eli5: when and why did cannabis become demonized in the USA?
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There’s two key movements that lead to the ban of Cannabis in the US.
The Temperance Movement and the War on Drugs.
The Temperance Movement started in the late 19th century worked to ban addictive substances which eventually culminated in Prohibition. But Alcohol usage was only one of many things the movement targeted. The US was also dealing with a serious problem of Opiate addiction in this era.
Prior to this drugs like Cannabis and Opiates were available over the counter and were frequently mixed with other products and tonics. Coca-Cola for example originally contained Cocaine. Laws passed in this era limited the availability of many of these drugs or outright banned them.
Cannabis specifically was effectively banned in the 30s due mostly to the efforts of Henry Anslinger the first Commissioner of the Bureau of Narcotics. He ran campaigns that linked Cannabis use to violent crime in the public eye, but most of his evidence was fabricated or heavily skewed with racist overtones.
But while banned, Cannabis was not yet a serious crime.
This changed during the Nixon Administration and his War on Drugs. Cannabis use became a serious crime punishable with mandatory sentences.
After Nixon’s death several Cabinet officials in his administration came forward and confirmed that the real reason for the change in policy was so that Nixon could give Police carte-blanche to arrest certain troublesome groups, most notably Blacks and Hippies, that were protesting the War in Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement.
You couldn’t arrest them for protesting, but you could arrest them for using their favorite drug.
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