Cannabis plants are being grown on federal lands
The U.S. Forestry service has issued an apology for its insensitivity last month when it used the same racist logic in its war against drugs that started the federal government’s armed war against its own citizens more than 70 years.
The “regrettable” and “insensitive” remarks were issued in the form of a warning during a media briefing on August 26th as the result of their recent discovery of a cannabis grow consisting of more than 14,000 plants in the Pike National Forest. The Forest Service officials said that they believed illegal immigrants were being brought to Colorado by Latin American drug cartels to cultivate the massive illegal marijuana crops. They then warned forest visitors to beware of campers who eat tortillas, drink Tecate beer and play Spanish music because they could be armed marijuana growers. Oops!
The Hispanic community was outraged, and rightly so. Two weeks ago Forest Service officials met with 17 Colorado Hispanic leaders and apologized for their poorly chosen words that were intended as a well-intended safety warning. On Monday the U.S. Forest Service issued a written apology to the Hispanic Community in a New Release on the USDA.gov website.
But the entire incident is just another result of the government’s incompetent handling of the problem of addiction in this country and their misconception that prohibition and incarceration of “users” and traffickers is the only way to deal with addicts. “Make it illegal and they will stop.” Or the other prohibitionist favorite, “Build the prisons, and we will fill them.”
The racist comments are nothing new, when you consider the words of Harry Anslinger, the architect of the “Reefer Madness” style campaign against marijuana that insured that the former Bureau of Prohibition agent could enjoy over 30 years of job security in his position as Commissioner of the newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Masterfully using the media, Anslinger effectively lead a campaign of lies and racism to shift the public’s opinion to acceptance of the government’s prohibition of marijuana that officially became law in 1937 despite objections from the American Medical Association.
Harry Anslinger quotes:
“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.”
“Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.”
“…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”
The U.S. Forestry Service points to the damage done to public lands by illegal marijuana cultivation, yet it fails to correctly identify the cause of the damage. The damage is not caused by the cannabis plants themselves which grow like a weed and thrive in most climates. The damage is caused by prohibition. Prohibition makes it impossible for people to grow their own cannabis, prohibition forces people to purchase marijuana from organized crime, prohibition gives marijuana its high profitability and reason to use the public lands as a means to avoid losing private property in seizures.
Marijuana use will not go away despite the government’s efforts to demonize it and stop its cultivation, sale and use. Marijuana has proven medical value despite the federal government’s denial of the medical evidence, and with their refusal to remove it from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Even racist undertones won’t stop marijuana use any more than prohibition stopped alcohol use. All prohibition does is reinforce the strength, power and profits of organized crime just as alcohol prohibition did.
Tecate beer, tortillas, and Spanish music have no distinct connection to today’s marijuana use, except maybe when the munchies set in, but they definitely do in the eyes of the federal prohibitionists because they have made Latin American drug cartels more powerful than the Latin American governments. So just to be on the safe side, if you are planning a trip to one of our National Parks and forests, eating hot dogs and hamburgers while listening to Frank Sinatra would probably be a much safer bet, than tacos and Ricky Martin.
Photo credit: Cannabis plant. Source: http://flickr.com/photos/wanhoff/299928311/ ; Author: Thomas Wanhoff; This file is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License.
Anslinger quotes: http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quotes_by/harry+j.+anslinger
Comments
There are 17 Colorado Hispanic leaders?
I can't stand blaming prohibition. I DO think prohibition is complete bullshit, but lets be honest. It's the people that make a nation...and unfortunately, there is a lot of ignorance and a lot of catastrophic breeding that occurs in Mexico, and the rich down there have no problem sending their poor up here to be our problem. It's the people of Mexico that have made that place a craphole, not our laws. Simple.
Agent,
There are probably more depending on which Hispanic or Coloradan you ask, but according to the AP, that's how many were at the meeting. Next question?
Thanks for the comment.
When the country is on the verge of having it's currency collapse and lets not forget the whole Israel and Iran thing. Oh and what about those several million fema is sending around the country to stock there concentration camps. Perhaps a little recreational pot smoke might not be such a bad idea. I would bet that a couple of trucks loads of pot is worth more than the 2trillion dollars in treasury bonds China Holds. Come on America lets try setting our sites on the big things
whodat?,
I can't help but blame prohibition, because it's the prohibition that puts people in the position to become the organized criminals who profit from the situation, and prohibition that produces the victims of the law's inequities.
Ignorance is at fault only because people have bought into the lies of the prohibitionists for decades.
Just look at what the prohibition of alcohol did when it made organized criminals rich and powerful. When alcohol prohibition was repealed, organized crime had to turn to other illegal sins such as prostitution, gambling, and yes drugs, including the newly criminalized marijuana.
Prohibition causes man to be at fault as well. Simple.
Thanks for the comment.
