PROHIBITION OF CANNABIS
Cannabis was criminalized in America and the West by a long line of American prohibitionists going back to the 1930s.
Informed by the biased and admittedly racist mainstream media of the day. (D.W. Griffiths Birth of a Nation was the first Hollywood Blockbuster in 1915, and informed generations of Americans that would go on to discriminate and forward false and racist views of other Americans) Fear of immigrants and economic pressures urged some Americans to increasingly prohibit a wide range of practices that would be focused on the private and social lives of the people that were to be targeted.
PROHIBITION MMJ INCREASED LEGALITY
Alcohol Prohibition went from 1920 to 1933 and took a constitutional amendment to do so. The prohibition of Cannabis/Marijuana was done with a seemingly endless stream of mindless, and unscientific criminalizing legislation and ordinances.
After a long Supreme Court journey (Timothy Leary 1969) Cannabis prohibition was found to be unconstitutional in America. But that did not stop President Richard Nixon from denying Americans their rights and instituting what would become known as the “Drug War” (controlled Substances Act 1970), which was not a war on drugs of course but on people.
The Drug War would go on for decades and degrade or destroy countless communities and families. Michelle Alexander accurately analyzes the Drug War in her book “The New Jim Crow”, and gave current generations a waypoint to find a new direction for the culture.
Decades of lies, ignorance, and outright propaganda have terribly confused Americans and the world on what cannabis is and how it can be part of a normal and safe lifestyle.
PROHIBITION HAS ALWAYS BEEN WRONG
- Evidence of cannabis prohibition in Bible; was used to justify persecution of herbalist women for hundreds of years.., modern American Cannabis Prohibition is Racist, and a tool of violent social control.
- For many decades our government and numerous prohibitionist interests have been boldly lying to Americans regarding cannabis, all in an apparent conspiracy to violently take the rights and property of millions of Americans.
- We know it has legitimate medical use for hundreds of diseases and symptoms. How many have suffered needlessly? How many more?
- Who does prohibition benefit? Alcohol Interests, Police Unions, Prison Guard Unions, For Profit Prisons, Pharmaceutical Companies. These interests should not influence our wellness so negatively but they have.
I quickly understood the reasons that prohibition is so hard to get rid of, same reasons racism is hard to get rid of.. (ignorance)
SOCIAL BIASES AND MYTHS REMAIN OBSTACLES TO HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS WITH CANNABIS.
- Good for you, not bad for you.
- Life changing medicine not deadly gateway drug.
- Not a crime but the moral option.
- Has already and can continue to be productive, potentially life saving and healthy part of your life, not a life destroying one (like opiates can be).
TOWARDS A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH CANNABIS
- A Robust and healthy market is the best market. What does that look like?
- Should prohibitionists decide how to setup new market? We must inform them.
- Support best practices in your local market. Help build a positive holistic market and community near you.
- Safe, High Quality, Affordable, Variety/Available easy Access for Adults
The best market is an open one that is taxed very low. This will encourage grey market actors to become increasingly legal. Small cultivators should be encouraged to create high quality products in smaller batches like our craft beer industry. Small business should be encouraged and supported as a preferable option for locals that are concerned about the health of their community. Retail businesses should encourage local production.