War on Drugs

In the mid-twentieth century, President Richard Nixon formally declared “War on Drugs”.   Though almost every recorded society has used some sort of psychoactive drug, in 1969 they were identified as “Public Enemy #1” and have been the center of perhaps the most singly futile “War” ever declared by the United States (and that includes our “War on Terrorism”).  Administrations like that of President Regan have launched their official offense that sought to severely curb the usage of drugs, from cannabis to cocaine, under one zero-tolerance, blanket ban.  Propaganda has enforced a negative image of drugs and has kept skepticism about the harshness of these regulations to a minimum.  Hidden rationalizations that have had an enormous factor in shaping drug control policies are racially and corporately motivated[2].  Marijuana has recently become a much more public issue that many are becoming more open to.  The effectiveness of the “War on Drugs” can be illustrated by a variety of accomplishments in controlling the drug trade, but reforms must be made to this glorified attack on personal rights that reflect the mindset and behaviors of this generation.

Because every regulation has come draped in a veil of health consciousness, any sort of underlying factors have been masked.   Drug Prohibition has its roots in the pressures of legendary moguls like John D. Rockefeller and William Randolph Hearst.  Hearst owned a logging and paper producing company.  He felt threatened by hemp plants because it was a resource that could be re-grown yearly, unlike Hearst’s timber. Hearst was able to spread negative propaganda in his newspapers and he published many of Harry Anslinger’s fabricated stories.  This “reefer madness” that was created prevented many from overcoming the paranoia to realize that hemp and marijuana are two different varieties of the plant.  While marijuana contains up to 20% THC, the active compound responsible for making users high, Hemp contains less than 1% making it almost impossible to use as a drug.  This early propaganda was significant it that it aided  the anti-marijuana movement that eventually led to its prohibition in the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act which sought to tax pot into oblivion, or at least underground. Rockefeller, who became the United State’s first billionaire by investing in oil after founding Standard Oil in 1870, also felt threatened by hemp because of its unique properties as a fuel.