Drugs made illegal because of racism

This is just a copy and paste of my post in another thread but I thought I should open up another thread deticated to the subject so we can discuss it and so people can learn the truth about why most drugs are illegal in the US:

A lot of the drugs that are illegal in the US were made so because of racism. Cocaine was made illegal because the media and government reported that when black men took cocaine they raped white women and became "cocaine crazed Negros". Opium was made illegal because officials claimed that Chinese men would “lure white women into their opium dens and to their ruin”. Marijuana was eventually made illegal because the head of the then Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger, argued "that Jazz and marijuana had blacks and whites sitting down as equals and even 'dancing together in teahouses'." He also claimed that Mexicans would attack white people while high on Marijuana.

It is not my oppinion that the drugs were amde illegal because of racism, but rather historical fact. There is a History Channel show on illegal drugs and their history for anyone who wants to watch. I think it is an outrage to keep these drugs illegal when the laws were based on racism and they have no scientific reason to be illegal (expecially in the case of Marijuana).

Here is where I got my current quotes from: http://www.washingtoninformer.com/A...s2005Dec22.html

 

:lol:

this is an awkward theory...

:hah33: :hah33:

 

Its not a theory. It is fact. Did you read at all? The officials that made the laws said it was because of things like "cocaine crazed Negros".

 

I think this is a great basis for the arguement of why Marijuana and other drugs should be made legal. We live in a society that claims (in general) to not be racist and to shun racism. If so then why are we keeping laws based on racist ideas? That's what we need to say at MJ protests and such.

 

opium was also made illegal because the US didn't want the chinese around anymore, they brought them over to build railways, once that was done they wanted them gone, so they made opium illegal since most of them smoked opium

not so much of a racist idea, but look at LSD, it was made illegal because people were using it and challenging the status quo. it's all garbage, just one more reason why i hate politics

 

Ain't it the sad truth man. This country claims to have ended legalized racism, however our current politics play out racism’s old dirty games.

Makes me wonder, suppose a racist got very sick and was taken to a hospital and had his or her life saved by a person of the race he or she previously feared. Would this person still hold his or her position of fear and hatred to such extreme? I would hope in such an extreme cause a person would realize something greater.

It’s easy to appeal to a person’s pre-existing bias if you advertise a message in a way which people will remember.

All this war on drugs, especially on cannabis is, is but a political playground, unfortunately made up of grownups as opposed to children. Things are more serious now than the old “wahh….he hit me!” “you got cooties!” squabbles common between little kids.

Unfortunately back in the 1930’s a country living within racist motivated policy is not going to speak up much when the only people they believed were being effected by the new drug laws were minorities, people the silent majority were taught to fear. Because marijuana is still illegal, it seems the silent majority is still silenced.

 

I think keeping drugs such as cocaine and opium illegal is a good choice anyway.

 

Nice try, but i think thats all jargonblash

 

Yeah that does seem to make sense i suppose. But certain drugs do still need to be kept illegal. Like cocaine and heroin. They are very deadly all the same. But yes, especially marijuana in this case. It has nothing harmful to offer to us. Seems like a strong point to make in this debate.

 

Making marijuana legal, and not making the other drugs legal is still denying you the right to do with your body as you please, the gov't cannot tell you what chemical's you should use, and shouldn't.

Just warning labels.

 

What is? This is fact, it isn't oppinion. If the governing bodies specifically said the reason they made a drug illegal was because of a certian race of people then it is factually true that the drug was made illegal because of racism.

I totally agree. Unless the drug has been proven to cause harm to others than just the user. I mean cigarettes are legal and they kill people.

 

I was just telling my dad and grandma that a huge factor in controlling certain substances stemmed from racism. I saw the same history channel show. It was a revolutionary idea at the time. Controlling what people can put into their bodies seemed to defy the constitution. It still does in my opinion. I believe all substances should be legal. They can still be controlled. Speaking from experience, I could get a bag of weed in about 15-30 minutes, but it would take me hours, to days, to find a way to get alcohol. (Not that I even like to drink). One is controlled, the other isn't. I think a perfect way to control drugs in the safest, society friendly way would be to give out licenses to do the specific drug. Almost like firearms. In order to get cocaine for instance, you would have to go through a background check, possibly classes, and then you would be able to buy it. But, one fuck-up and you get your license revoked. The more extreme the drug, the more rigid the policy. Something like marijuana would be relatively simple to attain a license for, but getting one for heroin would be quite the process. With digital technology, the government could even set limits on how much of a substance someone could buy in a time period. Would it still be possible to get the substance you want without a license? Of course. But it would be a LOT harder. Not to mention, the substance could be taxed, and the supply could increase, forcing prices down. Drug cartels, and all the other "bad guys" we hear about would be out of a serious money-making job. But I guess this idea is too logical for our government...

 

think about this, you guys probably all smoke weed and get a hold of it, you can still smoke it you just cant get caught, one of the reasons why its illegal is because parents might still smoke marijuana and if its legal they might do it around their little kids and they would get contact high, and couldnt help it. They have other reasons for making them illegal then racism

 

Thats rahter week.

Still I've sold weed to a lady right in front of her kids before, the fact it was illegal didnt stop her.. or me.

 

Nice article Budtoka

 

Hate crime laws are funny, cuase they them selfs are racist.

 

GREAT idea! I'd be willing to fight for an idea like that.

That's a big load of crap lol (no offense). I doubt a kid would get a contact high from their parents smoking unless they smoked tons and blew it into the kids face. They could also easily make age laws for using the drugs (like how the drinking age is 21) and could include second hand smoke to be illegal if there are people underage in the room. Not only that, but I know parents who smoke both cigarettes and marijuana in the same room as their kid (against my warnings), so people do it anyway. That is the weakest anti-legalization arguement I ever heard.

 

How is that?
Also, its kind of off topic lol

and thanks Skullkidnate

 

Ok, example. If a white guy beats up a black guy, they can try to say it was becuase he was black and it was a hate crime. Therefor they can convitim the person of a wroser crime and more jail time. But, dont you think that having laws that say beating up one person is wrose cuase they are black. The guy beat the guy up, he should get the same sentence if the guy was any color skin.

I know it was off topic, but, your post made me think of this

 

Yes, but if a black guy beat up a white guy because he was white, the black guy would also get a harsher scentance (which he might anyway because of racism in society). If a gay man kills a straight man because he is straight, it is a hate crime. If a straight man kills a gay man because he is gay, it is a hate crime. It works both ways.