What socio-political force would be strong enough to turn Americans against something as innocent as a plant—let alone one which everyone had an interest in using to improve their own lives?

    Earlier, you read how the first federal anti-marijuana laws (1937) came about because of William Randolph Hearst’s lies, yellow journalism, and racist newspaper articles and ravings, which from then on were cited in Congressional testimony by Harry Anslinger as facts.

    But what started Hearst on the marijuana and racist scare stories? What intelligence or ignorance, for which we still punish fellow Americans to the tune of 14 million years in jails and prisons in just the last 60 years, (390,000 arrested in 1990 for marijuana; 410,000 arrested in 1993 for marijuana; 642,000 arrested in 1997 alone for marijuana, almost twice as many as 1990)—brought this all about?

    The first step was to introduce the element of fear of the unknown by using a word that no one had ever heard of before: “marijuana.”

    The next step was to keep the maneuverings hidden from the doctors, scientists, and hemp industries who would have defended hemp. This was done by holding most of the hearings on prohibition in secret.

    And, finally, prohibitionists set out to stir up primal emotions and tap right into an existing pool of hatred that was already poisoning society: racism.

the authorized on-line version of Jack Herer’s “The Emperor Wears No Clothes”

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