Welcome to episode #16 of The Weed History Podcast.

On today’s episode, we dive into operation #eradicatecannabis and discuss some of the circumstances around the first handful of states to pass anti-marijuana laws and discuss some of the factors revolving around these decisions.

It all starts where it all begins:

As we sit back and rip our dab rigs, roll up our mega blunts filled with moxie, devour our 100MG Korova black bars, and rub our hands with elegant emu oil we forget that our lovely state of California was a pioneer in the war on drugs. The big kicker here is that there was never any clear evidence of marijuana being a problematic drug until 1909 when a San Francisco Police Department reported only 1 case of hashish resulting in an emergency hospital visit. The even BIGGER kicker here is that the underlying issue of the emergency visit was only presumed to be from an overdose. NO EVIDENCE!

This is where Narcotics Authorities Officers Hamilton Wright and Henry J. Finger has started to become aware of Indian Hemp. Henry was a prominent member of the California Board of Pharmacy and was appointed alongside Wright to the U.S. delegation to the first international opium conference at the Hague in 1911. Wright was dead set on making sure that Indian Hemp was to be included in the Federal Drug Legislation.

“I would not be at all surprised if, when we get rid of the opium danger, the chloral peril and the other now known drug evils, we shall encounter new ones,” he wrote. “Hasheesh, of which we know very little in this country, will doubtless be adopted by many of the unfortunates if they can get it.” – Wright

I think I smell a conspiracy…

So with his homeboy Finger by his side, Wright would use his influence on the racist bastard to help push the conference to take up the cannabis issue. For no reason and with no factual evidence proving marijuana to be a problematic plant.

Here’s a quote from the fool himself in which he tries to paint “Hindoos” as the problem behind the whites being infiltrated by cannabis usage.

“Within the last year we in California have been getting a large influx of Hindoos and they have in turn started quite a demand for cannabis indica; they are a very undesirable lot and the habit is growing in California very fast…the fear is now that they are initiating our whites into this habit… We were not aware of the extent of this vice at the time our legislature was in session and did not have our laws amended to cover this matter, and now have no legislative session for two years (January, 1913). This matter has been brought to my attention a great number of time[s] in the last two months…it seems to be a real question that now confronts us: can we do anything in the Hague that might assist in curbing this matter?”

So, in my opinion, we have two racist narcotics officers helping each other’s ulterior motives by using their ridiculous powers to serve a supposed higher purpose for the people. This is why we should be a little more in-tune with who we choose to elect into different sections of political office from both a local and national position.

This consideration for Indian hemp to be included would eventually be foiled by none other then BIG PHARMA which at the time had a big stake in cannabis and its applications in a big portion of the drugs that were being prescribed. Boy, they are singing a different tune today.

Don’t worry though Cannabis haters… Your dreams of prohibition would pick it’s steam back up over the next 18 months as the racists would find another racist way to be racist by using “marijuana” as its focal point.

Join us next time on Weed History as we dive into the 1913 poison act amendments, loco-weed, and the amazing Mexican people that played a big role in upping the quality of our strains.

Until next week.

– Richard

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