Why Is Marijuana Banned?

The Real Reasons Are Worse Than You Think

By Johann Hari | Source


Across the world, more and more people are asking: Why is marijuana banned? Why are people still sent to prison for using or selling it?

Most of us assume it’s because someone, somewhere sat down with the scientific evidence, and figured out that cannabis is more harmful than other drugs we use all the time — like alcohol and cigarettes.

Somebody worked it all out, in our best interest.

But when I started to go through the official archives — researching my book Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs — to find out why cannabis was banned back in the 1930s, I discovered that’s not what happened.

Not at all.

In 1929, a man called Harry Anslinger was put in charge of the Department of Prohibition in Washington, D.C. But alcohol prohibition had been a disaster. Gangsters had taken over whole neighborhoods. Alcohol — controlled by criminals — had become even more poisonous.


So alcohol prohibition finally ended — and Harry Anslinger was afraid. He found himself in charge of a huge government department, with nothing for it to do. Up until then, he had said that cannabis was not a problem. It doesn’t harm people, he explained, and “there is no more absurd fallacy” than the idea it makes people violent.



Harry J. Anslinger, commissioner of the Treasury Department’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics, poses for a photo on September 24, 1930. (AP Photo)

But then — suddenly, when his department needed a new purpose — he announced he had changed his mind.

He explained to the public what would happen if you smoked cannabis:

First, you will fall into “a delirious rage.” Then you will be gripped by “dreams... of an erotic character.” Then you will “lose the power of connected thought.” Finally, you will reach the inevitable end-point: “Insanity.”

Marijuana turns man into a “wild beast.“ If marijuana bumped into Frankenstein’s monster on the stairs, Anslinger warned, the monster would drop dead of fright.

Harry Anslinger became obsessed with one case in particular. In Florida, a boy called Victor Licata hacked his family to death with an axe. Anslinger explained to America: This is what will happen when you smoke “the demon weed.” The case became notorious. The parents of the U.S. were terrified.


Photo: Victor Licata

What evidence did Harry Anslinger have? It turns out at this time he wrote to the 30 leading scientists on this subject, asking if cannabis was dangerous, and if there should be a ban. Twenty-nine wrote back and said no.

Anslinger picked out the one scientist who said yes, and presented him to the world. The press — obsessed with Victor Licata’s axe — cheered them on.

In a panic that gripped America, marijuana was banned. The U.S. told other countries they had to do the same. Many countries said it was a dumb idea, and refused to do it. For example, Mexico decided their drug policy should be run by doctors. Their medical advice was that cannabis didn’t cause these problems, and they refused to ban it. The U.S. was furious. Anslinger ordered them to fall into line. The Mexicans held out — until, in the end, the U.S. cut off the supply of all legal painkillers to Mexico. People started to die in agony in their hospitals. So with regret, Mexico sacked the doctor — and launched its own drug war.



“The scientific evidence suggests cannabis is safer than alcohol. Alcohol kills 40,000 people every year in the U.S. Cannabis kills nobody.”

But at home, questions were being asked. A leading American doctor called Michael Ball wrote to Harry Anslinger, puzzled. He explained he had used cannabis as a medical student, and it had only made him sleepy. Maybe cannabis does drive a small number of people crazy, he said — but we need to fund some scientific studies to find out.

Anslinger wrote back firmly. “The marihuana evil can no longer be temporized with,” he explained, and he would fund no independent science. Then, or ever.

For years, doctors kept approaching him with evidence he was wrong, and he began to snap, telling them they were “treading on dangerous ground” and should watch their mouths.

Today, most of the world is still living with the ban on cannabis that Harry Anslinger introduced, in the nation-wide panic that followed Victor Licata’s killing spree.

But here’s the catch. Years later, somebody went and looked at the psychiatric files for Victor Licata.

It turns out there’s no evidence he ever used cannabis.

He had a lot of mental illness in his family. They had been told a year before he needed to be institutionalized — but they refused. His psychiatrists never even mentioned marijuana in connection to him.

So, does cannabis make people mad?

The former chief advisor on drugs to the British government, David Nutt, explains — if cannabis causes psychosis in a straightforward way, then it would show in a straightforward way.

When cannabis use goes up, psychosis will go up. And when cannabis use goes down psychosis will go down.


Photo: David Nutt

So does that happen? We have a lot of data from a lot of countries. And it turns out it doesn’t. For example, in Britain, cannabis use has increased by a factor of about 40 since the 1960s. And rates of psychosis? They have remained steady.

