25 ms·

every time I hear about the US outlawing weed there's a different explanation given with absolutely certainty of truth. "it was the paper industry". "it was a w

every time I hear about the US outlawing weed there's a different explanation given with absolutely certainty of truth. "it was the paper industry". "it was a way to oppress African-Americans". "it was a way to take jobs from Mexicans". "it was seen as being linked to crime". etc etc etc

fzeroracer 3y ago
Those aren't different explanations, they're all part of the same explanation. It was initially criminalized because minority groups were using it during the time of prohibition and it was a way of targeting them specifically. Randolph Hearst ran a series of yellow journalism hit pieces which is one of the origins of reefer madness comes from. He also ran the largest newspaper at the time. Then once it was criminalized it was trivial to link it to crime because, well, now only criminals were growing, selling and using marijuana.
- permo-w 3y ago
  sure, but the explanations, like here, are always given in isolation, seemingly as the be all and end all, and while it may well be true that they're all a little part of the truth, that is interesting in itself
  - reactordev 3y ago
    It started with migrant mexicans and America piled on more racism to include African Americans and European outsiders (Rus, pol, etc). America has and continues to have, a racism problem. Policies targeting minorities for no good reason other than racism and hate. fzeroracer is correct, it’s all part of the bigger picture ban against anything “un-american” at the time. Reefer Madness, hit pieces in the news/media, blaming crazy on marijuana, and not understanding. Policy through bigotry is not good policy. I linked this elsewhere in the thread but here’s a law university study. https://libguides.law.uga.edu/c.php?g=522835&p=3575350 https://libguides.law.uga.edu/c.php?g=522835&p=3575350
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]

25 ms·

every time I hear about the US outlawing weed there's a different explanation given with absolutely certainty of truth. "it was the paper industry". "it was a w

by permo-w 3y ago

fzeroracer 3y ago
Those aren't different explanations, they're all part of the same explanation. It was initially criminalized because minority groups were using it during the time of prohibition and it was a way of targeting them specifically. Randolph Hearst ran a series of yellow journalism hit pieces which is one of the origins of reefer madness comes from. He also ran the largest newspaper at the time. Then once it was criminalized it was trivial to link it to crime because, well, now only criminals were growing, selling and using marijuana.
- permo-w 3y ago
  sure, but the explanations, like here, are always given in isolation, seemingly as the be all and end all, and while it may well be true that they're all a little part of the truth, that is interesting in itself
  - reactordev 3y ago
    It started with migrant mexicans and America piled on more racism to include African Americans and European outsiders (Rus, pol, etc). America has and continues to have, a racism problem. Policies targeting minorities for no good reason other than racism and hate. fzeroracer is correct, it’s all part of the bigger picture ban against anything “un-american” at the time. Reefer Madness, hit pieces in the news/media, blaming crazy on marijuana, and not understanding. Policy through bigotry is not good policy. I linked this elsewhere in the thread but here’s a law university study. https://libguides.law.uga.edu/c.php?g=522835&p=3575350 https://libguides.law.uga.edu/c.php?g=522835&p=3575350
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]