Hemp History Part 1

Source: pharmaxtracts.com



THE INTRODUCTION OF HEMP TO NORTH AMERICA, AND HOW THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT STIFLED RESEARCH INTO A MOST VALUABLE MEDICAL REMEDY
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MARIJUANA AND HEMP

MARIJUANA
MARIJUANA IS SELECTIVELY BRED STRAINS OF THE CANNABIS PLANT SOWN SEVERAL FEET APART TO PRODUCE THE MOST FLOWERING PARTS. THE FLOWERS ARE INDIVIDUALLY VERY SMALL, BUT THEY CLUMP TOGETHER TO FORM LARGE BUDS. CANNABIS HAS MALE AND FEMALE PLANTS WITH AN OCCASIONAL HERMAPHRODITE CONTAINING BOTH SEXUAL PARTS. PROPERLY GROWN MARIJUANA, REFERRED TO AS “SESAMIA,” ARE BUDS FROM FEMALE PLANTS WHICH ARE KEPT FROM BEING FERTILIZED SO THEY WILL USE ALL THEIR ENERGY PRODUCING RESIN INSTEAD OF SEEDS. 

MALE PLANTS FOUND IN THE CROP ARE PULLED FROM THE SOIL AS SOON AS THEY ARE IDENTIFIED. MOST PROFESSIONAL GROWERS START THEIR SEEDLINGS FROM GRAFTS TAKEN FROM THEIR FINEST FEMALE PLANTS OR GROW THEIR SEEDLINGS FROM CAREFULLY CHOSEN HYBRID SEED DESIGNED TO YIELD ONLY FEMALE PLANTS. 

AS A RESULT, THE MARIJUANA BEING GROWN FOR RECREATIONAL AND MOST MEDICAL PURPOSES WILL HAVE A LOW OR NONEXISTENT SEED COUNT, BE HIGH IN RESIN PRODUCTION, AND CONTAIN A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF TETRAHYDROCANNABINOL (THC). THC IS THE PSYCHOTROPIC CANNABINOID IN MARIJUANA THAT PRODUCES A EUPHORIC HIGH AND HAS CERTAIN MEDICAL PROPERTIES WHICH HAVE BEEN RECORDED FOR OVER 2,000 YEARS.

ABOVE IS A PICTURE OF CANNABIS BEING GROWN FOR SALE AS RECREATIONAL OR MEDICAL MARIJUANA. THE PLANTS HAVE GROW ABOUT FIVE FEET HIGH TOPPED OFF BY LARGE BUDS. ONE PLANT CAN SEND UP EIGHT LARGE BUDS AS SHOWN IN THIS MARIJUANA BEING LEGALLY GROWN IN SOUTH AFRICA. THE MARIJUANA BUDS ARE HARVESTED, TRIMMED, AND THEN SOLD. OFTEN TIMES, THE MAJOR STALKS OF THE MARIJUANA PLANT ARE DRIED UPSIDE DOWN (SEEN BELOW) IN THE HOPE THAT ALL THE PLANT’S RESIN WILL SETTLE IN THE TOPMOST BUDS. 

RECREATIONAL AND MEDICAL MARIJUANA CAN NOW BE GROWN AND SOLD IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND 8 STATES. MARIJUANA FOR JUST MEDICAL PURPOSES CAN BE GROWN AND SOLD IN 21 ADDITIONAL STATES. RECREATIONAL AND/OR MEDICAL MARIJUANA MAY BE CANNABIS INDICA, CANNABIS SATIVA, OR A HYBRID OF CANNABIS INDICA AND CANNABIS SATIVA.

HEMP
HEMP IS SELECTIVELY BREAD CANNABIS WITH THE SEEDS SOWN CLOSE TOGETHER, AND THE FEMALE PLANTS’ FLOWERING PARTS ARE ALLOWED TO BE FERTILIZED BY THE MALE PLANTS’ POLLEN AND GO TO SEED. PLANTING MANY HEMP SEEDS SPACED CLOSE TOGETHER RESULTS IN THE CANNABIS PLANTS DEVELOPING LONG STALKS AS THEY COMPETE WITH ONE ANOTHER FOR SUNLIGHT, AND THE STALKS WILL BE LEFT WITH FEW LEAVES AND SIDE BRANCHES. THE MALE PLANTS RELEASE THEIR POLLEN INTO THE AIR, AND THE WIND BLOWS THE POLLEN UPON THE FEMALE PLANT’S NUMEROUS FLOWERING PARTS PRODUCING AN ABUNDANCE OF NEW SEEDS. SOME OF THOSE SEEDS ARE USED FOR PLANTING THE NEXT CROP. THE REMAINING SEEDS ARE MADE INTO A VARIETY OF PRODUCTS. 

THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT HAS PREVIOUSLY ARGUED THAT HEMP IS INCLUDED IN THE UNITED STATES CODE’S ALL- ENCOMPASSING DEFINITION OF MARIJUANA, AND THE GOVERNMENT HAS MORE SPECIFICALLY DEFINED HEMP AS MARIJUANA CONTAINING LESS THAN 0.3% THC. HEMP IS NOW LEGALLY GROW IN 43 STATES, AND PRODUCTS MADE FROM ITS SEEDS, SUCH AS LOTIONS, OILS, AND FOOD PRODUCTS, AND PRODUCTS MADE FROM ITS HEMP FIBER, SUCH AS ROPE, TWINE, AND CLOTH MAY BE SOLD NATIONWIDE. HEMP IS A HYBRID OF CANNABIS SATIVA.

ABOVE IS A PICTURE OF CANNABIS BEING GROWN FOR SALE AS HEMP. 

PROFESSIONAL GROWERS ARE JUST BEGINNING TO EXPERIMENT WITH GROWING TECHNIQUES AND HYBRID HEMP STRAINS WHICH WILL PRODUCE THE MOST CANNABIDIOL (CBD), THE CANNABIS DERIVATIVE PRESENTLY SHOWING THE MOST PROMISE FOR MEDICAL USE.

THE PRESENT LEGALITY OF MARIJUANA UNDER FEDERAL LAW
MARIJUANA IS STILL ILLEGAL UNDER FEDERAL LAW, BUT PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S ADMINISTRATION PREFERRED TO TAKE A HANDS-OFF APPROACH ALLOWING THOSE STATES THAT HAVE PASSED LAWS LEGALIZING GROWING, SELLING, POSSESSING, AND USING MARIJUANA FOR EITHER RECREATIONAL OR MEDICAL PURPOSES TO ENFORCE THEIR OWN LAWS AS THEY SEE FIT. WHETHER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S ADMINISTRATION CAN BE CONVINCED TO FOLLOW OBAMA’S HANDS-OFF APPROACH REMAINS UNCERTAIN.
ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS IS ADAMANTLY OPPOSED TO MARIJUANA AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN. SESSIONS HAS BLAMED MARIJUANA FOR INCITING VIOLENCE, HAS DESCRIBED IT AS A “VERY REAL DANGER,” AND HAS SAID, “GOOD PEOPLE DON’T SMOKE MARIJUANA.” SESSIONS HAS DIRECTED U.S. ATTORNEYS IN ALL STATES AND TERRITORIES TO CHARGE DRUG OFFENDER ARRESTED ON FEDERAL CHARGES WITH WHATEVER DRUG OFFENSE WILL RESULT IN THE LONGEST PRISON SENTENCE WITH NO LENIENCY SHOWN.
PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS DECLARED THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC A NATIONAL EMERGENCY FOLLOWING A RECOMMENDATION RECEIVED FROM THE PRESIDENT’S COMMISSION ON COMBATING DRUG ADDICTION AND THE OPIOID CRISIS, WHICH COMMISSION IS CHAIRED BY NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE (SEEN BELOW). TRUMP ANNOUNCED THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY FOLLOWING CONSIDERABLE CRITICISM HE RECEIVED FROM THE DAY BEFORE WHEN HE MENTIONED NOTHING ABOUT A NATIONAL EMERGENCY AND, INSTEAD, RECOMMENDED, “JUST DON’T START.” TRUMP CLAIMS HE HAS NEVER DRUNK ALCOHOL OR SMOKED TOBACCO OR MARIJUANA, AND HE CONDEMNS THE USE OF ANY ILLICIT DRUG, INCLUDING MARIJUANA. TRUMP HAS NEVER COME OUT IN FAVOR OF LEGALIZING

MEDICAL MARIJUANA ON A NATIONAL LEVEL OR FOR REDUCING FEDERAL PENALTIES FOR GROWING, SELLING, POSSESSING, OR USING MARIJUANA, OR FOR EASING RESTRICTIONS ON PERFORMING SCIENTIFIC MEDICAL STUDIES ON MARIJUANA OR HEMP RELATED PRODUCTS.

