Words, Words, Words

Hemp. Cannabis. Weed. Marijuana. Pot. Narcotics. Grass. Bud. 

The drug in question has a plethora of aliases, and in today's society, all of them conjure images of ill health, delinquency, and hallucinatory effects. However, the truth is that many of these words once had very different connotations, and it was in fact the English language itself that played a part in the prohibition of cannabis sativa. 

First, let's go back in time. You are back behind the little wooden desk, finely adorned in hideously scrawled curse words and pencil doodlings of questionable decency--it's high school history class once again, and maybe your spiral is filled with carefully organizes notes, or maybe that notebook of yours is a wordy whirlwind of notes that you slipped to friends during the lecture. Regardless, a few facts have been relentlessly pounded into your adolescent brain over the years. You know that the Pilgrims came in 1620. You know that they cultivated a land of plenty. You know that over a decade and a half later, the Founding Fathers--Washington, Jefferson, the works--set forth a new nation conceived in liberty. And you know that they were all high as a kite the whole time. 

Wait, what? 

Well, that may be an exaggeration, and one would hope that the documents on which our nation is founded aren't just some psychedelic musings. It is true, however, that hemp was a highly successful and cash crop in the colonies, helping many of the earliest settlers pay back their debts established by King James I. In other words, for quite some time, there was very little backlash against pot and its users. (Of course, that didn't make the drug any less healthy. The same could be said for the even more important cash crop of tobacco at the time, and we all know now the medical ramifications that the colonists were subjecting themselves to--but that's a blogging topic for another day.)

So what exactly happened? Most of the trouble began in the 1900s, and this is where the problem of connotations in the English language came in. With the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906--which prohibited misleading labels on drugs--came the use of the word "poison" to describe cannabis, naturally frightening the consumer public. Shortly afterward came a surge of nativism and "anti-Mexicanism" spurred by an influx of immigrants from across the border. At this point, the term "marijuana" became used extensively to emphasize the drug's origins, implying that it originated from "immoral" and "dirty" people. Marijuana would also become associated with African Americans, prostitutes, and organized crime during the "Reefer Madness" Era, named after a 1936 film that exposed the apparent depravity of users. By the end of the 1950s, mandatory sentences for possession and usage of certain drugs were in place, with the arrival of such laws as the 1952 Boggs Act. 

And it started with words. 

So now we know how and why it became illegal. What about the history of ending the prohibition? It will probably come as a surprise to few people that the campaign for legalizing the drug began in the '70s. The first bill campaigning for approval of marijuana to be used in life-threatening medical situations was presented by the 97th Congress in 1981, and in the last decade there has been a litany of bills advocating for states' rights in deciding whether or not to legalize medical marijuana. However, these proposals have largely failed. 

But that doesn't mean we shouldn't still advocate for the passage of the H. 499 bill. If prohibition started with words, maybe legalization can start the same way, right here. 

Sources: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr499#summary

http://www.policymic.com/articles/78685/a-brief-history-of-how-marijuana-became-illegal-in-the-u-s

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dope/etc/cron.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-bloom/legalization-or-bust-a-br_b_775684.html