In fact, the scientific evidence suggests cannabis is safer than alcohol. Alcohol kills 40,000 people every year in the U.S. Cannabis kills nobody — although Willie Nelson says a friend of his did once die when a bale of cannabis fell on his head.


Photo: Mason Tvert on Thursday, May 6, 2010. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

This is why, in 2006, a young man in Colorado called Mason Tvert issued a challenge to the then-mayor of Denver and eventual governor, John Hickenlooper. Hickenlooper owned brew-pubs selling alcohol across the state, and it made him rich. But he said cannabis was harmful and had to be banned. So Mason issued him a challenge — to a duel. You bring a crate of booze. I’ll bring a pack of joints. For every hit of booze you take, I’ll take a hit of cannabis. We’ll see who dies first.

It was the ultimate High Noon.

Mason went on to lead the campaign to legalize cannabis in his state. His fellow citizens voted to do it — by 55 percent. Now adults can buy cannabis legally, in licensed stores, where they are taxed—and the money is used to build schools. After a year and a half of seeing this system in practice, support for legalization has risen to 69 percent. And even Governor Hickenlooper has started calling it “common sense.”

Oh — and Colorado hasn’t been filled with people hacking their families to death yet.

Isn’t it time we listened to the science — and finally put away Victor Licata’s axe?

Cross-posted from The Influence. Follow them on Facebook here.

About the author: Johann Hari is a British journalist and author. This article is adapted from his New York Times best-sellling book Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs. To find out why Glenn Greenwald, Noam Chomsky, Bill Maher, Naomi Klein and Elton John have all praised it, click here.

Who is afraid of HEMP?

Months ago I was invited to develop the product design and marketing campaign for Cebedin – premium qualityCBD oil. Considering the product is safe and 100 % legal (it is produced and distributed in Europe) I was shocked to realise marketing campaigns were blocked by Facebook and PayPal blocked company’s account. 

If the product is legal, why? What motivates these giants to continue campaigns about this useful plant? Who orders them to do so?

For those of you who don’t know, CBD is short for Cannabidiol, which is one of more than 110 Cannabinoids identified in Cannabis / Hemp.

CBD is interesting, because it is accounting for up to 40% of plant’s extract and therefore one of key Cannabinoids. The other interesting bit about CBD is the fact it is not psycho-active, so unlike THC – Tetrahydrocannabinol (the other important Cannabinoid) it will not get you high.

This means CBD is safe to use and as you will have no problems discovering there are numerous active and completed clinical studies that prove positive effects of CBD on human health. It is safe for children, seniors and everyone in between. The number of active studies might positively surprise you, but maybe even more so the list of diseases being treated with Cannabinoids.

So, you don’t have to listen to over-excited Cannabis activists screaming about “the cure for Cancer”, looking at it from the scientific point of view will do. I would not go as far as claiming it is the cure for Cancer just yet, but the number of other diseases (in some cases also where synthetic drugs don’t work) is just impressive.

Did you know that Cannabis has been used in medicine throughout human history? First notes about it’s usage come from China and are more than 10.000 years old. Products like “Cannabis drops” could be found in pharmacies across the world even some 50 years ago. 

Countries across the globe encouraged farmers to grow Hemp also because it can me used for producing numerous other products like food, clothing, ropes, fiber, isolation,…

Than something changed and this plant became a treat to the world. It is hard to know what that was, but many believe Cannabis became a threat to Pharma, Tobacco, and Oil industry and the decision was made to ban the plant.

Mostly thank to internet and common sense Cannabis is coming back. Some brave countries across the globe have legalized Cannabis and guess what. Overall crime rate did not go up, number of Heroin addicts did not go up and the economy benefited on many segments. These cases show, without any doubt, criminalizing Cannabis was a mistake. Not to mention HEMP, the variety of Cannabis (almost) without the psycho-active THC.

I once read that banning Hemp because it looks like Marijuana is like making powdered sugar illegal, because it looks like Cocaine. Interesting thought.

CBD oil Cebedin contains below 0.2% THC, which is below detection. That is why it is legal to produce and sell in Europe. It is safe. It will not get you high. It should not be banned anywhere in the world. Well, no plant should be for that matter, but that is a different subject.