SEEKING RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD “COMBAT” THE NUMEROUS STATE LAWS WHICH ALLOW FOR THE GROWING AND SELLING OF RECREATIONAL AND/OR MEDICAL MARIJUANA, SESSIONS (SEEN BELOW) ASSEMBLED A JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TASK FORCE ON CRIME REDUCTION AND PUBLIC SAFETY MADE UP OF PROSECUTORS AND FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS. ON AUGUST 4, 2017, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ANNOUNCED IT HAD OBTAINED A COPY OF THE TASK FORCE’S INTERNAL, CONFIDENTIAL REPORT, AND MUCH TO SESSIONS’ CHAGRIN, THE TASK FORCE RECOMMENDED THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTINUE WITH OBAMA’S HANDS-OFF APPROACH WHILE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S ROLE IN ENFORCING THE FEDERAL LAW MAKING MARIJUANA ILLEGAL IN ALL STATES, INCLUDING STATES WHERE MARIJUANA HAS BEEN LEGALIZED FOR RECREATIONAL AND/OR MEDICAL PURPOSES, CONTINUES TO BE STUDIED.

LEGAL SCHOLARS HAVE LONG QUESTIONED WHETHER CONGRESS CAN LEGALLY BAN MARIJUANA THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES BY SIMPLY PASSING A LAW. NO SUCH POWER IS GIVEN TO CONGRESS BY THE CONSTITUTION, AND THE TENTH AMENDMENT STATES, “THE POWERS NOT DELEGATED TO THE UNITED STATES BY THE CONSTITUTION, NOR PROHIBITED BY IT TO THE STATES, ARE RESERVED TO THE STATES RESPECTIVELY, OR TO THE PEOPLE.” IN ORDER TO DECLARE ALCOHOL ILLEGAL, THE EIGHTEENTH AMENDMENT WAS RATIFIED IN 1919 THEREBY AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION. IF THE BANNING OF ALCOHOL BETWEEN THE PASSAGE OF THE EIGHTEENTH AMENDMENT AND THE PASSAGE OF THE TWENTY-FIRST AMENDMENT IN 1933 WAS NECESSARY TO BAN THE PRODUCTION, IMPORTATION, DISTRIBUTION, AND SALE OF ALCOHOL, LEGAL SCHOLARS HAVE ASKED WHY SHOULD MARIJUANA BE TREATED ANY DIFFERENTLY?

THE TASK FORCE’S REPORT ALSO REFLECTS THE POLITICAL REALITY OF INTERFERING WITH THE BUDGETS OF 29 STATES THAT HAVE BEGUN TO RELY ON TAX REVENUES RECEIVED FROM MARIJUANA SALES. THE TASK FORCE NEEDED TO CONSIDER THE PUBLIC’S GROWING, AND NOW, OVERWHELMING SUPPORT, FOR LEGALIZING MARIJUANA ON THE FEDERAL LEGAL FOR ALL PURPOSES. A QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY POLL OF 1,062 AMERICAN VOTERS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY CONDUCTED FROM APRIL 12 TO APRIL 18, 2017, REVEALED 60 PERCENT OF ALL AMERICAN VOTERS BELIEVE “THE USE OF MARIJUANA SHOULD BE MADE LEGAL IN THE U.S.,” WHILE ONLY 34 PERCENT OF THOSE POLLED DISAGREED, AND 6 PERCENT REMAINED UNDECIDED. 73 PERCENT OF THOSE POLLED BELIEVE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT ENFORCE THE FEDERAL MARIJUANA LAW IN STATES THAT HAVE LEGALIZED MEDICAL AND/OR RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA. AN ASTOUNDING 94 PERCENT OF THOSE POLLED AGREED WITH “ALLOWING ADULTS TO LEGALLY USE MARIJUANA FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES IF THEIR DOCTOR PRESCRIBES IT.” 

THE QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY POLL HAD A 3 PERCENT MARGIN OF ERROR.
WHETHER THE PRESENT FEDERAL LAW BANNING MARIJUANA ALSO APPLIES TO GROWING, SELLING, POSSESSING, MANUFACTURING, AND USING HEMP AND HEMP DERIVED PRODUCTS, SUCH AS CBD, IS ANOTHER MATTER WHICH WILL BE DISCUSSED LATER IN THIS POST.

THERE IS A BUILDING RESISTANCE TO THE FEDERAL REGULATION OF MARIJUANA
MARIJUANA HIT THE “HIPPIE” SCENE IN THE 1960'S, AND ITS USE BECAME FAMILIAR TO ANYONE WHO WATCHED TELEVISION, LISTENED TO MUSIC, WENT TO A POPULAR MOVIE, READ A BEST-SELLER, OR PICKED UP LIFE MAGAZINE. 

LSD, WHICH IS LIKE MARIJUANA ON STEROIDS, WAS LEGAL FOR A TIME. THE BIRTH CONTROL PILL INITIATED AN ERA OF FREE LOVE. THE YOUTH OF THE NATION HAD AN UNPOPULAR WAR IN VIETNAM TO PROTEST. EVERY “RELEVANT” MOVIE MADE IN THE LATE 1960'S, “COOGAN’S BLUFF” (1968), “EASY RIDER” (1969), AND “MIDNIGHT COWBOY” (1969), TO NAME A FEW, HAD ITS MARIJUANA PARTY SCENE. 

BELOW IS A STILL FROM EASY RIDER SHOWING JACK NICHOLSON SMOKING A JOINT. IT HAS TAKEN 50 YEARS FOR PUBLIC OPINION TO CATCH UP WITH HOLLYWOOD’S MESSAGE THAT IT WOULD BE BETTER TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA RATHER THAN SPEND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON POLICE, JAILS, COURTS, PROSECUTORS, PUBLIC DEFENDERS, JUDGES, PROBATION OFFICERS, PRISONS, AND PAROLE OFFICERS AND, INSTEAD, SOME OF THE EXTRA TAX REVENUES EARNED FROM MARIJUANA SALES SHOULD BE SPENT RESEARCHING THE INDUSTRIAL AND MEDICAL BENEFITS OFFERED BY THE CANNABIS PLANT.

THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN POLITICIANS IGNORING WHAT THEIR EXPERT INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEES HAVE BEEN TELLING THEM. 

FOR EXAMPLE, IN 1972, PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON APPOINTED A NATIONAL COMMISSION ON MARIHUANA AND DRUG ABUSE, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE SHAFER COMMISSION AFTER ITS CHAIRMAN PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR RAYMOND P. SHAFER (SOME MEMBERS OF WHICH ARE SEEN BELOW), WHO REPORTED TO NIXON THAT THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT’S PROHIBITION OF CANNABIS WAS CONSTITUTIONALLY SUSPECT, THAT THEY FELT IT LIKELY WOULD BE FOUND UNCONSTITUTIONAL, THAT THE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE BRANCHES OWED THEIR FIRST DUTY TO THE CONSTITUTION BY NOT ENFORCING A LAW THE COMMISSION FELT WAS LIKELY TO BE FOUND UNCONSTITUTIONAL, AND THE COMMISSION KNOWINGLY GAVE THIS ADVICE DESPITE THERE BEING NO PRIOR COURT RULINGS ON THE SUBJECT.

ACCORDING TO A FEBRUARY 14, 1972 ARTICLE IN THE GUARDIAN, “A PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION HAS UNANIMOUSLY DECIDED TO RECOMMEND THAT ALL CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR THE PRIVATE USE AND POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA SHOULD BE ABOLISHED. . . . THE COMMISSION’S CONCLUSIONS WERE BASED ON STUDIES WHICH SHOWED THAT MARIJUANA IS NOT ADDICTIVE, THAT IT CANNOT BE SHOWN TO BE PHYSICALLY OR PHYSIOLOGICALLY HARMFUL, AND THAT ITS USE DOES NOT APPEAR TO LEAD TO HARD DRUG ADDICTION.” 

