May 89 min read

Cannabis Discrimination

By: Dillon Cate

Discrimination is something no one wants to talk about. Especially the people who are making extremely large amounts of money off the discrimination. This has been the case with Cannabis for nearly the last 100 years in America. Which is why Cannabis has always remained a taboo topic, even though its far less harmful than alcohol. (1)

Cannabis / Hemp was once a part of everyday life in America being grown by founding fathers such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin along with countless others. (2) Hemp was once even required by law to be grown In the American Colonies. Cannabis was also a part of the United States Pharmacopeia all the way up until 1942.

United States Pharmacopeia 1936

Hemp production was such an integral part of the early American Colonial society that only 12 years after their landing the Jamestown in 1619 Colonists were ordered by law to grow Hemp. (3) That’s right that the first law in America regarding Cannabis was actually requiring Citizens to grow it instead of our current laws which cause over a quarter million arrests a year. (4)

Harvesting Hemp

Look At The Amount Each Person Is Able To Lift

Hemp was also considered legal tender in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland. This was done as a big encouragement to get farmers to grow an even larger abundance of Hemp. There wasn’t enough Hemp to meet up with the need as it was the best material for making rope, sails, and clothing. In this time ships were the means of travel, and the ships’ fuel was the Sails and Rope as Gasoline is for Cars. Hemp Seed can be used as a biofuel for cars, or even used in E cars batteries. (5) Hemp-based bioplastic can be used to manufacture the cars themselves as well and is stronger than steel.

In fact, the man responsible for the modern car industry Henry Ford himself envisioned a “Car Grew from Seed” that he had done at least 12 years’ worth of research on. The car was to be made of Bioplastic quoted as being 10 times stronger than steel made from a mix of Hemp, Wheat, Flax and Spruce Pulp. The plastic car was 1000 pounds lighter than a traditional steel car. There were plans to release an affordable version to the public in 1943 but plans were scrapped. The “Car Grew from Seed” was to run on biofuel which included Hemp as a source.

Article From Popular Mechanics 1941

Ford himself in 1925 told the New York Times “The fuel of the future is going to come from fruit like sumac out by the road, of from apples, weeds-almost anything. There is fuel in every bit of vegetable matter that can be fermented. There’s enough alcohol one years yield of an acre of potatoes to drive the machinery necessary to cultivate the fields for a hundred years.” (6)

In this era there were more changes happening to the everyday American life than ever. Particularly during the years of World War II, Americans were having almost everything change in front of their eyes in the name of rationing and making the most of precious materials. From the metal shoelace ends to the plastic ones we know today.

Clipping From Same Magazine

So, we should ask ourselves why was this extremely cost effective, efficient, and renewable change not made? Perhaps the thought of every person around the world being able to produce their own fuel at home was too much for the monopolized Oil industry which still accounts for 8% of the total United States economy. (7)

The discrimination led by propaganda against Cannabis truly kicked off from the beginning of the 1900s up until the1930’s. This was during the original era of “Marijuana Menace” and “Reefer Madness”. Two notorious figures involved are Henry J Anslinger who was the first Commissioner of Narcotics the precursor to the DEA; and paper mill / newspaper business magnate William Hearst owner at the time of the nation’s largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. They worked together in an effort to completely change the publics opinion on Cannabis.

Henry J Aslinger

William Hearst

Why would a business magnate want to make a crop illegal? Well, unfortunately people don’t look at things as what’s best for humanity but instead look at what’s best for themselves and their interests. William’s interests are clear like many businessmen before and after. Keep his profits up as high as possible and eliminate any threat of competition using unfair business practices and having no moral code of ethics.

The biggest impact they made was with the yellow journalism article about the 1933 murder of the Lacata family to create images of a foreign murderous drug in the minds of impressionable and Americans who were naively too trusting of the media. The Lacata family was known to suffer from serious mental problems due to their family arrangement of marrying first cousins. (8)

Historian Joe Howden who once lived in the same house studied the case. He found that local law enforcement accused Victor Lacata of being addicted to marijuana cigarettes. However when they tested Victor they found no “Marihuana” in his system. This didn’t stop the media at the time reporting otherwise or Henry Anslinger from revisiting and bringing the case back to the public light and manipulating facts and the public’s opinion. (9) (10)

Cannabis and just as important non psychoactive Hemp is a very dangerous crop. It’s not dangerous for those who use it medically or recreationally. It’s not dangerous to those who grow it or are even exposed to it. It is, however, very dangerous to many of the top industries in the world. Such as the Oil industry, the Textile Industry, Lumber Industry and even The Paper Industry. As there is no plant more versatile than Cannabis/Hemp it can truly be used to create so many useful things.

There are a few things that make Cannabis and Hemp so particularly dangerous. First off it grows incredibly fast, taking only a few months to grow instead of a few years. It also is rather simple to grow so if anyone put in the proper effort and research they themselves could be Cannabis/Hemp Farmers. The main danger with Cannabis/Hemp is its effectiveness. It’s such a versatile and effective plant that it can be used to make shoes that are waterproof and last nearly forever. While also being as the fuel that you used in the car you drove to the store to get the Hemp shoes. Don’t forget your car could be made out of Hemp as well which would actually make it stronger and lighter.