If CBD oil Cebedin is made of Hemp, has almost no THC and is legal to produce and distribute, why do Facebook and PayPal have problems with it? If true authorities don't mind, why should Facebook and paypal?

What motivates them to block accounts that promote Hemp. Don’t they realise the internet is about being free and resourceful? Don’t they realise people will never stop searching for the truth?

Shame of you Facebook

Shame on you PayPal

Your actions are simply sad. Oh, and don’t forget to punish the companies who sell that powdered sugar!

Will Marijuana for Sick Kids Get Government to Rethink Weed?

Holli Brown comforts her daughter, Sydni Yunek, who is having a seizure at a medical marijuana support group picnic in Colorado, while Sara Lightle and her daughter, Madeline, stand by. Both mothers moved to the state, where recreational and medical marijuana are legal, to have access to cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive drug extracted from marijuana that can reduce or prevent seizures in some children. 

For years, opponents of legalizing medical marijuana have built their case on the most powerful of political maxims: Think about the children. But today it’s the suffering of children that might eventually compel the federal government to relax its stance.

Thousands of kids across the United States are afflicted with Dravet Syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, rare forms of childhood-onset epilepsy that can cause dozens, even hundreds, of severe seizures each day. Conventional drugs have been ineffective.

Last year, however, the FDA approved a clinical trial of Epidiolex, a drug made from cannabidiol (CBD)—one of 85 active chemical compounds, called cannabinoids, in marijuana. The initial findings were promising. After 12 weeks of treatment, 54 percent of patients experienced fewer seizures and 9 percent saw their seizures cease. The trial has already moved to a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. (Read about the new science of marijuana.)

In addition, scientists are stepping up lab research to better understand the mechanisms of CBD, which, unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is not psychoactive. Joseph Sullivan, the director of the University of California Pediatric Epilepsy Center in San Francisco, who was also one of the investigators in the Epidiolex study, says that one of the most significant developments driving this research is that the medical community is no longer lumping cannabinoids together.

“We now know that it is the cannabidiol alone that exhibits the most antiseizure effects,” he says, “and with some of the new genetically hybridized plants, we have the ability to get higher concentrations of cannabidiol without concomitant concentrations in THC.”



In an irrigated field on the plains east of Denver, marijuana grows discreetly hidden behind outer rows of corn. This crop has little tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance in marijuana, but high levels of CBD. Some of the harvest will be used to make CBD oil, which is in demand to treat children with seizures. 

But while cannabidiol can’t get anyone high, scientists repeatedly confront legal and bureaucratic obstacles to their research. Since it is extracted from the marijuana plant, it is still classified as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. That places CBD in the same category as LSD and heroin—a drug with “a high potential for abuse” that “has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.”

Enabling Cannabis Research

The Obama administration or Congress could “reschedule” marijuana to a category that would acknowledge its potential medical benefits and reduce the restrictions on research. But John Hudak, an expert on the legalization debate at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., believes that’s unlikely to happen soon.

Although opinion polls show growing support for medical marijuana, even in conservative states, “there is still a lot of fear about marijuana that exists in the public,” Hudak says. “A vote in favor of rescheduling marijuana could very easily turn into an attack ad in the next campaign: ‘Politician A is making it easier for your kids to get high.’”

And while the administration could reschedule marijuana on its own, “this is not an area where they feel like engaging in a fight with Congress,” Hudak says. In general, Hudak believes there’s not much enthusiasm among elected officials to spend political capital on medical marijuana because “only a small community is very passionate about it.”

If anything, progress on the issue could stall in the coming months. Loretta Lynch, the new U.S. attorney general, revealed during her Senate confirmation hearings that she is less reform-minded on marijuana legalization than her predecessor. And those who see the recent departure of DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart as an opportunity for change should be prepared for disappointment. Caught between old-school drug warriors and reformers, President Obama opted to name an acting DEA chief who will likely maintain the status quo for the remainder of the administration, Hudak notes.



Ray Mirzabegian produces cannabidiol in his laboratory in Los Angeles. He first made it for his daughter who has Dravet Syndrome, a childhood-onset epilepsy. Now, at least 50 people now use his product, and he has a waiting list of more than 1,000.  

Changing Opinions on Pot

Still, Hudak believes that if demand for cannabidiol research increases, it could have a lasting impact by reducing marijuana’s stigma. “There is a lot of ignorance in the political community about CBD,” he says. “I think people, particularly opponents of reform, think of marijuana as a rolled joint and that's it. When, in reality, it's a very diverse product.”