UNFORTUNATELY, NIXON IGNORED HIS COMMISSION’S RECOMMENDATIONS AND, INSTEAD, SAID, “I WANT TO EMPHASIZE MY CONTINUED OPPOSITION TO LEGALIZING THE POSSESSION, SALE, OR USE OF MARIJUANA. THERE IS NO QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER MARIJUANA IS DANGEROUS, THE ONLY QUESTION IS HOW DANGEROUS.” 

NIXON THEN EXPANDED HIS WAR ON MARIJUANA BY ORDERING THE CIA TO INVADE MEXICAN AIR SPACE AND SPRAY THE MEXICAN MARIJUANA FIELDS WITH THE HERBICIDE PARAQUAT. THE PARAQUAT TURNED THE MARIJUANA YELLOW, BUT IT WAS STILL PACKAGED IN MEXICAN “BRICKS” AND SMUGGLED INTO THE UNITED STATES. SMOKING PARAQUAT LACED MARIJUANA RESULTED IN A NUMBER OF AMERICANS GETTING SICK, AND THE HEAD SHOPS STARTED SELLING PARAQUAT TEST KITS.

NIXON’S SPRAYING THE MEXICAN MARIJUANA FIELDS WITH PARAQUAT CAUSED MANY AMERICANS TO SHY AWAY FROM PURCHASING MEXICAN MARIJUANA AND HAD THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE OF OPENING UP SMUGGLING ROUTES FROM COLUMBIA LEADING TO THE IMPORTATION OF FINER AND CONSIDERABLY MORE EXPENSIVE MARIJUANA AND, ULTIMATELY, LED TO WIDE-SCALE SMUGGLING OF COCAINE FROM COLUMBIA INTO THE UNITED STATES RESULTING IN THE COCAINE EPIDEMIC OF THE EARLY 1980'S.

PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN UPPED THE ANTE IN 1984 BY SIGNING INTO LAW THE COMPREHENSIVE CRIME CONTROL ACT OF 1984 WHICH SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED FEDERAL PENALTIES FOR POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA FOLLOWING A TREAD THAT BEGAN IN THE 1970'S WHEN INDIVIDUAL STATES BEGAN TO REDUCE THEIR PENALTIES FOR SIMPLE POSSESSION, INCLUDING 11 STATES THAT DECRIMINALIZED SIMPLE POSSESSION AND BEGAN TREATING IT AS A CIVIL OFFENSE.

IN 2003, HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES INTRODUCED THE ROHRABACHER-FARR BILL AS AN AMENDMENT TO AN OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL. THE ROHRABACHER-FARR BILL WOULD HAVE PROHIBITED THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FROM SPENDING ANY FUNDS TO PAY ANY EMPLOYEE WHO SPENT HIS TIME TRYING TO STOP THE IMPLEMENTATION OF STATE LAWS LEGALIZING MEDICAL MARIJUANA. TIME AND AGAIN PASSAGE OF THIS BILL FAILED UNTIL IN APRIL 2013, CONGRESSMAN DANA ROHRABACHER ®-CA, SEEN BELOW) REINTRODUCED HIS BILL, AND THIS TIME IT PASSED THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE, AND OBAMA SIGNED THE BUDGET TO WHICH IT WAS ATTACHED INTO LAW IN DECEMBER 2014. ROHRABACHER’S AMENDMENT HAS MANAGED TO BE ATTACHED TO ALL SUCCEEDING BUDGET BILLS AS THEY ARE RENEWED. THE LAST RENEWAL IS DUE TO EXPIRE AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER 2017. ROHRABACHER’S AMENDMENT DOES NOT INCLUDE RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA, AND A DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SPOKESPERSON CLAIMED THE AMENDMENT ONLY REQUIRES “FEDERAL AGENTS AND PROSECUTORS NOT TO INTERFERE WITH STATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS,” AND ACCORDING TO HIGH TIMES, TOM ANGELL WITH THE MARIJUANA MAJORITY REPORTED, “SO FAR THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HAS TAKEN THE ABSURD POSITION THAT THESE SPENDING PROVISIONS DON'T ACTUALLY PREVENT THEM FROM GOING AFTER PATIENTS AND PROVIDERS WHO OPERATE LEGALLY UNDER STATE POLICIES.” SINCE TRUMP WAS SWORN IN ON JANUARY 20, 2017, THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HAS NOT GONE AFTER MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS, PROBABLY BECAUSE A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF TRUMP’S BASE ARE REGULAR RECREATIONAL USERS. A SEPARATE AMENDMENT ADDRESSING THE GROWING OF HEMP HAS INCURRED LESS CONTROVERSY.

DEMOCRAT NEW JERSEY SENATOR CORY BOOKER (SEEN BELOW) HAS INTRODUCED THE MARIJUANA JUSTICE ACT OF 2017 REMOVING MARIJUANA FROM THE UNITED STATES CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT THEREBY MAKING MARIJUANA LEGAL ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL, AND THIS LEGISLATION WILL INEVITABLY HAVE BI-PARTISAN SUPPORT. INDIVIDUAL STATES COULD STILL MAKE OR KEEP MARIJUANA ILLEGAL ON THE STATE LEVEL. 

PRESENTLY, THE THREE STATES HAVING THE MOST ONEROUS MARIJUANA GROWING LAWS ARE KANSAS, WHERE GROWING FIVE PLANTS CAN LAND ONE IN PRISON FOR 12-17 YEARS, VIRGINIA, WHERE GROWING ANY AMOUNT OF MARIJUANA IS PUNISHABLE BY 5-30 YEARS IN PRISON AND A $10,000 FINE, AND OKLAHOMA WHERE GROWING ANY AMOUNT OF MARIJUANA CAN RESULT IN A LIFE SENTENCE. SIMPLE FIRST TIME POSSESSION OF ANY AMOUNT OF MARIJUANA IN OKLAHOMA CAN LAND ONE IN PRISON FOR 1 YEAR.

BELOW IS A MAP SHOWING THE LEGAL STATUS OF MARIJUANA IN ALL 50 STATES AS OF 2017 ACCORDING TO THE GEORGIA CARE PROJECT. IN THE GREEN STATES, BOTH MEDICAL AND RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA ARE LEGAL. IN THE YELLOW STATES, MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS LEGAL. IN THE ORANGE STATES, HEMP AND CBD OIL IS LEGAL. IN THE RED STATES, MARIJUANA IS ILLEGAL.

THE RED STATES RELY ON AN INTERPRETATION OF THE DEFINITION OF MARIJUANA WHICH WOULD ARGUABLY INCLUDING HEMP AND BECAUSE MARIJUANA IS CLASSIFIED A SCHEDULE 1 DRUG BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. 

HOWEVER, ACCORDING TO THE CASE OF HEMP INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION, ET AL. V. DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, 357 F.3D 1012 (9TH CIR. 2004), THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT RULED IN 2004 THAT THC NATURALLY-OCCURRING WITHIN NON-PSYCHOACTIVE HEMP PRODUCTS DOES NOT FALL UNDER THE DEA’S REGULATION BECAUSE THE DEA SCHEDULED NON-PSYCHOACTIVE HEMP WITHOUT FOLLOWING REQUIRED PROCEDURES AND, THEREFORE, CONGRESS DID NOT REGULATE NON-PSYCHOACTIVE HEMP AS A SCHEDULE 1 DRUG.

FOR THE DEA TO BE ABLE TO OUTLAW HEMP BY CLASSIFYING IT AS A SCHEDULE 1 DRUG, WHICH IS THE SAME CATEGORY AS THE DEA CLASSIFIES HEROIN, THE DEA WOULD NEED SHOW HEMP SATISFIES ALL THREE OF THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA: (A) IT MUST HAVE A HIGH POTENTIAL FOR ABUSE, (B) IT HAS NO CURRENTLY ACCEPTED MEDICAL USE IN TREATMENT IN THE UNITED STATES AND, ©) IT LACKS ACCEPTED SAFETY FOR USE UNDER MEDICAL SUPERVISION. THE NINTH CIRCUIT SPECIFICALLY FOUND, “NON- PSYCHOACTIVE HEMP IS EXPLICITLY EXCLUDED FROM THE DEFINITION OF MARIJUANA.” PHARMAXTRACTS’ CBD PRODUCTS ARE MADE FROM INDUSTRIAL HEMP, CONTAIN NO THC, AND MAY BE LEGALLY SHIPPED TO ANY STATE OR TERRITORY WITHIN THE UNITED STATES.