Thanks for the article. Another interesting facet of an interesting topic. Seeing those quotes from the DEA is not surprising.
There is no scientific basis for cannabis prohibition. While not completely benign, cannabis is safer than alcohol. The relative saftey of cannabis is what is fueling its use. If it was as destructive as the Anslinger disciples proclaim there wouldn't be so many consumers of the plant.
Combining cannabis's mass market with prohibition guarantees hefty profits for cartels.
Cannabis prohibition is now affecting people who don't consume cannabis (like myself). Going for a hike in the woods with my family is no longer as fun and safe as it used to be since you really should keep your head on a swivel in there.
Cannabis users are not going to stop consuming. I hope we can get the prohibitionists to realize what the end results are of their crusades. They seem to want to enforce prohibition at any cost.
Thanks for standing up.
Pure, plain, good ol' boy... HYSTERIA. This is what it is all about.
It was irresponsible, unforgivable, and plain stupid what the Forest Service said.
***This is 2009, not 1937. We need out government to enter the 21st Century with the rest of society!!! This is what I demand as an American citizen. Cannabis or "marihuana" in the 21st Century should be legally grown, sold,consumed by responsible adults and kept out of teenager hands. I guess we just have to pull our politicians and DEA officials kicking and screaming with us into the future.
Pretty crazy comments by a gov't organization. I think whats the most troubling is that people still don't see what prohibition has done to this country.
It's not a war on (some) drugs it's a war on minorities, to replace lost slave labor with prison labor. I'm glad I'm not talking to a brick wall any more when I say that. The fact that 50-75 million Americans admit to having smoked it is testament to how widespread it is. If only it were *legal* than entrepreneurial spirits wouldn't be damaging public land. But Uncle Sam is the biggest drug cartel on the planet, that's why they absolutely refuse to even discuss legalization. We KNOW what prohibition does: it breeds violence and corruption, we know that because we outlawed alcohol. Why does anyone think outlawing *naturally growing* drugs would be any different? Read tinyurl.com/1mn for the real history behind the 'war on (some) drugs.'
Something to pique your interest from tinyurl.com/1mn:
"It wasn't hostility to the drug, it was hostility to the newly arrived Mexican community that used it."
Basically, none of the white people in these states knew anything about marijuana, and I make a distinction between white people and Mexicans to reflect a distinction that any legislator in one of these states at the time would have made. And all you had to do to find out what motivated the marijuana laws in the Rocky mountain and southwestern states was to go to the legislative records themselves. Probably the best single statement was the statement of a proponent of Texas first marijuana law. He said on the floor of the Texas Senate, and I quote, "All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff (referring to marijuana) is what makes them crazy." Or, as the proponent of Montana's first marijuana law said, (and imagine this on the floor of the state legislature) and I quote, "Give one of these Mexican beet field workers a couple of puffs on a marijuana cigarette and he thinks he is in the bullring at Barcelona."
<i>Can we add text formatting? This text is supposed to be italicized.</i>
The Congressional failure to implement a fee and regulatory program for marijuana in the United States is irresponsible and a violation of the public trust.
The cartels would be poorer, our public lands cleaner, and our children safer if we implemented a Personal Use and Cultivation Permit: $100 per year for a dozen plants. Split the proceeds between the States and the Fed.
It's time to put the cartels out of business.
It's time to let ordinary Americans grow a little marijuana in their own back yards.
I understand the response, and I respect it...the problem is, however, when cannabis becomes legal, the cartels will switch to whatever will make money. Sure the actual physical cartel might break down, but another enterprise will thrive. Think child trafficking or assassinations. When a man has no money to feed a large number a children, he will find work where he can. Taking away the income from selling meth and growing pot and the poor in Mexico will be EVEN WORSE OFF. There will still be all those desperate men will to do ANYTHING to feed the children they couldn't afford in the first place. See what I'm saying? THE PROBLEM WILL NOT GO AWAY WITH PROHIBITION. *In case you didn't read my first post, I absolutely hate prohibition*, I just know it's the nature of human ignorance that is the problem. Let's educate Mexico!
Can you imagine if this comment was geared towards the black community,Rev.Sharpton would have his march going on already!It's a good thing Latinos don't take themselves too serious.I can see it now:Watermelon eating,kool-aid drinking,rap music playing,and if you smell fried chicken where black people gather it's probably some illegal drug activity going on.I just found this article hilarious,and so wrong,but that's our government .
WOW!!! After reading all of these posts I could swear that most of you are living under rocks. Don't blame the government for making weed illegal, blame yourselves. Every year all over the country there are props to legalize it, and every year it gets voted down by the people. You wanna put the cartels out of business, put your bong down for a minute and go VOTE!!!!
You did an awesome job on this.
I'm going to link to you soon in my blog rant.
-Jaundice James
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