The War On Drugs: Part One

     Well, let us dive into one of my favorite topics of conversation, the war on drugs. Of course this topic could never be covered accurately in a simple blog post, however, as I stated above it is one of my favorite topics of conversation. It is truly one of those topics that gets people, regardless of their personal disposition, to engage others in thought provoking conversation. There are two basic arguments to be made about the war on drugs. First, it was a completely relevant approach to an escalating drug problem gripping the citizens of the United States. Second, it is an overreaching draconian set of laws and regulations that has created a black market of violence and thuggery. So, with that being said, let us dive in.
     Well just in case you were wondering, the first argument doesn't really hold much water. True, we do have a problem with drug use in the United States. This is not a new problem. Before most items that will cause you to become inebriated were illegal, they were perfectly legal and for the most part looked upon as wonders of modern medicine. Think about cocaine in Coke, elixirs of the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds that contained quantities of opium and other goodies. Until the early part of the twentieth century marijuana was legal and commonly used, hemp, which is the hippie cousin of marijuana, was one of the most widely used textiles. It would seem as though these were boon times for the producers of such goods. So how is it, that all of the sudden, these items became the devils brew? Easy answer, racism and anti immigrant sentiment.
     Many of the Chinese immigrants who came to this country during the building of the major railroads, smoked opium to relax in the evening after a solid day of building the infrastructure of the railroads. How can we get rid of those pesky immigrants now that the labor is done on the railroad ? Ohh ohh, I know, make opium illegal to possess. And so it was done, in 1905 the United States Congress banned opium. Start the deportations. Yeah baby!
     Tensions in the early nineteen hundreds in the American Southwest and West were building about the influx of Mexicans coming to America. Well what do you know, after a fifteen hour day working in the field, a couple of guys smoke a little weed in the evening to relax. How can we get rid of those pesky Mexicans once the crops have been harvested? Yeah, you guessed it, lets make marijuana impossible to possess without the proper documentation, then we will make it impossible do get the correct documentation. Start the deportation engine so we can get that cheap labor out of here. Yeah baby!
     As for cocaine, well I believe this quote will just about some up the social anxiety of the early twentieth century and some of the typical stereotypes associated with cocaine. In 1914 Dr. Christopher Koch testified that,"most of the attacks of the white women of the south, are a direct result of the cocaine-crazed Negro brain." Interesting enough, in the eighties when powder cocaine became so popular, the typical user was a middle class white guy! Wait a minute now, we can't deport the black guys, shit we brought them here. Damn, ever since that emancipation proclamation thingy, we have to respect theses people as actual human beings. Better start the fear mongering!
     Well there we go, we have set the stage for the war on drugs. Next post we will examine the pitfalls of prohibition. It might just be a long post. Good Luck America!