The History Of Cannabis In America

Cannabis is the botanical name given to Indian hemp, a versatile plant that has

been used by mankind for thousands of years. The Native Americans utilized cannabis in

their peace-pipe rituals, and was considered a holy plant by many tribes. The mass-

production of cannabis in America began when the Spanish conquistadors came to

the New World. They pioneered the cultivation of cannabis for hemp in the Americas.

Ever since then, cannabis has played an important part in the history of the United States.

The Declaration Of Independence was printed on hemp paper, while the cowboy

pioneers of the Wild West traveled in convoys of hemp-covered wagons. Later still,

during the famous California gold rush of 1849, the prospectors wore the original Levi

jeans which were manufactured from riveted hemp and with heavy-duty pockets strong

enough to withstand the bags of heavy gold dust they were hoping to stash in them.

The tradition of smoking cannabis for pleasure came to the Americas when the

early African and Indian immigrants came over to South America and the Caribbean.

From there the practice traveled through Central America and Mexico, and finally arriving in

Texas around the turn of the century. Workers first brought marijuana into Texas

seeking to escape the horrific and grinding poverty of Mexico. The habit caught on,

spreading among the poor and dispossessed to such an extent that, by 1914, smoking

grass had become relatively commonplace among the Hispanics of El Paso and New

Orleans.

This was all happening during the immediate aftermath of the Spanish-American

War when the U.S. public opinion was virulently anti-Hispanic. It was an obvious

strategy for the newspapers of the day to extend the fear and loathing in which Mexicans

were held to their practice of smoking weed.

So a smear campaign was launched, running stories about Mexican dope smokers

running around committing the most horrendous and bloodthirsty of crimes while high on

marijuana. Not soon after, states began enacting laws against the plant. First it was

California, then Texas, soon followed by Louisiana, New York and others.

However, in Jack Herer's book, "The Emperor Wears No Clothes", he talks about a

much larger conspiracy against the cultivation of cannabis. In his book, Herer names Harry J.

Anslnger as, "one of the key players in the movement to eradicate hemp cultivation in the

United States." Anslinger was made director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1931,

a job that was given to him by his uncle Albert Mellon, who was then serving in

President Herbert Hoover's government. Mellon shared banking interests with the Dupont

Corporation which had made its money from munitions during the first World War.

However, ever since then the company had been forced to diversify. One of the ways it

did this was by becoming a major player in oil-based synthetic fibers such as nylon.

Advances being made in the United States hemp industry at the time were threatening to

render redundant the need for such synthetic fibers. Dupont's extensive paper mill

interests were likewise being threatened by the development of increasingly successful

hemp-based