Marijuana—the war on drugs was a race war that had nothing to do with the plant

The Drug War was officially declared on June 17, 1971 when President Nixon claimed drugs to be “Public Enemy Number One.” But was that really the case? Could there have been another far deeper, carefully calculated plan that had nothing to do with marijuana?

It was a different time. Or perhaps not. In a nation struggling with civil strife, poverty, racial inequality/tension, corporate domination, ecological disasters, and a hated, highly protested Vietnam War—sharing a little marijuana among friends hardly qualified as a heavily punishable federal offense, much less “public enemy number one.” Beginning in the 50’s, smoking marijuana was popularized by …read more