‘… thanks to the politically and financially motivated campaign against hemp and cannabis, it went from being a perfectly respectable yet potent botanical medicine to a dangerous gateway drug, in a racist and scientifically orchestrated takedown’ (1).
Cannabis is a plant with a multitude of medicinal uses – a real botanical powerhouse – that contains hundreds of plant substances and chemicals, including more than 500 cannabinoids, terpenes, and other substances that have powerful healing properties. In the last twenty years alone, more than 20,000 studies and research papers have been published showing the possibilities of cannabinoids in many different health conditions.
These conditions include, but are not limited to: diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, glaucoma, schizophrenia, psychosis, anxiety, as well as symptoms such as pain, nausea, poor appetite, sleep disorders, and many more. Despite this huge and rapidly growing catalogue of scientific evidence, the cannabis plant remains in schedule 1 (both globally and in the U.K), and is therefore categorised as a dangerous, addictive drug with high risks of abuse and no medical or therapeutic value whatsoever.
The Road to Prohibition
The Watergate co-conspirator, John Ehrlichman, stated the following in a highly publicised interview in 1994 (LINK):
‘The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the anti-war left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.’
Even without this statement, there is plenty of evidence showing that the British and American governments knew they were lying to the public about cannabis being a dangerous, lethal drug, during their so-called ‘War on Drugs,’ and that they knew of its potential healing qualities from at least the mid-1970s.
Prior to its prohibition and criminalisation, cannabis was a respectable, holistic medicine that had been used medically for thousands of years in many different cultures. The road to its prohibition began when colonialists, who did not like the effect it had on the people they were exploiting, sent wildly exaggerated and fabricated stories back to their governments so that they would outlaw the drug. It continued in the U.S with anti-hemp campaigns backed by companies that were threatened by hemp farming (e.g. paper and timber).
As a result, cannabis use had already fallen out of favour prior to the appointment of Harry Anslinger in 1930 as the Commissioner of the newly established Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN); a.k.a. the drug squad. Anslinger, who remained Commissioner for over thirty years, would spend his entire career peddling lies and misinformation about cannabis use and the people that used it (more info HERE). In Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs (2015), author Johann Hari explains that Anslinger did not seem at all concerned about cannabis use prior to Prohibition ending, but once alcohol was legalised, Anslinger knew that illicit use of cocaine and heroin was too small to warrant the future of the newly established FBN. He ‘needed more,’ Hari states, and ‘cannabis became Anslinger’s golden ticket’ (2).
Anslinger deliberately set about demonising cannabis through a campaign that portrayed cannabis, and the people that used it, in the worst possible terms. Cannabis use, the public was told, was dangerous and addictive, and people who smoked it risked becoming rapists, murderers and were more prone to take part in risky and/or criminal behaviours and illegal actions. In addition, people were told that cannabis use led not only to violent behaviours, but caused promiscuity in women, who would then form ‘un-natural’ relations with non-whites, and its use caused insanity (the state-funded public information film, Reefer Madness is a very good example of anti-cannabis propaganda at this time). As a result, cannabis was globally viewed as ‘Public Enemy Number 1’ throughout the majority of the 20th century, and those that used it were criminalised and punished with harsh, draconian laws that had similar sentences to heroin use and other substances that really were known killers.
Unfortunately, Anslinger’s deceptive anti-cannabis campaign was spectacularly successful in managing to dupe the public at that time – both in America and in countries across the world. In 1961, Anslinger, ‘advised the World Health Organisation on the matter, leading them to say that cannabis had no medical value. Pretty interesting considering Anslinger was neither a scientist nor a doctor, but a lawyer and politician’ (5). Nevertheless, the vast majority of people believed that their government’s message – or Anslinger’s message – was the absolute truth, and this helped to establish the framework for future cannabis policy, and the widespread belief that cannabis merited its status as a Schedule 1 drug. So when scientists published the results of a U.S government-commissioned study, which took place in 1975, and reported that THC had effectively shrunk cancer tumours and caused cancerous cells to self-destruct, the U.S. administration swiftly shut the study down and forbid any further research (3).
So, let’s be clear, rather than exploring the very real possibility of a potential cancer treatment, the U.S. authorities chose to ignore the results and maintain their cannabis rhetoric. Cannabis, therefore, remained on schedule 1, its potential medicinal and therapeutic benefits were ignored, and the British public repeatedly warned (falsely) that its use led to dangerous behaviours that WOULD ultimately end in death. Now that is one big whopper of a lie!
Despite numerous state funded anti-cannabis campaigns aimed at stamping cannabis out, the numbers of arrests in the U.K surged dramatically throughout the 1960s, especially among ‘young, wealthy whites’ (4). This significant demographic shift was perceived by the British authorities as rebellious, wilful disobedience, and even as a danger to the stability of British society. As a result, cannabis was listed as a class B substance under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, along with harsh penalties for cannabis users/dealers, and increased powers for the police who, like the British government at that time, saw cannabis use as a social menace. These efforts, however, did not stop the spread of cannabis use.
