The Forbidden History of Cannabis in America, The Founding Fathers vs. The Bureaucrats

"Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!” - George Washington, Writings of Washington, Vol. 33, pg. 270

“An acre of the best group for hemp is to be selected and sewn in hemp and be kept for a permanent hemp patch.” – Thomas Jefferson

The history of cannabis in America is one of irony. The founding fathers, specifically Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, were plantation owners who cultivated hemp as a cash crop. They understood the versatility of hemp, recommended its growth and use, and grew it themselves for commerce and industry.

The history of America and marijuana is cloaked in lies and propaganda. The laws against it were born out of an entanglement with immigration. And, the hemp crop was successfully made illegal with the help of William Randolph Hearst (who had invested in the timber companies--and whose competition was hemp.

During the 1920’s, America wanted the Mexicans (who smoked marijuana)... out of Texas. So to stigmatize this cheap labor force, propaganda was spread through headlines and newspapers about how marijuana induced violence in Mexicans; the scare led to harsh penalties for marijuana possession. The southwest states (Texas, Colorado, California, and Arizona) wanted a federal law against marijuana, and they pushed until they got it.

Harry J. Anslinger became the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now the FBI). Anslinger did not originally want to make marijuana illegal. However, being the bureaucrat he was, he changed his position to the leading warrior against marijuana after receiving such a position. Anslinger started fear-mongering and made massive propaganda campaigns (such as Reefer Madness) to demonize marijuana.

The presidencies of Regan and Bush II further criminalized marijuana. Today, medical marijuana prohibition sees patients as criminals instead of sick. Marijuana is still being classified as a Schedule 1 substance, meaning the government endorses the claim that marijuana has no medical value and a high potential for abuse. (Heroin and cocaine are Schedule 2 drugs). Yet, American pharmaceutical drug companies (such as Eli Lilly) used marijuana as a medication. Regardless, THC has long been available as a prescription medication.

The real history of marijuana is full of medical benefits and early American cultivation. Production of the plant has been suppressed by the government and mainstream media. There is no justifiable reason for marijuana to be illegal, and its illegality is based on discrimination. In any real sense, the War on Drugs is Orwellian newspeak for 'the wealthy elite's assault on your civil liberties.'

"What was done with the seed saved from the Indian Hemp last summer? It ought, all of it, to have been sewn again; that not only a stock of seed sufficient for my own purposes might have been raised, but to have disseminated the seed to others; as it is more valuable than the common Hemp." -George Washington, Writings of Washington, Vol. 35, pg. 72

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