HEMP WAS A REQUIRED CROP IN THE EARLY AMERICAN COLONIES
IN 1497, JOHN CABOT SET SAIL FOR AMERICA AT THE REQUEST OF KING HENRY VII OF ENGLAND, AND CABOT LANDED IN NEWFOUNDLAND, NOVA SCOTIA, AND LABRADOR, RESULTING IN THE ENGLISH CLAIMING OWNERSHIP OF THE ENTIRE EAST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA. IN 1550, PEDRO CUADRADO, ONE OF HERNAN CORTES’ SPANISH CONQUISTADORS, BROUGHT HEMP SEED TO MEXICO AND BEGAN TO GROW HEMP. ENTICED BY THE PROSPECT OF RAISING HEMP IN THE NEW WORLD, FAMOUS SOLDIER, EXPLORER, WRITER, POET, AND POLITICIAN, SIR WALTER RALEIGH (SEEN BELOW), EXPRESSED INTEREST IN HARVESTING HEMP IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES, BUT WHEN ENGLISH SETTLERS FIRST ARRIVED IN JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA, IN 1607, THEY WERE MORE INTERESTED IN SEARCHING FOR GOLD AND SILVER

THAN GROWING CROPS, AND HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE GENEROSITY OF THE POWHOTAN NATIVE AMERICANS, THE EARLY JAMESTOWN SETTLERS WOULD HAVE STARVED TO DEATH. THE NEW WORLD WAS ORIGINALLY DEVOID OF HEMP, BUT THERE WAS ACNIDA CANNABINA WHICH WAS SIMILAR TO HEMP AND FIRST MISTAKEN FOR HEMP BUT WHICH PRODUCED A VERY INFERIOR FIBER.

ENGLAND DESPERATELY NEEDED HEMP TO MAKE ROPES AND SAILS FOR ITS SHIPS, SO IN 1611, KING JAMES I ORDERED THE VIRGINIA COMPANY GOVERNOR, SIR THOMAS DALE, TO TELL THE KING’S SUBJECTS THE KING DEMANDED THEY GROW HEMP, AND BY 1616, COLONIST JOHN ROLFE (SEEN BELOW) CLAIMED JAMESTOWN WAS RAISING HEMP WHICH HAD “NO EQUAL IN ENGLAND OR HOLLAND.” HOWEVER, WHEN ROLFE INTRODUCED TOBACCO, IT SOON BECAME MORE PROFITABLE FOR THE COLONISTS TO GROWN TOBACCO, AND THE PRODUCTION OF THE MORE USEFUL HEMP WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DIMINISHED. AS A RESULT, THE VIRGINIA COMPANY ORDERED ITS JAMESTOWN COLONISTS TO “SET 100 [HEMP] PLANTS AND THE GOVERNOR TO SET 5,000." IN ADDITION, 100 POUNDS STERLING WAS APPROPRIATED TO PAY SWEDISH AND POLISH HEMP DRESSERS TEN POUNDS, TEN SHILLINGS APIECE IF THEY WOULD EMIGRATE TO THE JAMESTOWN COLONY.

THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT CONTINUED TO OFFER FURTHER INDUCEMENTS TO ENCOURAGE THE COLONISTS TO GROW HEMP, AND AFTER KING CHARLES II CAME TO THE THRONE IN 1660, VIRGINIA COMPANY GOVERNOR WILLIAM BERKELEY (SEEN BELOW) OFFERED TO PAY TWO POUNDS OF TOBACCO FOR EVERY POUND OF HEMP THE COLONISTS BROUGHT TO MARKET. SIMILAR INDUCEMENTS WERE OFFERED COLONIAL SETTLERS IN MARYLAND. BY 1682, HEMP BECAME LEGAL TENDER FOR UP TO ONE-FOURTH OF A FARMER’S DEBTS. MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA FOLLOWED SUIT IN 1683 AND 1706, RESPECTIVELY.

IN THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES, HEMP WAS FIRST BROUGHT TO AMERICA BY THE PILGRIMS WHEN THEY LANDED AT PLYMOUTH ROCK IN 1620. THE MAYFLOWER’S ROPES AND SAILS WERE MADE OF

HEMP BECAUSE OF ITS NATURAL RESISTENCE TO DECAY. IN FACT, ALL BRITISH SHIPS CARRIED A STORE OF HEMP SEED IN THE EVENT THEY WERE SHIPWRECKED AND NEEDED TO GROW HEMP FOR ROPE AND SAILS. HEMP WAS INTRODUCED AS ONE OF THE FIRST CROPS IN THE MASSACHUSETTS COLONY, AND GROWING HEMP WAS CONSIDERED NECESSARY IF THE PILGRIMS WERE TO MAKE CLOTHING TO HELP THEM SURVIVE THE WINTER.

WHEN SHIPBUILDING BEGAN IN SALEM, MASSACHUSETTES, IN 1629 (SEEN BELOW), THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH HEMP GROWN IN THE COLONIES TO SATISFY THE GROWING DEMAND FOR HEMP FOR MANUFACTURING ROPES AND SAILS. ADDITIONAL HEMP TO SATISFY THE SHIPBUILDER’S NEEDS NEEDED TO BE IMPORTED. BY 1639, THE MASSACHUSETTS COURT PASSED A LAW WHICH REQUIRED EVERY HOUSEHOLD TO PLANT HEMP SEEDS. THE CONNECTICUT ASSEMBLY ALSO STRONGLY ENCOURAGED HEMP FARMING.

IN 1635, THE FIRST BUILDING SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO MANUFACTURE ROPE FROM HEMP WAS BUILT IN SALEM. SUCH BUILDINGS WERE CALLED “ROPEWALKS,” AND THEY WERE UP TO A 1000 FEET LONG (SEE THE INTERIOR OF A ROPEWALK BELOW). THE FIRST ROPE MAKING OPERATION IN BOSTON WAS BEGUN BY JOHN HARRISON WHO THE BOSTON POLITICIANS INDUCED TO COME TO BOSTON IN 1642 BY OFFERING HARRISON A MONOPOLY CONSISTING OF HIS HAVING THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO MANUFACTURE HEMP ROPE IN BOSTON UNTIL THE TIME OF HIS DEATH. SOON ROPEWALKS COULD BE FOUND ALONG THE ENTIRE EASTERN COAST, AND BY 1770, LONG AFTER HARRISON’S DEATH, THERE WERE A TOTAL OF 14 ROPEWALKS IN BOSTON.

MEANWHILE, THE BRITISH CROWN CONTINUED TO REQUIRE ITS COLONIES TO GROW HEMP TO QUENCH THE BRITISH NAVY’S THIRST FOR ROPE AND SAILS. GROWING HEMP BECAME A STAPLE OF THE COLONIAL ECONOMIES AND BECAME GEORGE WASHINGTON’S THIRD PRIMARY CROP BEHIND WHEAT AND TOBACCO. IN FACT, WHEN VIRGINIA SUFFERED A SHORTAGE OF HEMP BETWEEN 1763 AND 1767, A LAND OWNER COULD BE JAILED FOR REFUSING TO GROW HEMP. THE DRAWING BELOW SHOWS EARLY COLONIALISTS HARVESTING THEIR HEMP CROP.

A NUMBER OF OUR COUNTRY’S SUBSEQUENT PRESIDENTS, SUCH AS THOMAS JEFFERSON, JAMES MADISON, JAMES MONROE, ANDREW JACKSON, ZACHARY TAYLOR, AND FRANKLIN PIERCE, ALSO GREW HEMP.

A MAY 1765 ENTRY IN WASHINGTON’S DIARY SAYS HE HAD HEMP SEEDS PLANTED EACH DAY FROM MID-APRIL, AND IN OCTOBER OF THAT YEAR, WASHINGTON WROTE HE HAD GROWN 27 BUSHELS OF HEMP. IN A LETTER WASHINGTON WROTE TO WILLIAM PEARCE, WHO MANAGED HIS HEMP PLANTS, “WHAT WAS DONE WITH THE INDIAN HEMP PLANT FROM LAST SUMMER? IT OUGHT, ALL OF IT, TO BE SOWN AGAIN; THAT NOT ONLY A STOCK OF SEED SUFFICIENT FOR MY OWN PURPOSES MIGHT HAVE BEEN RAISED, BUT TO HAVE DISSEMINATED SEED TO OTHERS; AS IT IS MORE VALUABLE THAN COMMON HEMP.” 

