The Marijuana Justice Act of 2017 Seeks To End Federal Prohibition - The War On Cannabis & Who Profited!

On the 1st of August a congressional bill was tendered in the US to end the federal ban on the use of the cannabis plant. The bill was introduced by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker as the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017 and seeks to end federal prohibition. Although various legalisation laws have been passed in many states in the US cannabis still remains illegal at the federal level.

The War On Cannabis

Although cannabis use is ancient, around the world there has been a concerted effort to demonise it for the last 70 years. Even the name cannabis was changed to marijuana in an attempt by the US government to racially stigmatize the plant.

Harry Anslinger used the term to demonise both the plant and the influx of Mexican migrant workers. Anslinger was the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and was able to expand his fiefdom by adding the most commonly used drug to the enforcement policy. There was always a racial stigma attached to the use of cannabis.

Richard Nixon began the war on drugs and associated cannabis use with hippies and disobedience. During the 80s Ronald Reagan brought in minimum drug sentencing laws and ramped up spending on the war on cannabis. This approach to a medicinal plant ruined the lives of many with lengthy prison sentences. Between 2001 and 2010 there were 8.2 million marijuana arrests for cannabis offences.

Who Profited From The War On Cannabis

There are clearly a lot of entities that profited enormously from criminalising cannabis! Who were they?

• The Federal Bureau Of Narcotics who had increased budgets and power
• The private prison industry which profited from millions of new customers
• Pharmaceutical companies who increased their client base because the medicinal effects of cannabis were illegal
• Police departments who had increased budgets
• Weapons and equipment manufacturers who supplied the police
• The alcohol industry saw its customer base increase because cannabis was prohibited
• Claims have even been made that the paper industry was threatened by cannabis because it is much faster to grow than trees

Cannabis Criminalisation Around The World

The US could not claim that cannabis use was a terrible danger if people in other countries were using it traditionally. without any obvious negative side effects. Many countries have ancient traditions of cannabis use for both medicine and recreation.

In 1973 the US pressured Nepal to criminalise cannabis after millennia of use. Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia were pressured to do the same, even though cannabis was an ancient medicinal and recreational part of their cultures. I know some older Asian grandparents who still remember cannabis plants growing in their family kitchen gardens.

Legalisation Of Cannabis

Many countries around the world are now investigating the possibility of legalising cannabis use. Holland was always known as a place with tolerant laws towards cannabis. Clubs in Spain can now distribute cannabis to their members. Australia is already moving down the path towards medical cannabis legalisation. In the US the following states have passed some form of cannabis legalisation law:

Alaska, California, Colorado, Oregon, Massachusetts, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania , Rhode Island, Vermont.

Legalisation of cannabis has shown to reduce crime and increase revenue for states. There are billions in profits to be made from legalising cannabis and surely the large pharmaceutical companies who dominate the legal cannabis market in the US will be lobbying hard to pass the bill.

I wonder if they will release people in prison on cannabis charges if the bill passes?

---

Images courtesy of: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

---

Jockey loves you All! =)