Weed as Dangerous as a Machine Gun?
It is long past due for the legalization of ALL drugs in the United States. The war on drugs has been costly for this country in terms of money and time. Most importantly, it has been costly in the number of lives lost, especially of black and brown people. Let us take Marijuana as an example. Marijuana is one of the planet’s oldest medicines. This medicine, able to grow anywhere but the Arctic Circle, was used in many different places for stomach aches, menstrual cramps, insomnia, appetite and so many different ailments dating back as far as 400 B.C. (Solly). knowing that, how and why did the United States wage a war against weed?
Today, marijuana is an extremely mainstream drug but it did not start that way. Marijuana was a drug used by those suppressed by white supremacy, and that is the main reason for its criminalization. The politicians in power saw an opportunity to use the drugs to scapegoat different racial groups and lower classes. At the start of the 19th century, marijuana was mainly used for patent medicine and not used recreationally in the United States. It is not until prohibition that Americans started to become more familiar with marijuana. With other drugs outlawed, weed became the only legal drug available. In New Orleans, Marijuana became an integral part of Jazz culture. America starts witnessing black people using marijuana.
Marijuana is part of Jazz culture, but it is also entangled with immigration. The great depression made White Americans more xenophobic (staples). In the south, during the depression, they were worried about Mexicans taking their jobs. The southwestern states including Texas, California, Arizona, and Colorado wanted a law that would keep Mexicans out of their towns. How do they get rid of them? Weed. In 1931, Mexican reparation became law and many were charged with breaking marijuana laws. People were thrown into prisons and others deported. Weed was the perfect scapegoat.
Seeing the rise in the popularity of the drug with Black Americans and Mexican immigrants, politicians wanted to use it as blame for the poverty and crime taking place in major cities. The first federal law was enacted in 1937. The National Firearm act of 1934 imposed a tax on the manufacturing and transfer of a firearm and required people to get a token from the government. Using the same tactics as the firearm law, the government made it illegal to produce or distribute weed without a token from the government. A person can get the token only if they have stores of weed, which is illegal under the law.
The law was only the first part. The second weapon of the government was educational films that demonized weed and introduced reefer madness to the world. White America was all too familiar with “cocaine crazed negro” stories and now they were being told of Black and Mexican marijuana menace. They used propaganda and fear of Black and Brown bodies to change public opinion. Attacking the people for using the drugs was effective in getting all of the states to change their laws. The US government viewed weed to be as dangerous as a machine gun. Correction: the US government viewed Black and Mexican people smoking weed to be as dangerous as a machine gun.
Over the years, more than 20 million Americans have been arrested, convicted, and incarcerated for using marijuana (Hooked). The American taxpayer spends approximately $35 billion each year fighting the war on drugs ( Hart, 26). Black people are much more likely than their white counterparts to be arrested for drugs, even though both groups use and sell drugs at similar rates ( Hart, 26). Moreover, it is not lost on anyone that drugs remain available to those with social capital. Knowing the propaganda and the absence of science in the banning of weed should give all of us pause. In all honesty, pharmacology is not the reason drugs are illegal. The research on drugs is carried out by the government and only asking to find evidence of the harms of drugs, biased reaching science. In all honesty, drugs have been used by different cultures for thousands of years. If the government cares about incarceration rates, safety, and happiness of its citizens, drugs would be legal. Sadly, it is the fear of those on the fringes of society that keeps and fuels the war on drugs even while we see different states legalizing recreational marijuana.
Sources:
Hart, Carl L. Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear. Penguin Press, 2021.
Hooked: illegal drugs and how they got that way, by the History Channel, et. al.
Solly, Meilan. “The First Evidence of Smoking Pot Was Found in a 2,500-Year-Old Pot.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 13 June 2019, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/2500-year-old-chinese-cemetery-offers-earliest-physical-evidence-cannabis-smoking-180972410/.Staples,
Brent. “The Federal Marijuana Ban Is Rooted in Myth and Xenophobia.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 July 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/opinion/high-time-federal-marijuana-ban-is-rooted-in-myth.html.