WASHINGTON ALSO WROTE IN HIS DIARY THAT HE HAD SEPARATED THE MALE CANNABIS PLANTS FROM THE FEMALE CANNABIS PLANTS “RATHER TOO LATE” LEADING TO SPECULATION THAT WASHINGTON WAS TRYING TO GROW HIMSELF SOME SESAMIA MARIJUANA PLANTS FOR SMOKING. THE PICTURES BELOW ARE OF WASHINGTON STANDING NEXT TO HIS HEMP HARVEST AND OF A HARVESTED FIELD AT MOUNT VERNON.

THOMAS JEFFERSON COMPOSED HIS DRAFTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ON DUTCH HEMP PAPER, AT A TIME WHEN 75 TO 90 PERCENT OF ALL PAPER WAS MADE FROM HEMP FIBER. 

THE FINAL OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE SIGNED BY THE DELEGATES TO THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS ON JULY 4, 1776, THE ONE CONTAINING JOHN HANCOCK’S FAMOUS SIGNATURE, WAS REWRITTEN ON PARCHMENT MADE FROM SHEEP’S SKIN. BELOW IS A PICTURE OF A PORTION OF ONE OF JEFFERSON’S DRAFTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WRITTEN ON DUTCH HEMP PAPER.

THE QUALITY OF HEMP DEPENDS ON HOW IT IS RETTED

THE QUALITY OF HEMP HAS A LOT TO DO WITH HOW IT IS “RETTED.” RETTING IS A PROCESS DESIGNED TO WEAKEN THE RESIN HOLDING THE HEMP’S OUTER FIBERS TO ITS STALK. THE THINNER THE HEMP STALKS, THE MORE EASILY THEY ARE RETTED. THE STRONGEST AND LONGEST LASTING HEMP FIBER WAS ACHIEVED WITH THE STALKS BEING RETTED BY BEING SOAKED IN WATER FOR A FEW DAYS, BUT THIS TENDED TO FOUL THE PONDS AND STREAMS. 

THE NEXT BEST METHOD WAS WINTER RETTING IN WHICH THE STALKS OF HEMP WERE LEFT ON THE GROUND OVER THE WINTER MONTHS WHERE THE FROST AND SNOW EVENTUALLY LOOSENED THE RESIN. THE LEAST DESIRABLE METHOD OF RETTING RESULTING IN THE LEAST DURABLE HEMP FIBER WAS DEW RETTING WHICH REQUIRED THE HEMP BE LAID OUT IN THE EVENING, WETTED BY THE OVERNIGHT DEW, AND THEN STACKED UP TIGHTLY INTO VERTICAL PILES DURING THE DAY. THE PROCESS WAS REPEATED UNTIL THE HEMP WAS READY TO BE DRIED AND “BRAKED.” DEW RETTING WAS POPULAR IN KENTUCKY, BUT ITS HEMP WAS CONSIDERED TOO INFERIOR IN QUALITY TO BE USED ON BOARD A SAILING SHIP. 

THE BEST HEMP CAME FROM RUSSIA AND WAS ACTIVELY IMPORTED BY THE BOSTON SHIPBUILDERS. BELOW ARE TWO EARLY PICTURES OF HEMP BEING DEW RETTED IN KENTUCKY. FIRST IT IS SPREAD ON THE GROUND TO PICK UP THE DEW OVERNIGHT. THEN IT IS BUNDLED VERTICALLY DURING THE DAY TO KEEP IT MOIST, IN THIS INSTANCE, NEXT TO A TOBACCO CROP.

BRAKING THE HEMP STALKS TO FREE THE FIBERS FROM THE OUTSIDE SHAFT WAS BACK-BREAKING WORK BEFORE THE ADVENT AND WIDE DISSEMINATION OF POWER EQUIPMENT DESIGNED TO DO THE JOB. 

BREAKING THE HEMP WAS SUCH A PHYSICAL TASK THAT THOMAS JEFFERSON GAVE UP MANUFACTURING HEMP BECAUSE IT CAUSED HIS SLAVES “TOO MANY BACK PROBLEMS.” 

THE HAND BRAKE WAS INVENTED TO ASSIST IN PERFORMING THE TASK, BUT IT WAS MERELY BOARDS CONNECTED WITH A HINGE AT ONE END, AND THE WORKMAN NEEDED TO LIFT AND SMASH, LIFT AND SMASH, LIFT AND SMASH THE TOP BOARDS AGAINST THE BOTTOM BOARDS WITH THE HEMP STALKS IN BETWEEN. A POOR, DEPRESSION-ERA FARMER WITH HIS HAND BRAKE IS SHOWN IN THE PHOTO BELOW. OFTEN TIMES, THE TASK OF BRAKING WAS ASSIGNED TO CONVICTS IN JAILS AND PRISONS SO HARD WAS THE WORK.

HEMP WAS HISTORICALLY USED TO MAKE ROPE, SAILS, CLOTHING, AND MEDICINE
ONCE THE HEMP FIBERS WERE LOOSENED FROM THE PLANT’S SHAFT, THEY COULD BE COMBED WITH PROGRESSIVELY FINER COMBS AND THEN SPUN INTO TWINE FROM WHICH ROPE AND FABRIC WERE MADE. OFTEN TIMES SUCH TASK WAS ASSIGNED TO THE WOMEN WHO WORKED TOGETHER IN SPINNING BEES. THE COARSE FABRIC PRODUCED WAS CALLED OSNABURG FROM WHICH SHIRTS AND TROUSERS WERE MADE. MANY A REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIER’S UNIFORM WAS MADE FROM OSNABURG. COMPARED TO THE FINE WOOLEN CLOTHING WORN BY THE FRENCH SOLDIERS WHO ALLIED WITH THE COLONISTS DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR, THE CONTINENTAL SOLDIER’S UNIFORM MADE OF OSNABURG LOOKED RATHER MODIST. IN THE PICTURE BELOW, WORKERS PULL HEMP FIBERS THROUGH PROGRESSIVELY FINER COMBS IN AN EARLY FACTORY.

BY 1810, THERE WERE 8327 HEMP PLANTATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, MOSTLY OUTSIDE THE DEEP SOUTH WHERE COTTON AND TOBACCO WERE KING. FINER AND MORE COMFORTABLE TO WEAR CLOTH COULD BE MADE FROM COTTON AND EUROPEAN WOOL, BUT NEITHER OF THOSE FABRICS WERE NEARLY AS DURABLE AS HEMP. BELOW IS A PICTURE OF THE FAIRLY COURSE FABRIC MADE FROM HEMP. CANVAS WAS MADE FROM HEMP, AND THE WORD “CANVAS” COMES FROM THE WORD “CANNABIS.” 

DURING THE WAR OF 1812 WHEN ALEXANDER HAMILTON WAS SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, HE AND KENTUCKY SENATOR HENRY CLAY (SEEN BELOW) SUCCESSFULLY LOBBIED FOR THE IMPOSITION OF A TARIFF ON IMPORTED HEMP WHICH THEY THOUGHT WOULD STIMULATE DOMESTIC HEMP PRODUCTION. 

HEMP WAS CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL TO THE COUNTRY’S DEFENSE, AND HAMILTON AND CLAY WANTED TO END THE UNITED STATES’ RELIANCE ON FOREIGN HEMP. 

KENTUCKY WAS ALSO THE LEADING HEMP GROWING STATE, AND CLAY FELT THE TARIFF WOULD FINANCIALLY BENEFIT HIS CONSTITUENCY. WILD HEMP CAN STILL BE FOUND IN KENTUCKY GROWING BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, BUT IT ISN’T GOOD TO SMOKE.

THE HEMP ROPE AND THE HEMP SAILING USED ON THE U.S.S. CONSTITUTION, COMMISSIONED IN 1797, WEIGHED A TOTAL OF 60 TONS. THE ANCHOR CABLE WAS 25 INCHES IN CIRCUMFERENCE. THE PICTURE BELOW IS OF “OLD IRONSIDES” DEFEATING THE H.M.S. GUERRIERE IN THE WAR OF 1812, AND BELOW THAT IS A PICTURE OF HEMP ROPE WHICH OFTEN HAD TAR RUBBED INTO IT TO HELP PROTECT IT FROM THE ELEMENTS.

PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR, WILLIAM C. BULLITT OF LYNDON, KENTUCKY, ARGUED IN 1849 THAT IF THE SLAVES WERE TAKEN AWAY, THEN THE PRODUCTION OF HEMP WOULD BE DESTROYED WHEN HEMP PRODUCTION WAS “OTHERWISE BOUND TO MAKE THE RICH LANDS OF KENTUCKY AND MISSOURI STILL MORE VALUABLE.” INTERESTINGLY, SLAVES WERE ALLOWED TO EARN MONEY BRAKING HEMP, AND SOME SLAVES WERE ABLE TO EARN MORE MONEY THAN FREE WHITE MEN, ENOUGH TO EVENTUALLY

PURCHASE THEIR FREEDOM. SLAVES WHO WORKED IN THE HEMP FACTORIES WHICH PRODUCED ROPE AND CLOTH WERE EVEN BETTER OFF, WITH SOME EARNING UP TO $900 OVER THEIR LIFETIME, MORE THAN MANY FREE, WHITE WORKERS WERE ABLE TO ACCUMULATE.

BY THE 1830'S, HEMP PRODUCTION IN AMERICA REACHED ITS PEAK. BELOW IS A PICTURE OF NAUTICAL TOW ROPE 16 INCHES IN CIRCUMFERENCE MADE AT THE TUBBS CORDAGE MILL WHICH OPENED IN SAN FRANCISCO IN 1850. THIS PARTICULAR ROPE WAS SOLD IN 1,200 FOOT LENGTHS AND WAS MADE FROM IMPORTED MANILA HEMP.

IN 1854, HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW WROTE THE FOLLOWING POEM “ROPEWALK” IN HONOR OF THE WORKERS WHO WORKED IN THE ROPEWALKS:

IN THAT BUILDING, LONG AND LOW,
WITH ITS WINDOWS ALL A-ROW,
LIKE THE PORT-HOLES OF A HULK, HUMAN SPIDERS SPIN AND SPIN, BACKWARD DOWN THEIR THREADS SO THIN DROPPING, EACH A HEMPEN BULK.

Cannabis Medicine

IT WAS WELL KNOW PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR THAT CANNABIS HAD POSITIVE MEDICINAL EFFECTS. BY 1850, MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS CONTAINING CANNABIS HAD BECOME WIDELY AVAILABLE AND COULD BE PURCHASED OVER THE COUNTER WITHOUT A PRESCRIPTION. 

BELOW IS A PICTURE OF SOME OF THE BOTTLES OF CANNABIS LADEN MEDICATIONS OFFERED FOR SALE IN THE MID-1800'S.


RECREATIONAL CANNABIS STARTED TO BE CONSIDERED A FASHIONABLE NARCOTIC IN THE 1850'S WITH ASIAN HASHISH PARLORS BEING FOUND NEXT DOOR TO ASIAN OPIUM DENS. EVERY LARGE CITY HAD AT LEAST ONE HASHISH PARLOR, AND NEW YORK CITY REPORTEDLY HAD 500 SUCH ESTABLISHMENTS. ACCORDING TO AN ARTICLE WRITTEN BY HARRY HUBBELL KANE FOR HARPER’S MAGAZINE, THE HASHISH-HOUSES IN NEW YORK CITY WERE SAID TO BE FREQUENTED BY “THE BETTER CLASSES.”

THE CIVIL WAR BROUGHT AN END TO LARGE SCALE HEMP PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES ALTHOUGH SHARECROPPERS STILL WORKED THE KENTUCKY HEMP FIELDS AS SHOWN BELOW. RUSSIAN HEMP WAS STILL PREFERRED FOR USE ON SHIPS, AND THREE LESS EXPENSIVE FIBERS BEGAN TO BE IMPORTED. 

ONE SUCH FIBER WAS JUTE, A SHINY VEGETABLE FIBER FROM THE JUTE PLANT FROM WHICH BURLAP IS MADE. JUTE BEGAN TO BE IMPORTED FROM THE EAST COAST OF INDIA AND FROM BANGLADESH WHERE IT GREW WELL IN THE MONSOON CLIMATES BECAUSE ITS SEEDLINGS NEED BE COVERED WITH WATER EARLY IN THEIR GROWING SEASON. 

ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE FIBER WAS SISAL, FROM WHICH MEXICAN HATS ARE OFTEN MADE. SISAL FIBERS ARE EXTRACTED FROM THE MEXICAN AGAVE PLANT WHICH IS NOW BETTER KNOWN AS THE PLANT FROM WHICH TEQUILA IS MADE. 

THE THIRD AND MOST PREVALENT ALTERNATIVE FIBER WAS MANILA HEMP. MANILA HEMP IS BUFF-COLORED, AND IT PROVED TO BE THE BEST SUBSTITUTE FOR CANNABIS HEMP. MANILA HEMP IS EXTRACTED FROM THE MUSA TEXTILIS PLANT, A RELATIVE OF THE BANANA TREE, AND IT IS NAMED AFTER THE CAPITAL CITY OF THE PHILIPPINES WHERE MUSA TEXTILIS PLANTS ARE PRIMARILY GROWN.

CANNABIS CONTINUED TO SEE USE AS A MEDICINE, AND BY 1900 WAS BEING MARKETED TO TREAT SLEEP DISORDERS, RHEUMATISM, DIGESTIVE COMPLAINTS, AND NAUSEA. 

WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE PURE FOOD AND DRUG ACT IN 1906, ALL DRUGS WHICH WERE NOT ISSUED BY A PHARMACY NEEDED TO DISPLAY THE WORD “POISON” ON THEIR LABEL WHETHER OR NOT THEY WERE ACTUALLY POISONOUS. MEDICINE BOTTLES CONTAINING CANNABIS BEGAN TO CARRY “POISON” ON THEIR LABELS EVEN THOUGH THEIR DIRECTIONS SAID THEY WERE TO BE TAKEN ORALLY. ONE SUCH EXAMPLE IS SHOWN BELOW.

HEMP PRODUCTION IN AMERICA CONTINUED TO DECLINE, BUT IN THE 1910'S IT WAS STILL PREVALENT ENOUGH TO BE PICTURED ON THE BACK OF THE 1915 SERIES OF THE $10 DOLLAR BILL AS SEEN BELOW.



MARIJUANA WAS MADE ILLEGAL BECAUSE OF RACIAL PREJUDICE, NOT SCIENTIFIC FACT

MEXICAN SOLDIERS WERE REPORTEDLY SMOKING MARIJUANA BY 1874. 

OUTLAWING AND REGULATING CANNABIS BEGAN WITH THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION 

IN 1910 WHICH FOLLOWED A SERIES OF RIGGED ELECTIONS WHICH KEPT GENERAL PARFIRIO DIAZ IN POWER FOR 35 YEARS. DIAZ HAD EXPLOITED AND REPRESSED THE MEXICAN FARMERS AND PEASANTS SO HE COULD ASSURE RICH FOREIGNERS THEIR INVESTMENTS IN MEXICO WERE SAFE. WHEN DIAZ RAN FOR PRESIDENT OF MEXICO IN 1910 AFTER HE WAS 80 YEARS OLD, THE MEXICAN FARMERS AND PEASANTS FINALLY REVOLTED (SEEN BELOW).

BETWEEN 1910 AND 1920, ALMOST 900,000 MEXICANS LEGALLY IMMIGRATED INTO THE UNITED STATES TO ESCAPE THE CARNAGE OF THE REVOLUTION. MANY OF THESE MEXICANS HIRED TO WORK AT LARGE FARMS IN CALIFORNIA ENJOYED SMOKING MARIJUANA AFTER A HARD DAY’S WORK. 

THE SMALL FARMERS BLAMED THE USE OF CHEAP MEXICAN LABOR FOR PUTTING THEM AT AN ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGE, AND THIS BLAME TURNED INTO HATRED AND BIGOTRY, AND THE BIGOTRY TURNED INTO AN EFFORT TO RETALIATE AGAINST THE MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS BY DESCRIBING THEIR USE OF MARIJUANA AS AN INHERENT EVIL IN THE HOPE OF CAUSING WIDESPREAD PUBLIC PREJUDICE FORCING THEM TO RETURN TO MEXICO.

