Cannabis Scheduling and Conspiracy Theories (By James Munroe In Our Series, Through The Eyes Of A Stoner)
Why is Marijuana Illegal, Anyway? from CannabisNet on Vimeo.
Sometimes the guys at work call me Philmore.
You know, the hippie van from the movie Cars? Like that Philmore. If you ask them they'll say it's because Philmore is always going on about natural alternatives and government conspiracies. It's always used in a lighthearted way, but the connotation that I gather from it is negative.
Ever noticed how as soon as someone gets passionate about a cause that opposes popular thought, or as soon as someone opposes what we have been told and likewise believed, people seem to hold that person at arms length? As soon as someone smells a hint of a conspiracy theory they get very standoffish.
It's not always something done in a completely rude way either. Philmore’s a fun hippy van. He's goofy and wild. He goes on adventures and makes people laugh. Sure he's got some pretty out there ideas that make some uncomfortable, but they'll attribute his conspiracy theories to his goofy and wild nature; that way they don't have to take anything he says seriously and they can laugh it off as part of Philmore’s crazy ways.
The hard truth, however, is that the sometimes it's actually the strangest theory that holds the most weight. Sometimes it's the story we don't want to believe, that's actually true. Sometimes, the government lie to us. Knowingly. Recognizing these lies doesn't make anyone a conspiracy theorist to be held at a distance, it makes someone a revolutionary willing to admit that they have been had and striving to change the future not only for their sakes but for the sakes of their children.
Part of this freedom fight we're engaged in at this very moment has to do with the dispelling of coordinated deceit that most people find hard to swallow.
Since 1970, by mandate of Richard Nixon, cannabis has been a Schedule 1 drug. If you don't know exactly what a schedule 1 drug is, then listen up. Verbatim a schedule 1 drug, as defined by the Schedule of Controlled Substances Act says, “Schedule 1 drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule 1 drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence.”
Are you fucking shitting me? So you mean to tell me, that a room full of highly educated men and women, the very man that majority of the United States of America voted in to be their leader took one year of being in office to decide that a herb that has been used for medicinal purposes for millenia, was just as dangerous as heroin and contains zero medical benefit?
Tell that to a five year old child suffering from seizures who's only relief comes from CBD capsules.
I'm all about giving a person the benefit of the doubt, it feels pretty shitty to be called a liar if you in fact aren't, but anyone with even the slightest capacity to think for themselves should be able to call bullshit on that one.
Even if one decides to ignore historical reference and the fact that archaeological discoveries tell us that cannabis has been used as a medicine for at least 5000 years, America was using cannabis in a variety of medicines and funny little potions in the 18 and early 1900’s, now all of a sudden it has no medical value?
Sorry Dick, you sir are full of shit.
But we know that don't we? The guy basically created the DEA, so his interest in declaring such an all out war on cannabis is obvious, but there's a lot that's not obvious; like the indication that the prohibition on weed has very real, very large and very deep roots in fear and racial divide.
See this whole drug war goes way back; about 60 years before Dick branded cannabis in such a rude light, so let's look at the history of weed, just briefly, to see what it can tell us about the birth of the prohibition.
It all sort of started with Mexicans. Mexicans are pretty common in America now, their culture provides a richness to its own and many Americans have adopted Mexican traditions and national holidays. If you rewind the clock to around the early 1900’s when the first Mexicans started immigrating to the US, because of the Mexican revolution, the world was a different place. The Mexican culture was seen as lewd, loud and wild. To top it off, the Mexicans were all smoking a herb they referred to as marihuana.
So these rambunctious fellows start showing up smoking the marihuana and scared, white America decides it must be the weed that made them all a bit ‘crazy.’ What America didn't realize is that the same marihuana that the Mexicans were smoking was the exact same as the cannabis found in a wide variety of medicines and tinctures available at the time.
The eastern states found very much of the same problem. They were discovering not only an influx of Latin Americans bringing their reefer, but marijuana had also infused itself into the Jazz movement, which at the time was predominantly African American. Two minority races seen as loud trouble makers are smoking pot and an uninformed America hits the panic button. The panic was so severe that a 1934 newspaper editorialized these words: “Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at a white woman twice.”
And so this unfounded and completely irrational fear began to grip the country. Throwing fuel to the raging fire was a guy name Harry Ainslinger. He was the first appointed commissioner to the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. It's rumored that ol’ Harry didn't quite know what to do with his new job title when the prohibition on alcohol came to an end, so he began stoking the fire with a bit of good old fashioned fear mongering.
Taking advantage of his position of authority he decided to rape the minds of the countries men and women by penetrating their minds with false information, knowing that his position alone would bolster his credibility in their minds.
Think I'm exaggerating?
Ainslinger loved promoting and quoting “The Gore Files.” The Gore Files are a wild reefer madness style exploitation literature that tells of ax murdering pot heads, sex… and Negroes. (Oh my!) Here's a few of these little nuggets of wisdom, that the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics; who needed there to be a prohibition in order for his job to remain secure; can be found to have passed down to a scared population looking for guidance:
“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.”
“…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”
“Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.”
“Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.”
“Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing”
“You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother.”
“Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.”
Tell me now that this war on weed is not rooted deep in racial fear and superiority.
Time passes and the racial divide deepens. By the time Dick steps up to be America's leader things have come to a climax and the public is writhing with fear. Because America is the world's hero, naturally, they must act. So after years of propaganda and preying on the fears of vulnerable citizens cannabis is officially branded as one of the most dangerous drugs on the planet by an establishment that has too much pride, (and far too much money to lose), to admit that they were wrong.
There comes a time when we need to evaluate the present in light of the past. We need to tell this tale of injustice before people forget the real reasons the war began.
Check this out- Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda mastermind of the Nazi war machine said this, “If you tell a big enough lie and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”
Hey, but what do I know? I'm just a crazy hippie with conspiracy theories.
Gotta run for now folks, stay groovy.
Peace,
James
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