MARIJUANA MISINFORMATION

In 1937, Congress became convinced that marijuana caused violent
behavior in Orientals, Mexicans, and the black population. The source
of this bigoted information came from William Randolf Hearst, who
wrote these racist statements in his newspaper editorials.

Hearst owned vast timberlands, and the invention of the hemp
decorticator would have lessened the need for wood-pulp paper and
Hearst would lose money. Andrew Mellon, an oil baron, was a banker who
loaned duPont money to get started making nylon and plastics from
petroleum. About this same time, inventors like Henry Ford had
developed a car body made from hemp that was stronger then steel and
others were coming up with ways to use renewable resources. All that
Hearst and Mellon needed to do was convince Congress that minorities
became violent after using marijuana and that marijuana and hemp were
the same thing.

During World War II, a need for hemp rope prompted Congress to
encourage hemp growing as patriotic. After the war, Anslinger, head of
Narcotics, convinced Congress, once again, to make hemp illegal;
claiming that instead of causing violent behavior, smoking marijuana
made people turn to communism. The Congress, out of fear of the red
menace, again made growing hemp illegal in the United States.

Now the current propaganda against legalizing marijuana isn't racism
or communism, but fear that 18-year-olds would abuse drugs. The fact
is that in Holland, where marijuana has been legal for 25 years, teen
drug abuse is far lower than in the United States.