Can some explain why weed is illegal

[off.that.black&mild.smoke]

back in the day, hemp started to become a threat to traditional fabric manufacturers.
congress was lobbied by special interest groups that
represented people who felt threatened by hemp/pot overtaking the
industry and then a smear campaign was launched against marijuana.

dupont.

http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_culture11.shtml

The actual story behind the legislature passed against marijuana is quite surprising. According to Jack Herer, author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes and an expert on the "hemp conspiracy," the acts bringing about the demise of hemp were part of a large conspiracy involving DuPont, Harry J. Anslinger, commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, and many other influential industrial leaders such as William Randolph Hearst and Andrew Mellon. Herer notes that the Marijuana Tax Act, which passed in 1937, coincidentally occurred just as the decoricator machine was invented. With this invention, hemp would have been able to take over competing industries almost instantaneously. According to Popular Mechanics, "10,000 acres devoted to hemp will produce as much paper as 40,000 acres of average [forest] pulp land." William Hearst owned enormous timber acreage, land best suited for conventional pulp, so his interest in preventing the growth of hemp can be easily explained. Competition from hemp would have easily driven the Hearst paper-manufacturing company out of business and significantly lowered the value of his land. Herer even suggests popularizing the term "marijuana" was a strategy Hearst used in order to create fear in the American public. "The first step in creating hysteria was to introduce the element of fear of the unknown by using a word that no one had ever heard of before... 'marijuana'" (ibid).

 

[newworldafro]

That aspect was only used to scare white people into agreeing with the ban on hemp/marijuana.

Also its important to note people had no idea they were making HEMP illegal when they made CANNABIS illegal.

Exactly....very good point that is often forgotten when this topic comes up......check history books [search engine] bunches of American "forefathers" were using hemp, matterfact there was law even before 1776 that mandated farmers grow hemp as a form of tax, hemp was used to to make all kinds of fabrics and rope cordage. The first copies of our founding documents were made of hemp, the first flag was made of hemp. It was a universal source of products. But as has been said, the petrochemical, wood pulp, etc industry that had related owners and investors that wanted a product they could control....although it was made illegal in the 1930s....during WWII, there was "Hemp for War" campaign, temporarily asking farmers to grow hemp b/se of the need for rope.....

 

[Sensitive Blake Griffin]

Exactly....very good point that is often forgotten when this topic comes up......check history books [search engine] bunches of American "forefathers" were using hemp, matterfact there was law even before 1776 that mandated farmers grow hemp as a form of tax, hemp was used to to make all kinds of fabrics and rope cordage. The first copies of our founding documents were made of hemp, the first flag was made of hemp. It was a universal source of products. But as has been said, the petrochemical, wood pulp, etc industry that had related owners and investors that wanted a product they could control....although it was made illegal in the 1930s....during WWII, there was "Hemp for War" campaign, temporarily asking farmers to grow hemp b/se of the need for rope.....

I'm pretty sure a few of our presidents actually grew psychoactive cannabis, I think they called it "indian" hemp at the time maybe? I'd have to look it up again but I remember reading that.

 

[stealthbomber]

theres tons of reasons why weed is illegal but when u really get down to it, its the money. people who have the money don't want it legalized.

1. private prisons make a fortune putting people in jail. a large number of prisoners are there for marijuana. and a large portion of them are non-violent.

2. pharmaceutical companies make billions off poisoning people with their drugs. if weed was legalized, you can bet some companies will be losing millions of dollars and they are trying as hard as they can to not let it happen.

im pretty sure in my lifetime it will be (even though i already have a med card ) but through legalization the policing of it will become MUCH stronger. longer sentences and you will only be able to, legally, have so much. prolly somewhere around an ounce.

personally i think as long as its decriminalized that's good enough. full legalization, maybe in 20 or so years when a new wave of more liberal politicians comes around. the California "prescription" system is good for now. more states just need to hop on board.

 

[ThePimp]

So why not make alcohol illegal again? Then the courts could be even more busy.

Alcohol causes accidents kills innocent people. The government controls the alcohol business through regulations and taxes. Weed can grow anywhere by anyone making it harder to control and tax. The alcohol taxes surpasses any amount of money that can be made through higher incarceration of alcohol users.

 

[Ghost Utmost]

I just quit drinking cold turkey. I started going through withdrawal symptoms. I was surprised cause I was in denial I guess, but I read up on it and decided to detox at home and treat myself. The main problem was insomnia. 2-3 hours a night. Advil PMs couldnt make me sleep more than one hour. Finally I got some herb. Bang: went right to sleep, appetite came back, headache backed way down. If I woulda went to the hospital they woulda put me on a couple of scrips that I could also get hooked on and separate therapy for each symptom. When there's one medicine that hit every symptom. shyt's a crime.

 

[Non Sequitur]

So many reasons, first of all it would affect many industries with enormous lobbying groups (Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, Private Prisons). Secondly I believe the herb has a certain enlightening aspect to it, which helps you to develop a critical an sceptic way of viewing everything.

This

 

[Bud Bundy]

The thing that makes NO sense to me is that if they played it right a good amount of people could get paid off it just like cigs

Is there really NO1 with enough power that also wants to get paid that can make it happen

Powerful people seize every opportunity and it seems like this one is just there for the taking

What am I missing?

The garment industry made hemp illegal so it would not interfere with there sales. They just hyped up the side affects angle to make marijuana look bad. Also this was around the time of the temperance movement so those people in the movement were getting there way(mostly women and religious folks).

 

[SirSmokeCrackAlot]

Its illegal cause its against the law. Sure it's not "fair"' its illegal but alcohol and tobacco arent. But lifes not "fair". All these industries that benefit from it being illegal can try to influence public opinion to keep it illegal. But if the people really wanted it to be legal it could happen. It almost happened with prop 19 in Cali but the people chickened out.

 

[monkey balls delight]

government can't tax it, that's why it's illegal

 

[Pistolvania Prince]

There is no ethical, logical explaination

 

[nikehead89]

cause then no one would buy cigarettes

 

[Sensitive Blake Griffin]

the gov can tax marijuana. Weed can grow anywhere but weed worth smoking does not grow anywhere and its actually not easy to grow like everyone makes it out to be. you had to deal with plant nutrition, bugs parasites, fungus tons of different stuff. Most people would prefer just to buy a pack of joints or whatever.

 

[Angel On The Rag]

cause the government can't collect the profits that would maximize the sales

for instance

cigarettes have too many chemicals in them for a sole person to create so it requires a company/business of many men thus taxes get thrown to the government

weed can be grown/produced/fukked with by a sole purpose without a business/company so the government misses out on money

 

[Sensitive Blake Griffin]

cause the government can't collect the profits that would maximize the sales

for instance

cigarettes have too many chemicals in them for a sole person to create so it requires a company/business of many men thus taxes get thrown to the government

weed can be grown/produced/fukked with by a sole purpose without a business/company so the government misses out on money

people dont smoke cigarettes for the chemicals in them. they smoke them for the nicotine buzz, you can grow your own tobacco and roll your own cigarettes just as easily as you can grow weed.