IN ADDITION, CALIFORNIA SAW AN INFLUX OF HINDOOS FROM EAST INDIA WHO PRACTICED THE SIKH RELIGION AND WHO ALSO SMOKED CANNABIS. THE PEOPLE MOST LIKELY TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST THE HINDOOS WERE THE CHINESE, WHO HAVING SUFFERED GREAT PREJUDICE THEMSELVES, FINALLY HAD SOMEONE ELSE TO LOOK DOWN UPON.

THE SMALL FARMERS BANDED TOGETHER, AND WITH WHATEVER CHINESE HELP COULD BE SOLICITED, LOBBIED THE CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATURE, AND IN 1913, CALIFORNIA WAS THE FIRST STATE TO OUTLAW “PREPARATIONS OF HEMP, OR LOCO WEED” BY AMENDING THE POISON AND PHARMACY ACT OF 1907 MAKING POSSESSION OF “EXTRACTS, TINCTURES, OR OTHER NARCOTIC PREPARATIONS OF HEMP, OR LOCO-WEED, THEIR PREPARATIONS AND COMPOUNDS” A MISDEMEANOR. 

IN 1913, A REVISION OF THE POISON ACT CLASSIFIED CANNABIS UNDER THE SAME RESTRICTIONS AS OTHER POISONS, MEANING CANNABIS EXTRACTS NEEDED TO BE PRESCRIBED BY A DOCTOR AND SUPPLIED THROUGH A PHARMACIST. WHITES IN THE CITY OF EL PASSO WERE ALSO PREJUDICED AGAINST MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS DUE IN LARGE PART TO THEIR INCREASING NUMBERS, AND THE CITY OF EL PASSO OUTLAWED CANNABIS IN 1915 INITIATING THE DEPORTATION OF HUNDREDS OF MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS. 

IN BOTH INSTANCES, THE ANTI- CANNABIS LEGISLATION IN THE WEST WAS BASED ON RACISM RATHER THAN SCIENTIFIC REASON AND WAS DESIGNED TO MAKE LIFE DIFFICULT FOR THE MEXICAN AND INDIAN MINORITIES.

THE UNITED STATES WAS RIPE FOR RACISM IN THE 1920'S WHEN IN ELECTION YEARS MORE THAN 50,000 MEMBERS OF THE KU KLUX KLAN MARCHED UPON WASHINGTON, D.C. (SEEN BELOW), A MAJORITY OF THE JIM CROW LAWS ENFORCING RACIAL SEGREGATION AND SUPPRESSING THE BLACK VOTE HAD ALREADY BEEN PASSED, AND LYNCHINGS REACHED THEIR PEAK IN THE SOUTHERN STATES. 

MANY MEMBERS OF THE KLAN CLAIMED TO BE FUNDAMENTAL CHRISTIANS WHO OPPOSED ALL RECREATIONAL DRUGS INCLUDING ALCOHOL. IN THE EAST, THE RACISM WAS AGAINST THE BLACKS WHO WERE SAID TO HAVE FORGOTTEN THEIR PLACE IN SOCIETY WHEN SMOKING MARIJUANA. THE PREJUDICE WAS NOT LIMITED TO THE SOUTHERN STATES. ONE OF THE NATIONS STRONGEST AND MOST PROLIFIC BASTIONS OF THE KU KLUX KLAN FORMED IN INDIANA WHICH ELECTED A MEMBER OF THE KLAN, EDWARD L. JACKSON, GOVERNOR IN 1924.

ON OCTOBER 29, 1929, THE STOCK MARKET CRASH MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION, AND HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT SPURRED GREATER PREJUDICE AGAINST THE MEXICANS WHO HAD IMMIGRATED INTO THE SOUTHWEST FROM MEXICO AND THE BLACKS WHO HAD IMMIGRATED INTO THE NORTHERN STATES FROM THE SOUTH. 

INTO THIS RACIST FRENZY STEPPED THE TWO MEN PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR MARIJUANA BEING MADE ILLEGAL IN AMERICA. 

THE FIRST WAS THE COMMISSIONER OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF NARCOTICS, LAW-AND-ORDER EVANGELIST HARRY J. ANSLINGER, A SELF- RIGHTEOUS, HYPOCRITICAL PHONEY BESET ON INCREASING HIS POWER AND THE SIZE OF HIS BUREAU. 

ANSLINGER WAS THE FIRST PERSON APPOINTED TO HEAD UP THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF NARCOTICS AND SERVED AS ITS COMMISSIONER FROM 1930 UNTIL HE FINALLY RETIRED IN 1962 AT AGE 70. 

THE SECOND ANTI-MARIJUANA CRUSADER WAS FAMOUS YELLOW JOURNALIST, MULTI-BILLIONAIRE WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST, THE GREATEST NEWSPAPER BARON OF ALL TIME WHO DID NOT SHY AWAY FROM PUBLISHING UNCHECKED, FORGED DOCUMENTS IF IT SUITED HIS PURPOSE. 

AT HIS PEAK, HEARST CONTROLLED 20 DAILY AND 11 SUNDAY NEWSPAPERS WITH A TOTAL CIRCULATION OF OVER 5.5 MILLION. ONE IN EVERY FOUR AMERICANS READ A HEARST NEWSPAPER. HEARST ALSO PUBLISHED A SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT AND SIX MAGAZINES. 

BY 1937, HEARST’S INFLUENCE HAD FADED BUT NOT BEFORE HE HAD THOROUGHLY SUCCEEDED IN DEFAMING THE MEXICANS AND, ESPECIALLY, THE BLACKS, BY BLAMING THEIR SMOKING MARIJUANA FOR A SERIES OF FALSE AND EXAGGERATED CRIMINAL AND DEGENERATE ACTIVITIES. 

ANSLINGER AND HEARST WERE TWO OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL RACISTS AMERICA HAS EVER SEEN, AND THEY APPEALED TO THE WIDE-SPREAD PREJUDICIAL INSTINCTS OF A NAIVE AMERICAN PUBLIC TO CRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA AND PUNISH THE MINORITIES THEY HATED.

AT FIRST ANSLINGER (SEEN BELOW) FOUND NOTHING WRONG WITH MARIJUANA HAVING SAID CANNABIS WAS “NO PROBLEM,” CAUSED “NO HARM,” AND WITH RESPECT TO REPORTS THAT CANNABIS CAUSED PEOPLE TO BECOME VIOLENT, SAID,“THERE IS NO MORE ABSURD FALLACY.” 

BUT LATER, WHEN ANSLINGER SOUGHT TO INCREASE HIS POWER AND INFLUENCE FOLLOWING HIS APPOINTMENT AS COMMISSIONER OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF NARCOTICS, HE BEGAN TOURING THE VARIOUS STATES SPREADING AN ANTI-MARIJUANA MESSAGE LACED WITH DECEIT, SAYING MARIJUANA CAUSED TEMPORARY INSANITY, AND LACED WITH RACISM, SAYING MARIJUANA CAUSED WHITE WOMAN TO ENGAGE IN INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS. 

ANSLINGER LOBBYED FOR EACH STATE TO PASS WITHOUT AMENDMENT THE UNIFORM STATE NARCOTIC DRUG ACT WHICH HEARST’S NEWSPAPERS STRONGLY ENDORSED.

ANSLINGER’S UNCLE WAS TREASURY SECRETARY ANDREW MELLON, SAID TO BE THE RICHEST MAN IN AMERICA. MELLON HAD INVESTED HEAVILY IN E.I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY WHICH INVENTED NYLON IN 1935, AND EVEN THOUGH AT THE TIME DUPONT WAS PRIMARILY EXPERIMENTING WITH NYLON FOR MAKING FINE THREAD FOR MANUFACTURING WOMEN’S HOSIERY, THERE EXISTED THE POSSIBILITY THE STRONG AND WATER RESISTANT NYLON FIBER COULD BE MADE INTO NYLON ROPE PLACING IT IN DIRECT COMPETITION WITH HEMP AS LATER BECAME THE CASE. HEARST OWNED A LOT OF FOREST LAND TO PRODUCE THE TREES TO MAKE THE PAPER UPON WHICH TO PRINT HIS NEWSPAPERS. ALTHOUGH HEMP PAPER WAS TOO COURSE TO BE MADE INTO NEWSPRINT, THERE EXISTED THE POSSIBILITY HEMP NEWSPRINT COULD ULTIMATELY BE PERFECTED AND COMPETE WITH NEWSPRINT MADE FROM WOOD PULP.

