Jacob Simpson 6/7/21 Jacob Simpson 6/7/21

The Messy, Groundless, and Racist Campaign Against Cannabis in the United States: Part II

Everyone on the planet must know about what must have been, without contest, the best nightlife establishments ever to do business in the United States - tea pads. Essentially cannabis speakeasies, they were mostly couches and low lighting accompanied by some form of entertainment - a Victrola, a band, maybe even a rented nickelodeon where customers could land to comfortably buy and smoke “tea”. Some were elegant, some likely not as much, but in every major city from New Orleans to New York, apartment dens were clouding with smoke and incense every night.

But every human being is worthy of the dignity of their own inimitable individuality, the completeness and security of living truth. Self defining, re-defining, we are the lone authors of our own lives; good ones, too. It’s time for that to truly be the case and let things be as they truly are. To let humans be human. To let the plant be a plant. . . . . . #cannabis #cannabisculture #justaplant #mexico #america #immigration #cannabishistory #cannabisculture #newblog #linkinbio

So as with most things, it was not a simple string of events which landed us where we are today with the plant. Before 1915 El Paso, cannabis was mostly a non-issue. It was unpopular in Mexico, gaining some popularity in the States, used for decades by physicians as a sedative, analgesic, and seizure medication, and most exotically, a literal feature of poet party culture. All in all, it was a non-threatening, practical, hearty, herbaceous plant that more or less was not worth too much thought. But at this juncture the alchemizing of cannabis in America begins; the truth of the plant was abandoned in order to become a tool of a different purpose, science and expertise became impotent against ignorance, and prejudice fear dominated the decision makers and perception shakers of the time. A period with a tragically low tolerance for science, compassion, or truth. A period that is long due to end. . . . . . #cannabis #history #mexico #america #immigration #cannabishistory #cannabisblog #linkinbio #cannabiaculture #cannabisresearch

I do not wish to retell the long and symbiotic history of humans and cannabis before the last century, nor merely to accost our era for being so different and backwards. It is important, however, to examine and understand the arguments and events which have ensconced cannabis in its current predicament and the collateral consequences therein. It cost most of a century as well as heaps of time, money, and lies, but eventually cannabis was transformed entirely, recasting a fiber crop and medicinal herb as the cornerstone of a legislative, cultural, and racist campaign we still resist today in the United States. . . . . . #cannabis #mexico #america #history #immigration #racism #prohibition #legalizeit #normalizeit #cannabishistory #cannabisculture #newblog #cannareset

The Messy, Groundless, and Racist Campaign Against Cannabis in the United States: Part II

Just a Gram