Did Big Business Make Cannabis Illegal ? – Conspiracy

But pot activists believe that these findings don’t justify criminalisation. Today’s supporters are heavily influenced by the work of Jack Herer, also known as the ‘Hemperor’. In 1985, Herer published a book, which, according to his followers, exposes the real reason

why weed is illegal….

Before hemp was prohibited, it was grown commercially in the United States for books, oils, medicines, paints, and hundreds of other products. And according to Herer’s book, in the mid-1930s a new hemp fibre machine came onto the market, which made hemp paper more affordable and efficient to produce.

Newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst had big investments in the timber industry and paper manufacturing at the time, and worried that faster and cheaper hemp production would threaten his timber industry, causing him to lose millions.

Meanwhile, the chemical company DuPont had just launched a new process of paper manufacturing from wood pulp. But hemp paper was low-cost and high quality. Both fearing bankruptcy, DuPont and Hearst teamed up to stop the hemp revolution.

Using his media prowess, Hearst slandered marijuana in his papers with sensationalised horror stories about the drug. Scaremongering films like ‘Reefer Madness’ and ‘The Devil’s Weed’ soon followed.

According to Herer, DuPont had links to the US Government, thanks to their chief financial banker Andrew Mellon, who was also Secretary of the US Treasury. Then in April 1937, the Marijuana Tax Act was passed, which just so happened to be written by Andrew Mellon’s nephew.

This new bill made the possession of the cannabis sativa plant illegal under federal law, by imposing an excise tax on every sale. Meanwhile, the American Medical Association didn’t even realize until after the law had been passed that hemp – that useful and versatile product – was the same plant as marijuana.

If Jack Herer’s claims are true, then that means the real reason marijuana is illegal today is because of brutal, capitalist self-interest. But since its publication, several falsehoods in Herer’s book have been discovered, shedding doubt on the theory altogether.

Researchers have found out that Andrew Mellon in fact had no financial connection with the company DuPont, and many academics have actually linked the criminalisation of cannabis to racial oppression, since the law was used to unfairly imprison Mexicans and African-Americans using the drug.

Whether or not Herer’s story is entirely true, what is interesting are the similarities between his theory and latest events in marijuana reform. Anti-pot groups like ‘Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana’ [C.A.L.M] still argue there are potential health risks from weed consumption, and so it should be prohibited. And it appears they have the support of big business – specifically, pharmaceutical companies.

In 2014 it was discovered that the leading anti-marijuana researchers are being paid by pharmaceutical firms. Medical marijuana is increasingly being used for pain relief, as a substitute for major painkillers like OxyContin and Nurofen, and companies like Pfizer and Reckitt Benckiser are worried that the burgeoning cannabis industry will make them lose money.

Since 2012, four states have decriminalised cannabis, and you now can legally grow, sell, and possess the plant. 23 states have enacted laws to legalize medical marijuana to help treat people suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, and other conditions. More people than ever are in support of legalising the drug. Like the hemp industry before it, legal marijuana sets to revolutionise the market place, and poses a very real threat to big US business.