Why Marijuana is illegal

Ok, I'm stoned and I feel it's time for a soapbox session, so here it goes:

The final straw (and perhaps intial straw) that broke the proverbial camel's back and promted Harry Anslinger to begin the war on weed back in the 30's that continues to this day was jazz music.

In the 1930's, jazz music was moving north out of New Orleans and St. Louis to New York and all stops in between. As jazz music became popular and black radio stations began to pop up, white kids were able to hear jazz on the radio, exposing them to a completely unknown culture, the black culture! When white kids began to folow jazz musicians, they began to emulate those musicians. And what did a lot of jazz musicians have in common? They smoked marijuana! Louis Anderson is well known as a pot smoker, and as I recall he was quoted as saying somethig to the effect of marijuana being able to break down racial barriers and put an end to hate. Probably not that grandiose, but still along the lines of combating racism and hate.

White America could not stand idly by while "good white kids" were corrupted by "those dirty jazz playing ni**ers". Enter Harry Anslinger, the man responsible for the war on weed, and on blacks, that continues today. Marijuana was once considered a medicine in the United States and was taxed much like tobacco, but was outlawed in the 20's prior to prohibition. Fast forward a decade, and suddenly white kids are following the example of black jazz musicians and smoking it anyway. The government did the only thing it (collectively "it") could think of, make marijuana REALLY illegal and throw as many black folks in prison for it as possible.

Seventy years later and the war wages on, five times as many black people charged with possesion or intent to sell get sentenced to jail time as white people. The prison system is bursting at its seams, and yet more people get thrown in jail every day.

A large supporter of making cannabis and all hemp illegal is the cotton industry. Hemp poses a very serious threat to the cotton industry, being a stronger, more durable and versatile fiber. And on whose backs did the cotton industry in this country grown upon? That's right, black people! Perhaps the cotton industry is motivated by more than fear of losing money, perhaps they're still a little sore that they lost their captive work force.

Anyway, *dismount from soapbox* thanks for reading, I feel much better now

Peas out:D

That may sound a bit disjointed, but hey, I'm stoned:D

Sounds good to me



Peace

i herd a diff story, it goes like this

in the early 20th century mexicans began to heavily migrate to the united states taking jobs for long hours and loooooow wages. in order to endure this harsh lifestyle they smoked weed. in the governments reasonable attempt to open jobs for white people (and to simply rid the country of mexicans) they labeld weed a mexican drug and since there were millions of bitter men in the US with their jobs taken by mexicans who immigrated here jumped on the band wagon and would do anything to rid the country of mexicans, including banning a popular medicince, weed. thus making the best plant on earth illegal

i heard the same story as koshea

Could be the beginning of the criminalization of MJ, but the drug war properly began with Anslinger. Perhaps I should have named the thread "MJ is illegal because the US government hates blacks and mexicans"