# Why is marijuana illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 25, 2002, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931 "2002-03-25T02:49:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/1 "2002-03-25T02:49:05Z")
Because it was associated with the non-white underclass in the 1930s and deemed “corrupting” on the white majority. Most societies accept one or more mood-and-mind-altering drugs. The Western European roots of this society basically limited that selection solely to alcohol. When a number of drug related problems were deemed to be social problems, (and marijuana had threatened to become acceptable to a large plurality of citizens (1967 - 1983), even being decriminalized in some locations), it was lumped in with all the other non-alcoholic drugs that Western Europe had never embraced and again placed out of reach, by law. (Americans in the upper social climes did dally with other non-alcoholic drugs in the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries–notably opium–but the actual addictive nature of opiates got all those drugs criminalized, as well.) This is not to say that marijuana is some “safe” product with no side effects or long-term effects or consequences. However the reason that marijuana is banned and alcohol is not is simply an expression that our culture has chosen to limit is acceptance of harmful substances to alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/2 "2002-03-25T02:51:12Z")
Well, among the many reasons is the inability of the government to regulate and TAX it. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/3 "2002-03-25T02:57:56Z")
How would marijuana be less taxable than tobacco (if Congress chose to change the laws)? ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/4 "2002-03-25T03:27:34Z")
Originally it was to discriminate against Mexicans and Blacks who smoked it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/5 "2002-03-25T03:30:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > \*\*How would marijuana be less taxable than tobacco (if Congress chose to change the laws)? \*\* The biggest problem would be trying to bring under control all the growers. If the gov’t gets involved, the rogue farmer is not going make nearly as much money under regulations as he would growing it illegally and paying nothing to Uncle Sam. Just a WAG, of course. ---
**Author:** ![heptapod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@heptapod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heptapod)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/6 "2002-03-25T04:01:23Z")
Any cites regarding the fact that marijuana is illegal because it was used by non-whites? ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/7 "2002-03-25T04:56:46Z")
[The History of the Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the United States](http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm) by Charles Whitebread, Professor of Law, USC Law School. > [@](#): > > The first group of states to have marijuana laws in that part of the century were Rocky Mountain and southwestern states. By that, I mean Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana. > … > Probably the best single statement was the statement of a proponent of Texas first marijuana law. He said on the floor of the Texas Senate, and I quote, “All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff (referring to marijuana) is what makes them crazy.” Or, as the proponent of Montana’s first marijuana law said, (and imagine this on the floor of the state legislature) and I quote, “Give one of these Mexican beet field workers a couple of puffs on a marijuana cigarette and he thinks he is in the bullring at Barcelona.” > [@](#): > > A second group of states that had criminal laws against the use of marijuana were in the Northeast, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York – had one and then repealed it and then had one again – New Jersey… We had to go not only to the legislative records but to the newspapers in the state capitols at the time these laws were passed and what we found, in the early marijuana laws in the Northeast, we labeled the “fear of substitution.” If I may, let me paraphrase an editorial from the New York Times in 1919 so we will get exactly the flavor of this fear of substitution. > > The New York Times in an editorial in 1919 said, “No one here in New York uses this drug marijuana. We have only just heard about it from down in the Southwest,” and here comes the substitution. “But,” said the New York Times, “we had better prohibit its use before it gets here. Otherwise” – here’s the substitution concept – “all the heroin and hard narcotics addicts cut off from their drug by the Harrison Act and all the alcohol drinkers cut off from their drug by 1919 alcohol Prohibition will substitute this new and unknown drug marijuana for the drugs they used to use.” > [@](#): > > Well, from state to state, on the theory that this newly encountered drug marijuana would be substituted by the hard narcotics addicts or by the alcohol drinkers for their previous drug that had been prohibited, state to state this fear of substitution carried, and that accounted for 26 of the 27 states – that is, either the anti-Mexican sentiment in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain areas or fear of substitution in the Northeast. That accounted for 26 of the 27 states… > … > [I\*\*]n August of 1915 the Church, meeting again in synod in Salt Lake City decreed the use of marijuana contrary to the Mormon religion and then – and this is how things were in Utah in those days – in October of 1915, the state legislature met and enacted every religious prohibition as a criminal law and we had the first criminal law in this country’s history against the use of marijuana. How’s that? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/8 "2002-03-25T14:11:53Z")
Another reason: At the end of prohibition, the government had lots of federal cops just waiting for someone to harass, and the federal government doesn’t have a history of laying people off once their jobs are done. So, what to do? Find another task to keep your task forces busy. The fact that pot was generally smoked by non-whites certainly helped the decision. Btw, with 6000+ posts under your belt, you should know this isn’t GQ material. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/9 "2002-03-25T14:47:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SenorBeef \* > \*\* > Btw, with 6000+ posts under your belt, you should know this isn’t GQ material. \*\* Tomndebb was not the thread starter, “heptapod,” with a couple of posts, was. There’s some glitch in the software and it’s not always showing first posts in a thread. Secondly, why isn’t this GQ material? Please enlighten me. It seems to be a valid question with valid answers. While we do hold questions involving illegal substances to somewhat of a standard, this is not in any way a stupid question or a trolling thread. your humble TubaDiva Adminstrator ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/10 "2002-03-25T14:51:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Btw, with 6000+ posts under your belt, you should know this isn’t GQ material. You may be under the mistaken belief that I am the OP. If you back out of the thread, for a second, and read the Forum page, you will note that **heptapod** is the OP. I am not sure how **heptapod** was able to create a thread with no initial post, but that is what has happened.\* I responded because I think that the question (in this case limited to the title) is a legitimate question with a factual answer. I have no desire to debate the pros and cons of marijuana use, but the reason that marijuana is illegal while alcohol is not does have a factual answer, regardless whether _any_ specific substance should be legal, illegal, or ignored. Question for Admins: does the new release of vB simply ignore an “empty” post without requiring text? Or was there an effort by a Mod or Administrator to modify this thread that resulted in a title with no visible OP? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/11 "2002-03-25T14:54:19Z")
