Here is the link to the original: Source

June 4, 2010 – The answer is simple and can be summed up in three words. RACISM, GREED and LIES.

You see? It was the perfect crime under the auspices of law. ♦ Anslinger  could  justify his new high profile position within the United States Government. ♦ Hearst had the ability to widely disperse scandalous racial propaganda via his own newspaper network. ♦ Dupont wanted to eliminate it’s competition for textiles and automotive fuel. ♦ The pharmaceutical companies couldn’t identify or standardize cannabis dosages. Why would they anyway? If folks could grow their own medicine they wouldn’t have to buy it!

Throughout American history and as far back as the 1600s, hemp farming has been popular and sometimes mandatory. In 1619, the first American Hemp Law was passed at Jamestown colony in Virginia. This law made it mandatory for all farmers to grow hemp seed. In fact, if you lived in Virginia between 1763 and 1767 you could be hauled off to jail for NOT growing hemp during times of shortage. Back in those days it was entirely possible for a man to use hemp as currency and even pay his taxes using the crop. In the 200 years to come hemp remained a popular and profitable crop and wouldn”t even be recognized as a recreational drug until the 1900s.

By the early 1900s, trouble was brewing and times were tense in the American west as the Mexican Revolution was heating up just the other side of the border. This triggered a huge influx of Mexican-Americans which really pissed off a lot of small farmers as the larger farmers consistently employed cheap Mexican labor. Less than a decade later in 1910, the violence from Mexico spilled over onto American soil and created even more racial tension. In 1929, The Great Depression made matters worse. Jobs were hard to come by and there were rumors the Mexicans smoked marijuana and brought it into America via Mexico. The state of California freaked out and passed the first state law banning all preparations of marijuana and what they termed “loco weed”. It’s important to note that there is no distinction between marijuana and hemp,  guilty by association I presume.

About this time the eastern part of the country had it’s own rebellious uprisings to deal with. Authorities conveniently blamed these issues on black jazz musicians since they were known to smoke marijuana. One newspaper editorial written in 1934 states:

“Marijuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at a white woman twice.”

In 1930 Harry J. Anslinger was named the director of the newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics who soon collaborated with wealthy American newspaper baron William Randolf Hearst who had plenty reason of his own to support the war on marijuana.

First off,  Hearst had sunk tons of dough into the timber industry up to this point and he needed this industry to support his ever-growing newspaper empire. Secondly, there was new machinery designed to process hemp paper cheaply. This was a huge threat and no doubt would be a formidable competitor to Hearst’s  business interests. Finally, Hearst most definitely hated Mexicans since losing almost 1200 square miles of potentially profitable timberline to Pancho Villa in the Mexican Revolution.

DuPont chemical company soon came on-board in support of the marijuana eradication effort. Pierre DuPont happened to be the President of General Motors in 1920 and he knew that the Hemp Breaker had  been patented. This invention would make hemp processing easier and more efficient by cutting, baling, and separating the hemp fiber from the hurd  so like Hearst, DuPont wanted to eliminate marijuana  as a competitor right from the start.

Several powerful pharmaceutical companies quickly followed suit in support of this war on marijuana. So begins the propaganda smear campaign of the century…

The following is an excerpt from the house committee that passed the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937:

Member from upstate New York: “Mr. Speaker, what is this bill about?”

Speaker Rayburn: “I don’t know. It has something to do with a thing called marijuana. I think it’s a narcotic of some kind.”

Member from upstate New York: “Mr. Speaker, does the American Medical Association support this bill?”

Member on the committee jumps up and says: “Their Doctor Wentworth came down here. They support this bill 100 percent.”

…and there you have it! A ridiculous law based on nothing but a lie!  Source

Please enjoy this propaganda film from 1966. I know I did!

May 31, 2010 – The events taking place in the Gulf of Mexico have sounded alarms for a rallying cry for new alternative fuels. The best of these may come from hemp.

Hemp has been cultivated for its many uses for the past 12,000 years. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp on their farms, mostly for the beneficial products provided by its fibers and seeds. Though one of the most versatile and fastest growing plants in the world, hemp has long endured image problems because of its pharmacological properties. Yet a closer look at hemp reveals that it may provide a large piece of the puzzle in solving our current and future energy and ecological dilemmas.

America Runs on Oil in More Ways than One

The car culture in America has been going strong since the end of World War II and despite financial woes and gas prices north of three dollars per gallon, shows no signs of declining. Crude oil for gasoline represents just one of the ways oil permeates nearly every facet of our lives. Most synthetic clothing fibers are derived from petroleum, for example. Disposable diapers, combs, cosmetics, trash bags and food preservatives form part of a list pages long of everyday products derived from oil. This is why electric cars solve only part of the oil-overconsumption problem.

Hemp for Energy, Building Materials, and Paper

The mention of the word causes visions of stoned slackers in comedy movies yet hemp may be the ultimate natural resource. According to the website hempcar.org, hempseed oil can be produced into non-toxic diesel fuel. In addition, hemp cellulose fibers can be fermented and converted into ethanol fuel. Hemp can also be used to produce fiberboard that is lighter than wood, stronger than wood and fire resistant. One acre of hemp produces as much fiber as two to three acres of cotton and clothing from its fibers lasts longer. Finally, hemp from paper is stronger and more recyclable than wood fiber.

Fallacies about Hemp

Millions of wild hemp plants currently grow throughout the United States. Unlike cotton, which requires a moderate climate, hemp grows in all fifty states. Yet cultivation of hemp has been largely outlawed in this country since the late 1930s because of its pharmacological properties. Wild hemp, similar to the types grown in other countries for industrial use, contains only trace amounts of THC, the psychoactive drug component. Still, marijuana laws prevent farmers from cultivating a plant that already flourishes in nature.

Hemp fiber has long been suited for rope. During World War II, the government sanctioned hemp farms for the quick production of sturdy rope fiber. It was long thought that hemp fiber would be too rough and scratchy against delicate human skin, for clothing, yet today’s re-engineered fibers produce softer, more comfortable textiles.