Cannabis use continued to grow throughout the second half of the 20th century, especially amongst the younger generations. Today’s community of cannabis users (medical or recreational) consists of people of all ages, class, and race, whereas cannabis use at that time was largely confined to younger generations and those living on the fringes of society (e.g. hippies, artists, musicians). Its use was extensive in the counter-culture movement that emerged out of a disillusioned and disenfranchised population that was seeking alternative ways of living. Mass unemployment, rising prices, and government youth employment schemes that in effect reduced the under-25s to something akin to slavery, led to widespread social discontent ‘at a time when the Empire was in decline and the politics of imperialism were being rejected’ (5).
The consequence was that smoking cannabis ultimately came to be seen as a symbol of social rebellion and a way to get back at a stuffy, out-of-touch British establishment. The British government, who absolutely hated it, responded by launching a massive American-inspired campaign that targeted young people with anti-cannabis propaganda deliberately aimed to terrify. Meetings, which were usually organised by the local police force, were held in schools, community centres, churches, and other public meeting places frequented by the younger generations across the country, and children told that cannabis use would destroy them and their families.
This resulted in generations of children growing up believing (wrongly) that cannabis was a lethal narcotic that was as bad, if not worse, than heroin! These lies, which were peddled as absolute truth during the ineffective and damaging ‘War on Drugs,’ resulted in the formation of entrenched, rigid anti-cannabis beliefs that were, for the most part, totally false. Even so, after decades of misinformation and anti-cannabis propaganda, many people still see cannabis use as dangerous and addictive, despite the massive catalogue of scientific evidence proving the contrary (see Research and Law).
As governments on both sides of the Atlantic continued to launch deceptive anti-cannabis campaigns during the second half of the 20th century, scientists from across the world were publishing the results of pre-clinical studies that described the cannabis plant as a ‘pharmacological treasure trove’ (6). These scientific findings, however, were systematically ignored by lawmakers, as were the findings and recommendations of many different government-commissioned reports that all stated that throughout the 20th century. These reports all agreed that cannabis use wasn’t dangerous, it didn’t cause people to become violent, and it didn’t act as a gateway drug (7), but cannabis remained illegal and the war on drugs continued. Cannabis-associated arrests increased tenfold as authorities across the world cracked down on cannabis use through initiatives such as the ‘Just Say No’ campaign, which took place during the latter decades of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st century.
Despite the state-sponsored demonisation and criminalisation of cannabis, evidence shows that the British and American governments have known that cannabis has medical value for decades. The U.S government, for example, secretly funded the work of Professor Mechoulam, who headed a small team of researchers in Israel, for over 50 years (approx. 1963-2010) (8). So, as cannabis users were subjected to draconian laws that criminalised and imprisoned them, the team in Israel, with funding from the U.S. government, was reporting the ability of cannabis to treat many different health conditions, including cancer. This information, however, continues to be withheld from the public and it is not included in most Whitehouse reports.
The government claims that cannabis must remain illegal to the likes of you and me because it is dangerous and harmful. That is what they want you to believe. But what if it wasn’t true? Yes, smoking cannabis does make a person ‘stoned,’ but what is felt by the person (although not for everyone), is not what is portrayed by the State – far from it! And although its use does have potential risks, these are minor in comparison to the dangers and harmful side effects of many prescribed drugs. The fact is that THC is where the healing power lies, and the truth is that THC is not the nasty little bastard that lawmakers would have us believe.
References:
- Cited in: Dr. Gordon, Dani (2020). The CBD Bible: Cannabis and the Wellness Revolution That Will Change Your Life (p.16). Publisher: Orion Spring, 2020.
- Hari, Johann (2015). Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs (2015), Bloomsbury Publishing; 1st edition (15 Jan. 2015).
- Armentano, Paul & Earleywine, Mitch (2008). Online article: What Your Government Knows about Cannabis and Cancer – And Isn’t Telling You. Retrieved 27/12/2020 from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-your-government-know_b_108712
- Mills, James: Cannabis Nation: Control and Consumption in Britain, 1928-2008. Published by Oxford University Press, 2012.
- Ibid. Mills, 2012.
- Mechoulam, Professor (2018). Online Interview: ‘Raphael Mechoulam and the history of cannabis research.’ Retrieved 18/11/2020 from: https://www.ilae.org/journals/epigraph/epigraph-vol-21-issue-1-winter-2019/raphael-mechoulam-and-the-history-of-cannabis-research
- Ibid. Gordon, 2020.
- Armentano, Paul & Earleywine, Mitch (2008). Online article: What Your Government Knows about Cannabis and Cancer – And Isn’t Telling You. Retrieved 27/12/2020 from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-your-government-know_b_108712
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