Sorry for the simulpost. You can kill these two if you wish. ---
**Author:** ![zwaldd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a9adbd/32.png) [@zwaldd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zwaldd)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/12 "2002-03-25T14:57:06Z")
“The biggest problem would be trying to bring under control all the growers.” I would think that if pot were legal, high tech growing techniques and mass production would raise the supply and lower the price of readily available, high quality weed and lower the demand for relatively crappy home grown product, thus limiting significant production to high profile companies, like tobacco companies. In that case it wouldn’t be too hard to regulate and tax the industry. ---
**Author:** ![scotth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@scotth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotth)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/13 "2002-03-25T15:59:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zwaldd \* > \*\*“The biggest problem would be trying to bring under control all the growers.” > > I would think that if pot were legal, high tech growing techniques and mass production would raise the supply and lower the price of readily available, high quality weed and lower the demand for relatively crappy home grown product, thus limiting significant production to high profile companies, like tobacco companies. In that case it wouldn’t be too hard to regulate and tax the industry. \*\* Going right along with this one. It is perfectly legal to make your own beer and wine. Why would it not be the same? With beer and wine legal and cheap, most people get it at the store. Some people make their own, mainly for the fun of doing it. This certainly does not create a black market problem. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/14 "2002-03-25T16:13:30Z")
What determines whether a ‘drug’ is legal or not, in my opinion, depends on who gets it first, the public or the drug companies. In the case of marijuana, the public got it, first so it’s illegal. By the way, here is a great site to find out your state’s laws on marijuana: [http://www.norml.org/states/index.shtml](http://www.norml.org/states/index.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![zwaldd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a9adbd/32.png) [@zwaldd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zwaldd)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/15 "2002-03-25T16:20:46Z")
“What determines whether a ‘drug’ is legal or not, in my opinion, depends on who gets it first, the public or the drug companies. In the case of marijuana, the public got it, first so it’s illegal.” How would that explain the legality of alcohol and tobacco? Or the illegality of heroin (first marketed in the US by Bayer I believe)? ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/16 "2002-03-26T04:50:22Z")
Cynical answer: because marijuana growers don’t give millions of dollars to political parties. I wonder if tobacco compaines have contingency plans to enter the marijuana market if/when if becomes legal. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/17 "2002-03-26T07:23:35Z")
I heard that it had a lot to do with the fact that hemp was very useful for making paper and whatnot, and the guys who made wood pulp and whatnot lobbied to get rid of the competition. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Frink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Mr.Frink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Frink)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/18 "2002-03-26T10:47:41Z")
It’s funny…with our huge cultural bias against cannabis, most of the younger people on this board probably don’t even realize how different the national attitude towards marijuana was just some 25 years ago. In today’s climate, it would be political suicide for a national political figure to even _suggest_ softening our marijuana laws. Yet in the mid-1970s, the U.S. appeared to be headed toward total decriminalization. In today’s world could anyone imagine our President taking a stand against our marijuana prohibition policy? Yet six months after taking office, **President Jimmy Carter** became the first American President to advocate the decriminalization of marijuana. In August of 1977 **President Carter** delivered a speech to Congress in which he said: > [@](#): > > \*\* Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marijuana in private for personal use…Therefore, I support legislation amending Federal law to eliminate all Federal criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. \*\* That same year (1977):[ul][li] **The National Governors Conference** published a study of the 11 states that had decriminalized marijuana that found “substantial savings of tax dollars with no increase in marijuana use”.[/li][li]Bob DuPont (a **Nixon** appointee), the head of the **National Institute on Drug Abuse** came out in favor of decriminalization. He even spoke out publicly in favor of legalizing home cultivation of marijuana![/li][li]And a new U.S. Representative named **Dan Quayle** was quoted saying: _"Congress should definitely consider decriminalizing possession of marijuana…We should concentrate on prosecuting the rapists and burglars who are a menace in society._ [/ul][/li]25 years and 4 conservative Presidents later, it’s hard to believe how much we’ve regressed. The “War on Drugs” has succeeded in closing the debate. Back in the 70’s everyone was familiar with the concept of “Hard Drugs” and “Soft Drugs”. When was the last time you heard the term “Soft Drugs”? A major part of the anti-drug strategy has been to blur the distinction between marijuana and other drugs–like heroin & cocaine. A drug is a drug is a drug. And with **Bush** ’s appointment of John Walters as Drug Czar, things don’t look like they’ll change anytime soon. _(Source:[Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure](http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/media/smoke.htm) by Dan Baum --pp. 92-95)_ ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/19 "2002-03-28T19:06:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by heptapod \* > \*\*Any cites regarding the fact that marijuana is illegal because it was used by non-whites? \*\* Sorry. I forgot I had posted in this thread, which is why is has taken so long to respond. I don’t have a link or anything, but that is what I’ve been told by my AP United States History teacher. ---
**Author:** ![bhb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@bhb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bhb)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2002, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931/20 "2002-03-28T19:27:01Z")
so why is nothing being done to legalize it? i and many others hate unnecessary regulations and restrictions, it seems like a waste of time and tax money to be prohibiting it. Are our political figures too afraid to stick there neck out and debate it? No taxation without representation, hmm… now where’s that one from? 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-marijuana-illegal/99931.md?page=2)