BEFORE ANSLINGER WAS APPOINTED COMMISSIONER OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF NARCOTICS, ONE OF THE LATER DRAFTS OF THE UNIFORM STATE NARCOTIC DRUG ACT AUTHORED BY THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF COMMISSIONERS ON UNIFORM STATE LAWS REMOVED CANNABIS FROM BEING DEFINED AS A “HABIT FORMING DRUG,” BUT AFTER ANSLINGER WAS APPOINTED COMMISSIONER AND BEGAN ESPOUSING HIS BIASED, UNSCIENTIFIC, RACIST DISINFORMATION, THE FIFTH AND FINAL DRAFT OF THE STATE NARCOTIC DRUG ACT ADDED CANNABIS TO THE CATEGORY OF “NARCOTIC DRUGS” ALONGSIDE OPIATES AND COCAINE. BY THE TIME THE FIFTH DRAFT WAS COMPLETED, NO ONE CHALLENGED THE LIST OF PROHIBITED SUBSTANCES EVEN THOUGH NO SCIENTIFIC STUDY SUPPORTED CLASSIFYING MARIJUANA AS A HABIT FORMING DRUG.

SIMPLY HAVING THE STATES ADOPT THE UNIFORM STATE NARCOTIC DRUG ACT WAS INSUFFICIENT REWARD FOR ANSLINGER, WHO SAW HIS IMPORTANCE AND INFLUENCE DIMINISH AFTER PROHIBITION ENDED IN 1933 WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE TWENTY-FIRST AMENDMENT, AND ALCOHOL ONCE AGAIN BECAME LEGAL ON A NATIONAL LEVEL. AS PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH OPIUM, MORPHINE, AND HEROIN ADDICTIONS REMAINED FAIRLY INSIGNIFICANT, ANSLINGER TURNED HIS ATTENTION TO CRUSADING AGAINST MARIJUANA SEEKING IT BE BANNED ON A NATIONAL LEVEL IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN HIS POWER AND EXPAND THE SIZE AND BUDGET OF THE BUREAU HE CONTROLLED.

AS FOR HEARST, HE HATED BLACKS, CHINESE, HINDOOS, AND ESPECIALLY MEXICANS AFTER FUTURE MEXICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR GENERAL PANCHO VILLA (SEEN BELOW, MIDDLE FRONT) AND HIS MARIJUANA-SMOKING, RAG-TAG BAND OF FUGITIVE BANDITS EXPROPRIATED 800,000 ACRES OF VALUABLE TIMBERLAND HEARST OWNED IN CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO, AND TURNED IT OVER TO THE MEXICAN PEASANTS IN 1898, A DOZEN YEARS BEFORE THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION REALLY GOT ITS START.

HEARST (SEEN BELOW) IS OFTEN CREDITED WITH STARTING THE 1898 SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR WITH HIS YELLOW JOURNALISM HE WAS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR AN EXCUSE TO SLANDER THE MINORITY RACES WITH EXAGGERATED STORIES DESIGNED TO INCREASE NEWSPAPER SALES AND FEED UPON THE PUBLIC’S IRRATIONAL, RACIST FEARS. HEARST CONJURED UP SENSATIONALISTIC, HEADLINE GRABBING STORIES BY REELING AGAINST MARIJUANA AND THE DASTARDLY CRIMES HE SAID WERE CAUSED BY ITS INFLUENCE. JUST USING THE WORD “MARIJUANA,” WHO MANY PEOPLE DID NOT KNOW ACTUALLY MEANT “CANNABIS,” WAS DESIGNED TO ADD A MEXICAN COMPONENT, EXCEPT THE WORD WAS SPELLED AS IF IT WERE OF ENGLISH ORIGIN WITH THE USE OF AN “H” FOR THE “J” AND MISSPELLING MARIJUANA AS “MARIHUANA,” AS ITS SPELLING APPEARS IN THE “1937 MARIHUANA TAX ACT.” 

ANSLINGER TRIED TO CONVINCE PEOPLE THAT THE WORD “MARIHUANA” HAD ITS ORIGINS IN THE WORD “MALLIHUAN,” THE AZTEC WORD FOR “PRISONER,” BECAUSE IT FIT WELL WITH HIS NARRATIVE THAT MARIJUANA ENSLAVED ITS USER BUT, IN ACTUALITY, THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD MARIJUANA REMAINS UNKNOWN.

AS AN EXAMPLE OF HEARST’S RACIST, YELLOW JOURNALISM, HIS NEWSPAPERS EDITORIALIZED, “MARIHUANA INFLUENCES NEGROES TO LOOK AT WHITE PEOPLE IN THE EYE, STEP ON WHITE MEN’S SHADOWS AND LOOK AT A WHITE WOMAN TWICE.” 

HEARST’S NEWSPAPERS OFTEN REFERRED TO VICTOR LICATA (SEEN BELOW), A MULATTO WHO HEARST AND ANSLINGER CLAIMED MURDERED HIS FAMILY WITH AN AX WHILE THEY WERE ASLEEP BECAUSE HE WAS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF MARIJUANA WHEN, IN ACTUALITY, LICATA SUFFERED FROM SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS. 

IN ONE OF HEARST’S EDITORIALS PRINTED IN THE SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER, IT WAS WRITTEN, “MARIHUANA MAKES FIENDS OF BOYS IN THIRTY DAYS – HASHISH GOADS USERS TO BLOODLUST,” AND “HASHEESH MAKES A MURDERER WHO KILLS FOR THE LOVE OF KILLING OUT OF THE MILDEST MANNERED MAN WHO EVER LAUGHED AT THE IDEA THAT ANY HABIT COULD EVER GET HIM. . .”

MEANWHILE, ANSLINGER, ACTED UPON HIS THREE FAVORITE PREJUDICES: HIS HATRED OF JAZZ MUSIC AND THE BLACK MUSICIANS WHO PLAYED IT, HIS FEAR OF INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS, AND HIS REVULSION OF THE IDEA THAT BLACKS SHOULD THINK OF THEMSELVES AS EQUALS. 

ANSLINGER FELT THE PRIMARY REASON FOR OUTLAWING MARIJUANA WAS BECAUSE OF ITS EFFECT “ON THE DEGENERATE RACES,” AND HE IS FURTHER QUOTED AS SAYING, “MOST MARIJUANA SMOKERS ARE NEGROES, HISPANICS, JAZZ MUSICIANS, AND ENTERTAINERS. THEIR SATANIC MUSIC IS DRIVEN BY MARIHUANA, AND MARIHUANA SMOKING BY WHITE WOMEN MAKES THEM WANT TO SEEK SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH NEGROES, ENTERTAINERS, AND OTHERS. IT IS A DRUG THAT CAUSES INSANITY, CRIMINALITY, AND DEATH – THE MOST VIOLENCE-CAUSING DRUG IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND.” 

TO USE ANSLINGER’S WORDS, “REEFER MAKES DARKIES THINK THEY’RE AS GOOD AS WHITE MEN . . . THE PRIMARY REASON TO OUTLAW MARIJUANA IS ITS EFFECT ON THE DEGENERATE RACES” AND “YOU SMOKE A JOINT AND YOU’RE LIKELY TO KILL YOUR BROTHER.” 

ANSLINGER WAS QUICK TO POINT OUT THAT JAZZ MUSICIANS SANG SONGS WHICH INCLUDED REFERENCES TO MARIJUANA LIKE “THAT FUNNY REEFER MAN,” AND “VIPER’S DRAG.” THE JAZZ HIT “MUGGLES,” NAMED AFTER AN OLD SLANG TERM FOR MARIJUANA, WAS SUNG BY ONE OF AMERICAN’S GREATEST ARTISTS AND AMBASSADOR TO THE WORLD, LOUIE ARMSTRONG (SEEN BELOW), WHO BECAME ONE OF ANSLINGER’S CRIMINAL TARGETS ALTHOUGH NOT NEARLY TO THE EXTENT AS DID BILLY HOLIDAY.