, and the church also got on board. This all helped lay the path for outright prohibition of a great drug.

In the late 30's (not 100% which year off hand) a tax bill came in making hemp no-longer viable as a cash crop. This suited vested interests, and also made cultivation virtually impossible. Along with the FBN (later DEA) being active cannabis use was officially criminalised in the US.

This is sketchy and an interpretation drawn from a few different readings on the matter, I can provide more detail, and also focus on the UK (am not to knowledgeable about elsewhere) but I was assuming this is what you were referring to?

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I'm curious as to the rationale behind making cannabis illegal in the UK.

[drain.you]

His uncle had vested interests in both paper mills and synthetic fabric industries, both of which were threatened by the more efficient hemp crop.
I thought it was something like that.

So the change of opinion on the USA was because the cappies fearer it would effect their industries. Was it the same everywhere?

[Hegemonicretribution]

I haven't time to respond on the UK at the moment as I am about to be late for college :P However I should be able tonight.

In the mean time this link has more accurate dates than I posted earlier about some of the happenings, before and after the criminalisation in the US. Nothing in detail, but worth a brief look.

Site (http://www.ccguide.org.uk/chronol.html)

[RebelOutcast]

I think the illegality of cannabis is one of the most interesting topics. It's has many beneficial effects, as well as doing very little to no harm to your body, while tobacco and alcohol, which are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths a year are legal substances.

[RebelOutcast]

Bumpity bump!