More than 40% of Americans now live in a state where recreational marijuana is legal. It’s
time to legalize on a federal level. That would make it easier for states to enact their
own laws, allow cannabis businesses to operate without intense restrictions, and give researchers
the chance to study the drug more extensively. The only person studying the effects of pot
now is your mom, who wants you to look at me with those blood-shot eyes of yours and
tell me what you have been smoking! Oh my God. Was it dope? It’s that new boyfriend
of yours, isn’t it? Mitchell? The one who raises snakes? Oh, dear God. If your father
were alive, he would be heartbroken. Despite public opinion reaching an all-time high,
some critics still say laws are changing too fast. But they might want to look at why cannabis
became illegal in the first place. - There were a lot of Mexican workers flooding
over the border. And a very clever bureaucrat named Harry Anslinger figured out that he
could demonize those workers, at the same time demonize this weed. So, what he did is
he actually changed the name from cannabis, which was in medicine chests, to marijuana,
which became known as “loco weed.” People were flooded with anti-marijuana propaganda
with unscientific arguments saying that it incited violent crimes, aroused a lust for
blood, and gave its users superhuman strength. The only person who reacts like that when
consuming a plant is Super Mario. The man is wanted in at least six kingdoms! This propaganda
campaign ultimately led to anti-marijuana laws specifically directed at Mexican migrants
and Mexican Americans. In 1937, Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act, effectively criminalizing
cannabis. And in the year after it was passed, Black people were about three times more likely
to be arrested for violating narcotic drug laws than white people, and Mexicans were
nearly nine times more likely to be arrested. All of this set the stage for the war on drugs
led by President Nixon, who with the help of Congress, classified marijuana as a Schedule
I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule I drugs have the most restrictions
on research, supply, and access. Marijuana is in the same category as heroin, LSD, and
ecstasy. I mean, thankfully, it’s not on the level of the worst drug of all: love.
The act stated marijuana had no accepted medical use and high potential for abuse. This made
it incredibly hard for scientists to research the effects of marijuana, something that has
continued to this day. It’s a catch 22. That stresses me out so much I need that sweet
kush, which I guess makes this, like, a catch… 44? I don’t know. I tried a gummy before
this, but it tasted like pot, so I threw up. Like, everywhere. Even after a bipartisan
commission determined marijuana should be decriminalized, Nixon rejected the recommendation.
Because it was never really a war on drugs—it was a war on Black and Brown people. But that
didn’t stop new administrations from both parties from rebranding the racist policies
to pass anti-crime laws that usually targeted people of color. Even despite evidence that
showed marijuana is a relatively safe drug and that a majority of people do not go on
to use harder substances. They do, however, go on to get so high, they take a shower in
the dark and talk to a younger version of themself. Okay, just Mike Drucker did that.
His younger self was really disappointed. While cannabis laws have changed over the
decades, there are still plenty of arrests happening. As of June 2020, 40,000 people
were incarcerated because of marijuana offenses. And Black and Brown people are still more
likely to be arrested for possession than white people, despite similar rates of marijuana
use, even in states where it’s legal. Simply legalizing marijuana at the federal level
won’t magically undo generations of damage caused by the war on drugs. Getting arrested
for possession, for even a small amount, can be devastating for a person’s life. People
have been deported, lost their homes, or even had their children taken away. We have to
consider the lives of Black and Brown people when creating these laws. States like Illinois
and New York are attempting to create policies to address the racial inequities. But while
these new laws are good in theory, they’re not always implemented equitably. Since Illinois
legalized marijuana last year, Black people have accounted for three quarters of marijuana
arrests in Chicago. Unless issues like this are addressed, white people stand to profit
massively off of an industry that has been and continues to be largely harmful to people
of color. Research shows that marijuana is a relatively harmless drug, which is why it’s
so terrible that criminalizing it has ruined countless lives. We need to legalize marijuana,
and we definitely need to stop using it to harass and target Black and Brown people.
Anyway, what was I saying? Oh, right, yes. Marijuana. Welcome to the show. And happy
birthday Tony Danza. You look great.