The Great Cannabis Paradigm Shift Explained

The Great Cannabis Paradigm Shift Explained

How Cannabis Won the "War on Drugs" in the End from CannabisNet on Vimeo.

We’re entering a new age of tolerance when it comes to cannabis. For thousands of years we have had a very close relationship with cannabis as it was part of everyday life. From rope, clothing, medicine and much more…cannabis has been an integral part of the growth of humanity.

That was of course until the early 1900s. A movement of “purity”, a highly moralized ideology, swept through the nation. To be honest, the purity movement was very racially motivated as well and one can consider the two one in the same. Nonetheless, couple these factors with industry moguls and you will observe the first great paradigm shift towards cannabis in the US.

The Progression of an Idea

As the misinformation about cannabis continued to spread throughout the United States, in 1937 the first federal law against marijuana was enacted. While not completely abolishing marijuana, it did create a tax loophole that essentially made all marijuana cultivation illegal.

I won’t get into the dynamics of what the “Marihuana Tax Act” entailed, however it is important to note that this was the first Federal action against marijuana in the History of cannabis in America. The result of this legislation came after the initial mass cultural reprogramming concluded, commonly known as “Reefer Madness”.

This reprogramming eventually created the platform to intensify the misinformation about cannabis. In 1971 when Nixon declared the “War on Drugs”, four decades of subtle programming allowed the government to enact laws that would send millions to prison, kill millions more and inflate the national debt while simultaneously give the government unprecedented power over your own consciousness.

For the next 30 years, the government would continue their mass social engineering project with organizations like D.A.R.E and “Say no to drugs” campaigns and what not. This in turn created a social perception of cannabis use that was absolutely negative in nature. The media to this day continue to proliferate the message of the “anti-drug movement” which is subsequently heavily funded by the government.

A Change of Pace

In 1997, the state of California legalized the use of medical marijuana. The officially ended the ban on cannabis as a medicine. This point in time can be remembered as the first day that prohibition ended globally. Sure, it took almost twenty years after California legalized cannabis to garner international momentum, however considering that nearly 80 years of negative propaganda have been shoved down the throats of society; it was a pivotal moment for the cannabis movement.

Today we have more than 29 States in the US with some sort of legal marijuana program. Several countries have legalized medical marijuana and others have outright legalized the industry. Canada will be legalizing soon, and Mexico is also talking about it.

The entire world has had enough of the ineffective Drug War. The gullible generations of old have died off. Newer generations that value tolerance and individuality have shaped the way we look at cannabis use.

Nowadays, we’re talking about a multi-billion dollars per year industry that is about to enter into the world, give or take a few years. 89% of the US population believes that medical marijuana should be legal. In 1972, that figure was lessthan 30%. Every day more people are buying into the idea of legal cannabis. They can no longer claim to be ignorant to both the benefits of legal cannabis and the utter failure of the drug war.

Prohibition is in its last days. Cannabis will only be the catalyst to a new approach to substances of all shapes and colors. Even within the psychedelic community, we are seeing some major advances in terms of treating psychological issues and the exploration of human consciousness. Read the article "How Cannabis Changes Your Mind About Life" by clicking here.

This doesn’t mean that the ilk of Reefer Madness aren’t trying their hardest to keep you ignorant, it does mean however, that the majority of the population is coming out of the hypnotic spell they have been under for so many decades.

The shift is real…and it’s happening now.

The Day The War On Drugs Ended And Cannabis Legalization Began