*** Anslinger, was originally not against the use of marijuana, but to keep his job as head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, he went against his own beliefs. Then in association with DuPont and Hearst, between them created the lies and mis information we know today ***
Harry Anslinger took the scientifically unsupported idea of marijuana as a violenceinducing drug, connected it to black and Hispanic people, and created a perfect package of terror to sell to the American media and public. By emphasising the Spanish word marihuana instead of cannabis, he created a strong association between the drug and the newly arrived Mexican immigrants who helped popularise it in the States. He also created a narrative around the idea that cannabis made black people forget their place in society. He pushed the idea that jazz was evil music created by people under the influence of marijuana.
But these racist ideas didn’ t just influence the media’ s portrayal or the public’ s perception of the drug, the discrimination they encouraged was evident in real numbers. In the first full year after the Marihuana Tax Act was passed, black people were about three times more likely to be arrested for violating narcotic drug laws than whites. And Mexicans were nearly nine times more likely to be arrested for the same charge.
By 1952, the Boggs Act was passed. This made sentencing for drug convictions mandatory. A first offence for possession could land you two to five years in prison and a fine up to $ US2,000. Through the 1960s and 70s, weed smoking took on a new perception through the counterculture movement. Young white people resisted mainstream culture and powerful institutions. This was the era of hippies, beatniks, and flower power. But despite all the peace and love, laws continued to emphasise the severity of the drug. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 passed under President Nixon.
America’ s public enemy number one. Then Repealed the Marihuana Tax Act and instead made cannabis a schedule I drug. The most serious class. Schedule I drugs are considered to have a high potential for abuse and addiction. With no medical use. Other examples of Schedule I drugs are heroin, LSD, and ecstasy. Classifying cannabis as a schedule I drug has been highly debated since then. – Marijuana is not a schedule I, any more than a hedgehog is an apex predator.
But to this day, it remains in that category( with schedule 2 being Cocaine and Heroin??) and criminalisation still disproportionately affects minority groups in the US. The ACLU reported that in 2010, black people were four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than white people, even though both groups consume marijuana at about the same rate. Some states have taken action to reduce this type of criminalisation. Nine states and Washington DC have legalised the recreational use of cannabis.