Wait why use hemp for a fuel source when better yet you could use Hemp inside your EV battery making it more efficient and environmentally friendly, than the toxic metals we currently use. Of course, the house you come home too could also be made from Hempcrete. A vastly superior cheaper stronger alternative to Concrete. After a long day of shopping, you of course will need to quench yourself with some Hemp milk which of course is full of one of the most easily digestible forms of Proteins. Thanks to hemp being high in edistin, and albumin. (11)

Why would a shoe company want you to have Hemp shoes when you would stop buying them so frequently? How could Oil Companies have a monopoly on an industry when there is now a renewable source of fuel that’s not limited to certain areas of the world. Why would a guy who owns a major share of the country’s paper milling industry, and one of the biggest newspaper publishers want such a dangerous crop around? They didn’t and used sensational journalism along with their Media Empires to spread Fear amongst the uneducated masses. While using their financial resources to pay off government officials and hire mass amounts of lobbyists to control government influence.

If all this has got your mind feeling racy or anxious then Cannabis can be used to help that as well. Which would put Big Pharma, one of the top grossing industries in the world at risk! The last thing they need is an herb that could help people with physical and mental ailments. Grown completely from the comfort of their own home while providing relief in the practice of growing the plant itself!

A Man Relaxing While Tending His Garden

Cannabis Discrimination is one of the ultimate examples in my opinion of Discrimination for it has such a long history and a wide range of victims. Particularly those who are in the lower economic classes. While also being used as a scapegoat to push propaganda against other ethnicities. Starting with Mexican’s during the 1930’s. That is when Cannabis was changed to Marihuana to make it sound more foreign and dangerous.

There is no telling of how many victims there have been of the War Against Cannabis. However, to give you an idea in 2020 there were 300,000 arrests for Cannabis Possession alone in the United States. (12)

Cannabis was first criminalized only 5 years after the end of prohibition on alcohol. It’s clear that the agencies created during the time of prohibition needed a new target to sustain their budgets.

There is simply no denying that Cannabis is and has been used extensively as a means to target people by Law Enforcement. This is done through years of propaganda pushed by those who trained them. But also, the biggest thing in my opinion is lack of experience. How many officers in non-legal and even legal states have ever experienced Cannabis firsthand? Or even been to a Cannabis Festival or “Grateful Dead” type show without wearing a badge in their trained mindset of protecting and serving.

Watkins Glen 1973, Biggest Grateful Dead Concert 600,000+ in Attendance No Deaths (More than Woodstock)

All of these years of discrimination has now found it’s way into the legal cannabis scene. One way this has an effect on every legal Cannabis operator is they face extremely harsh and unfair banking restrictions that are found only against those in the Cannabis business field. This hurts the ability of businesses to exist and grow. It limits the payments options the customers have as well. It’s hurting both the already consumer and the industry while the Banks are making unprecedented fees. We ourselves have been victims of this, with our banks refusing to do business with us for simply being related to Cannabis.

Discrimination is still so severe against Cannabis is so severe that I myself am a Cannabis Refuge having to leave my home state of New Hampshire if I wanted to legally be able to be prescribed Medical Cannabis. Let alone feel comfortable enough to use my first amendment right to free speech to talk about Cannabis and advocating for Cannabis's future, and for all of the community including consumers and businesses by creating the ILoveMeWeed platform.

This finally gave me the opportunity to pursue my right to liberty and happiness by being able to start my own Cannabis Farm one day and be able to finally grow my own Medicine for myself and the Community. Something that I have been working on since the beginning of my Cannabis journey.

My First Harvest; Being Able To Grow Medicine Was The Best. One day again!

Me being a Cannabis Refuge is due to New Hampshire’s extremely backwards Cannabis laws and current Medical Cannabis program which is by far the most restrictive and behind in all of New England. It’s quite literally completely surrounded by much more affordable and accessible Medical Cannabis and yet it’s still the “Live Free or Die” state. The New Hampshire Medical Market is a perfect example of the opposite of neighboring Maine. It features a complete monopoly controlled by a singular out of state entity Temescal Wellness.

Which operates in 3 states including Massachusetts and Maryland. While founder and CEO Ted Rebholz also owns a Cannabis farm in Puerto Rico. His past work includes being CFO of Beyond Meat along with CFO of Whiptail Technologies which raised up 45 million in funding and then sold to Cisco for $450 million. (13) Which is an incredible accomplishment! So why is Cannabis still being sold for $40 and eighth or $270 an ounce and patients are unable to grow their own? Maine is less than a 15-minute drive from their Dover location and will save you at least half the money, let alone the quality difference. The people and patients of New Hampshire deserve better as do the rest of the World.

We are at a time where people are struggling financially, and Cannabis is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for citizens of America and the rest of the World to be able to make money. At the same time as helping and healing the planet, and us that call it home instead of hurting it. It’s crucial we step in and protect these rights as the laws are currently being written. It’s much easier to stop something from happening now than to have to fix a giant problem in the future. Especially when the giant problem has Billions of dollars and an active interest to keep growing as much as possible which is what we are facing with corporations.

You have the opportunity to be apart of history, in 25 years when Cannabis has been Federally legalized where do you want to be? Being grateful being able to grow your own medicine and saying you were apart of the Cannabis Revolution or stuck buying Mids from Corporations.

The choice is yours.