Thread by @vocinsider

The legal status of cannabis has been in question in the U.S. since people started regularly smoking it in the early 1900s. Here’s a breakdown of the racist origins of marijuana prohibition. 👇

As early as the 1800s, there were no federal restrictions on the sale or possession of cannabis in the US. businessinsider.com/arizona-legali…

In the early 1900s, an influx of Mexican immigrants came to the US fleeing political unrest in their home country. With them, they brought the practice of smoking cannabis recreationally. And it took off.

In 1936, a propaganda film called “Reefer Madness” was released. In the movie, teenagers smoke weed for the first time, leading to a series of horrific events.
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In 1937, the Marihuana Tax Act was passed. Cannabis sales were now taxed. Part of the reason this act was passed was because of fear-mongering going on at the time. A huge instigator of that fear-mongering was the man behind the Tax Act, Harry Anslinger. businessinsider.com/racist-origins…

By emphasizing the Spanish word marihuana instead of cannabis, Anslinger created a strong association between the drug and the newly-arrived Mexican immigrants who helped popularize it in the States. businessinsider.com/books-white-pr…

In the first year after the Marihuana Tax Act was passed, Black people were about three times more likely to be arrested for violating narcotic drug laws than whites. And Mexicans were nearly nine times more likely to be arrested for the same charge.
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Through the 1960s and ‘70s, weed-smoking took on a new perception through the counterculture movement. Young, white people resisted mainstream culture and powerful institutions. insider.com/how-big-weed-b…

The @ACLU reported that in 2010, black people were four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than white people, even though both groups consume marijuana around the same rate. Some states have taken action to reduce this type of criminalization. businessinsider.com/legal-marijuan…

Since 2012, 11 states and Washington, DC, have legalized marijuana for adults 21+. 34 states have legalized medical marijuana. In the #Election2020, New Jersey, Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota voted to legalize recreational cannabis, though it won't become legal immediately.

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