Eighty-five years later, and America is still in a state of Reefer Madness.
Let’s fully acknowledge why we are here.
Last week, President Biden issued an executive order pardoning 6,500 people convicted for cannabis possession. This action has prompted numerous legislators to advocate for state level pardons and decriminalization of “marihuana.”
Vice President Kamala Harris said “No one should be in jail for smoking weed.”
She’s right. But there are still at least 40,000 people that are in jail for cannabis possession in the American prison system.
We castigate Russia for sentencing Brittney Griner to 9 years in a hard labor prison for possession of cannabis oil. But her sentence is emblematic of the last century of the American Injustice System on cannabis.
This is Reefer Madness in 2022.
We have allowed government officials to codify racism into laws specifically designed to imprison Black and Brown people. The criminalization of cannabis is a facilitating element of the American Injustice System. Black Americans are nearly 4 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession despite similar usage rates across all Americans.
The criminalization of cannabis has also led to a lack of medical research on a promising plant based medicine that may impact dementia, cancer and several autoimmune diseases which highly impact women. How many people are suffering because they don’t have access to a health care solution that has the potential to help?
How did we get here? The history of cannabis in America.
Image: Eli Lilly Cannabis Fluid Extract Bottle via Wikimedia Commons
The Cannabis Sativa plant arrived in 1619 with immigrants to Jamestown, Virginia who farmed hemp as a staple crop for rope, paper and textiles.
It was also used as a therapeutic remedy in the US, listed in the 1850 United States Pharmacopeia. Eli Lilly and Parke Davis sold cannabis infused tinctures to help with pain, sleep and well-being.
Mexican immigrants in the 1910s-1920s increased use of smoking cannabis for relaxation. Black Jazz artists also began to use cannabis.
Cue: racism. In the 1930s Harry Anslinger, later known for making comments like “Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men,” was appointed to run the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Seeing an increase in the use of cannabis by Mexicans and Blacks, he used his position to codify his racism into law. He changed the name from cannabis to “marihuana” and pursued a PR smear campaign culminating in the iconic 1937 film, “Reefer Madness.”
Image: Motion Picture Ventures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
While today the film is considered a joke, it was regarded as a serious public warning. No one had ever heard of “marihuana”.
The strategy was effective. It convinced the public that marihuana was a dangerous new drug used by Mexicans and Blacks which threatened the American way of life.
Cannabis sativa, used across the world since 2900 BC and for over 300 years in the U.S., was transformed by the government and the media into “marihuana” - a dangerous substance which required legal action to prosecute degenerates involved in the drug trade. The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was established, and four days later, two men were arrested and imprisoned in Colorado. William Randolph Hearst, a media and lumber magnate, played a significant role in shaping public opinion on “Indian Hemp” and “marihuana,” publishing anti-marihuana articles and editorials across his newspaper conglomerate. This content was used by legislators as support for the Tax Act.
Fast-forward to 1970, and the Nixon administration further criminalized cannabis. It was classified in the Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it is more dangerous than Fentanyl. Despite the absence of any medical research to substantiate this claim, they were successful in lying and changing the laws to imprison their perceived enemies. This made it easier to silence Americans in support of the Civil Rights Movement and those opposed to the Vietnam War.
Fortunately, John Ehrlichman, Counsel and Assistant to the President (1968-1973), eventually told the truth:
“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities… Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
The Impact of Cannabis Criminalization.
7 million people have been arrested for cannabis possession from 2001 – 2010.
Blacks are nearly 4 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis than Whites.
There are 40,000 Americans in prison for cannabis possession.
40,000 people like Kevin Allen. An American that received a life sentence in prison for selling $20 worth of cannabis.
Who is Kevin Allen?
Image: Kevin Allen via The Last Prisoner Project
Kevin Allen is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole in Louisiana after he was convicted of selling $20 worth of marijuana.
On December 27, 2012, and March 13, 2013, the Bossier Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force paid a confidential informant to approach Allen and solicit marijuana. Mr. Allen provided the CI with a grand total of $20 worth of weed.
Kevin was sentenced to life imprisonment without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, even though he had never been convicted of any violent crimes.
That’s worse than Russia.
Reefer Madness infected the health care system.
We’ve not only imprisoned thousands like Kevin Allen - but have sentenced even more to a lack of health care options which could save and improve quality of life. Cannabis criminalization has stopped all medical research into a promising medicine.
Preliminary research shows that cannabinoids may be effective in removing brain plaque (dementia), in apoptosis (killing cancerous cells without harming healthy ones), as well as chronic symptoms including pain, sleep and anxiety. But it is illegal to research these promising results because of Schedule 1.
Cannabis also shows promise in treatment of autoimmune diseases including IBS, Crohn’s Disease, Fibromyalgia, and arthritis, which disproportionately impact women.
Over 600,000 people died from cancer in 2020.
5.8 Million people have some form of dementia.
23 Million people have an autoimmune disease, and 80% are women.
Never Again.
President Biden’s pardon of 6,500 cannabis possession convictions and directive to review federal scheduling is the first step. But we are not allowed to forget the story of how we got here.
We must fully acknowledge the unchecked racism and greed that resulted in millions of people unjustly targeted for using a therapeutic plant - introduced to the U.S. by European immigrants in 1619.
And the corollary health impact on millions of families searching for non-addictive and effective health care solutions to cancer, dementia and auto-immune diseases. Once medical research of cannabis is legal, it may save thousands of lives. But how many thousands have been needlessly lost?
The pain of unchecked racism codified into legislation is never contained in the target group. It leaches out and infects everyone. We are all connected.
Vote for candidates that support de-scheduling cannabis.
Vote for candidates that support women’s health care and cannabis medical research.
Vote for candidates that will issue state level pardons for cannabis possession convictions.
Vote for candidates that will free the 40,000 cannabis prisoners in American jails.
End Reefer Madness.
