This is a “War on Drugs” story you don’t want to miss. Rolling Stone posted an in-depth article about the relentless effort made over many decades by the media, politicians, and drug, alcohol and tobacco industries, to demonize cannabis with lies and fear-mongering propaganda. In her article, “Debunking Cannabis Myths: 3 Ways to Change the Narrative, Rolling Stone reporter Lindsey Bartlett notes that while the roots of weed prohibition have many unfortunate layers, negative propaganda and storytelling about cannabis for decades played a huge role in generating negative public opinion. Bartlett notes that one result of this anti-weed story-telling is that for the past 100 years, because cannabis was classified as a dangerous drug, scientists have been denied the opportunity to study the plant.
“They couldn’t debunk the myths around the plant because there was a ban on studying weed in the U.S. since 1970,” Bartlett notes. “And that with a few exceptions, including “ditch weed” grown by the DEA, studies looking at whether cannabis was beneficial or harmful have been prohibited for decades.
And why? You won’t be surprised when Bartlett tells us it was all about the “money.” Turns out Hearst had big investments in paper and hemp was his biggest competitor.
“The crusade began with Harry Anslinger (pictured here) and William Randolph Hearst (yep, that Hearst).’ Bartlett writes. “The newspaper mogul had a massive stake in the paper industry, which was industrial hemp’s direct competitor. Hemp and cannabis (both are the same plant) were not only used for pain but also for paper, cloth and more. Hearst needed to change the story telling around cannabis to show its harm so he could make money on his paper investments.”
Read the rest of Lindsey Bartlett’s article: click HERE.
We read up on Henry Anslinger. The best thing we could find was an excellent program about him produced by the WNYC Studios’ “On the Media” The image you see here is courtesy of WNYC Studios. To listen in to the “On the Media” podcast, click HERE.