Why was cannabis illegalized in the U.S.?

Question

There seems to be a notion that cannabis was illegalized due to capitalism. I've read some theories as to how this happened, and one of them goes something like this:

Commissioner of the National Bureau of Narcotics Harry Anslinger, journalist and media personality William Randolph Hearst and the Dupont trading company, among other industrial parties of interest, were involved in a conspiracy to illegalize cannabis (and therefore hemp). When the decorticator was invented, the industrial parties were afraid their products would be out-competed by hemp fibers.

Marijuana Business News.com mentions this theory, though it doesn't support it. I believe there may be many variations of the theories, and they can probably be generalized as such:

Conspiracy between government (Anslinger), the media (Hearst) and industrial companies seek to illegalize cannabis through demonization and legislation.

One proponent of a theory like this is Hemp Today. Clovis News Journal presents the same theory. This blog points to "industrial theories" in general, but doesn't support them.

The way I see it, any such theory is dependent on the decorticator to make sense. I've read some presentations of the theory where it was the United States' discovery of hemp itself that caused the industrial parties to be afraid. This however, makes no sense, since hemp was known about for a good while before cannabis (and by proxy, hemp) was made practically illegal in 1937 through the Marihuana Tax Act (see Johnson's commission, page 214 and 231). In fact, it was actually illegal to not grow hemp in Virginia due to the plant's usefulness. So, I can't see how it was the United States' discovery of hemp that prompted the capitalistic fear and subsequent illegalization.

However, the theory or theories that involve the decorticator still have some issues.

1. There's no smoking gun definitively linking the members of the proposed conspiracy.
2. The Dupont fortune was built largely on explosives, not textiles.
3. Nylon would likely not be out-competed by hemp fiber because what woman would wear hemp stockings?
4. Cannabis was made illegal in 30 states before Anslinger became head of the Bureau.
5. Hemp was a declining crop in the 1930s, making it less scary to industrialists.
6. Hearst had adequate reasons to post sensationalistic articles that demonized cannabis for the sake of selling newspapers.

These counter-arguments have been taken from this article.

Insider claims that the main reason why cannabis was illegalized in the U.S. was due to Mexican xenophobia and racism. The top comment of this reddit post on r/AskHistorians says that race mattered. This reddit comment also links to an article written by PhD candidate Bob Beach, that doesn't place too much weight on the racial element, but it does say this when describing Anslinger's speeches during the period:

An emphasis is placed on African-American and Mexican users as well as the threat of the drug to young white children.

The idea that cannabis was illegalized due to racism is surely something the pro-cannabis side could have used instead of the conspiracy theories, which confuses me. Instead however, many choose to present or point to these conspiracy theories, which makes me think that perhaps there's something I've missed.

Also, if cannabis was made illegal due to racist reasons, or health concerns (or both), it's still a bit weird that hemp* was illegalized, it has THC concentrations. This could of course be the product of laziness and/or ignorance, and not necessarily be the product of a capitalistic conspiracy.

So, what does the consensus among historians say? Why was cannabis illegalized in the U.S.?

EDIT:

Someone asked if I could specify what I mean with hemp. Hemp is a strain of Cannabis sativa that has a very low THC content. Here's a Britannica article going more into it.

Answer 1

Question:

Why was cannabis illegalized in the U.S.?

The illegalization of cannabis in the United States is a profound example of how power structures manipulate public perception and policy to serve their interests. This process is deeply rooted in a confluence of racial prejudice, political maneuvering, economic self-interest, and systematic misinformation, reflecting broader themes of control and domination in American history.

First, it is crucial to understand the socio-political context in which cannabis prohibition emerged. In the early 20th century, cannabis use was often associated with Mexican immigrants and African Americans. This association was not incidental but was leveraged by those in power to stoke racial fears and prejudices. The demonization of cannabis was, therefore, a tool to marginalize and criminalize these communities. This aligns with a broader pattern in American history where racial minorities are scapegoated to divert attention from underlying social and economic issues .

The role of political actors in this narrative cannot be overstated. Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, emerges as a central figure. Anslinger’s campaign against cannabis was marked by virulent racism and sensationalism. He depicted cannabis users as prone to madness and violence, employing a rhetoric designed to incite fear and justify draconian measures. This was not merely the work of an overzealous bureaucrat but a calculated effort to consolidate power and expand the reach of law enforcement . Anslinger’s crusade reflects the broader dynamics of how state apparatuses exploit social anxieties to augment their control over the populace.

Economic interests also played a pivotal role in the illegalization of cannabis. The hemp industry, which was poised to compete with emerging synthetic fibers, posed a threat to powerful industrialists. Figures such as William Randolph Hearst, with significant investments in the timber industry, and the DuPont family, pioneers of synthetic materials, stood to benefit from the suppression of hemp. The criminalization of cannabis served to eliminate this competition, illustrating how economic power translates into political influence. This economic motivation behind cannabis prohibition is a stark example of how capitalist imperatives shape public policy, often at the expense of truth and justice.

The machinery of misinformation and propaganda further propelled the campaign against cannabis. The infamous 1936 film Reefer Madness is emblematic of this strategy, depicting absurd and exaggerated consequences of cannabis use to instill fear and moral panic. This propaganda effort was not a spontaneous public reaction but a deliberate construction of a narrative to manipulate public perception. It reflects how those in power manufacture consent, using media and cultural products to align public opinion with their interests.

The culmination of these efforts was the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, which effectively criminalized cannabis at the federal level. This legislation, under the guise of regulation and taxation, rendered the legal use of cannabis nearly impossible. It epitomizes how legal frameworks can be manipulated to serve the interests of the powerful, often with little regard for rationality or justice.

In summary, the illegalization of cannabis in the United States is a microcosm of how power operates through a nexus of racial prejudice, political manipulation, economic self-interest, and propaganda. It reveals the mechanisms by which dominant forces in society impose their will, often to the detriment of marginalized communities and the broader public interest.

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More Sources for further reading:

1. "The Legal History of Cannabis in the United States," Brookings Institution. Link
2. Bonnie, Richard J., and Charles H. Whitebread II. "The Forbidden Fruit and the Tree of Knowledge: An Inquiry into the Legal History of American Marijuana Prohibition," Virginia Law Review, 1970. Link
3. Hari, Johann. "Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs." Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015.
4. Anslinger, Harry J., and William F. Tompkins. "The Traffic in Narcotics." Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1953.
5. Herer, Jack. "The Emperor Wears No Clothes." Ah Ha Publishing, 1985.
6. "The DuPont Company and the History of Rayon," Hagley Museum and Library. Link
7. "Reefer Madness: The Twisted History of America’s Marijuana Laws," TIME. Link
8. Bonnie, Richard J., and Charles H. Whitebread II. "The Marihuana Conviction: A History of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States." University of Virginia Press, 1999.