From Hudak’s perspective, the interest in cannabinoid medicine signals a shift among medical professionals—whose minds, he says, can be “more difficult to change” than those in Congress. Earlier this year, for the first time, the American Academy of Pediatrics called for the rescheduling of marijuana to make it easier to develop treatments for children "with life-limiting or severely debilitating conditions for whom current therapies are inadequate."

Marijuana, increasingly available in U.S. statesAs states loosen restrictions, one politically appealing option is cannabidiol (CBD) oil, which has some of marijuana's health effects without the high.

Sullivan, a pediatric neurologist, doubts the FDA would have granted permission for Epidiolex trials were it not for the “social media buzz” stirred two years ago when celebrity doctor Sanjay Gupta reversed his opposition to medical marijuana while working on a high-profile CNN documentary that highlighted CBD. And Hudak says that, as more of the medical community throws its support behind marijuana-derived treatments, it will become easier for politicians to sell constituents on reform: “They can say, ‘Listen, we’re not big fans of marijuana, but the last thing we want to do is come between you and your doctor.’”

But where do federal agencies currently stand? One way to gauge their thinking is to look at what’s going on at the University of Mississippi, the site of the only cannabis farm sanctioned by the government. The facility is overseen by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which places orders for strains it wants for research.

Last month, the DEA signed off on a NIDA request to more than triple federal marijuana cultivation from its previously stated 2015 quota of 276 pounds (125 kilograms) to 881 pounds (400 kilograms), explaining that “research and product development involving cannabidiol is increasing beyond that previously anticipated.”

Also, for the first time, the government contract with the university includes an authorization to directly manufacture cannabidiol (up to 220 pounds, or 100 kilograms). The contract includes an option to scale up overall marijuana production from as low as 1.5 acres to as high as 12 acres.



A family waits their turn for cannabidiol in a tiny converted storage room behind a Los Angeles marijuana dispensary. Parents use the oil to treat a range of diseases that afflict their children, such as cancer, epilepsy, autism, and Crohn’s disease. Anecdotal evidence suggests it can be effective, but little medical research has been conducted. 

A Door Cracks Open

Mahmoud ElSohly, who runs the NIDA Marijuana Project at the University of Mississippi, cautions against reading too much into these figures. “NIDA has been criticized over the years for not having this, not having that, when an investigator needs something,” he says, “so they just wanted to be proactively ready to respond to the needs of the research community.”

Hudak shares ElSohly’s view, though he also thinks it’s an indicator that the administration is thinking long term, preparing for a time when the federal government might relax its restrictions. “One of the best characteristics of the president is his willingness to lay the groundwork for change that he thinks will eventually happen, even in the face of not yet being able to effect that change,” he says.

Meanwhile, GW Pharmaceuticals, the British company that manufactures Epidiolex, has announced that the FDA has approved initial, preclinical studies to see whether cannabidiol can be used to treat newborn children with neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy—a type of brain injury caused by lack of oxygen during birth.



Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist at New York University, examines his patient Madison Johnson. She is one of 25 people enrolled in Devinsky’s clinical trial of Epidiolex, a drug made from cannabidiol. Johnson’s parents say the drug has reduced the duration and intensity of her seizures and allowed her to be more focused. Initial results from the study have been promising, and it has moved on to the next phase.

At present, there is no FDA-approved drug for those children, who suffer from several disabilities, including multiple seizures. But researchers speculate that CBD could be an especially useful treatment, since it not only controls seizures but also has potent anti-inflammatory properties that could mitigate the effects of brain damage.

With this latest announcement, it’s increasingly clear the door has cracked open for FDA-approved cannabinoid research. For now, these studies are limited to rare disorders without effective treatments. But other scientists hope to expand research on how cannabis extracts could be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. If such research shows promising results, the federal government could find itself under pressure to reschedule cannabis and recognize the drug’s medical value.

Source of article and images: 
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/150515-medical-marijuana-federal-policy-research/ 

Rick Simpson

Do you know who is Rick Simpson? Probably the best way to describe him would be to invite you to watch his video:

He is probably the first to start the movement that change the way we see cannabis. And, when cannabis is finally legal and we start using it to treat many diseases, we will have to thank Rick Simpson, because he started that path.

Please visit Rick's official web page - Phoenix tears - and please donate & support this hero!

We also recommend buying his book.