It is a surprising link, but one that has long been in place, thanks to the influence of immigration on American policy. The temperance movement, which succeeded in amending the Constitution to ban alcohol, coincided with a push to control opiates, like marijuana. During this marijuana time, marijuana was seen as foreign and a dangerous drug, and this perception was not helped by a spike in Mexican immigration after the 1910 Mexican Revolution. This immigration also displaced a civil war and added to the negative perceptions of marijuana in America.

Cannabis was first banned in the United States in 1937 by federal law. This law effectively banned cannabis across the country. The federal government banned cannabis in 1937 after major media corporations and the federal bureau of narcotics made it illegal. Hearst, who owned the largest newspaper conglomerate in the world, gave Anslinger’s and other politicians’ positions front page treatment in their newspapers, which inflamed fears about depravity, crime, and the impending immigration of minorities.

The 1986 law led to an increase in the number of people arrested for marijuana possession. The prison population increased dramatically. While the vast majority of these arrests occurred due to possession, the number of marijuana users in prison increased from 400,000 inmates to 1.5 million in 2015. Furthermore, the drug is now regarded as harmless fun in popular culture. Even talk show hosts can joke about marijuana use on cable TV.

Despite its recent growth in popularity, marijuana was a marginally used drug in the United States at the turn of the 20th century. This is due to the widespread fear of immigrants from Mexico and other Asian countries. In addition to the widespread phobia against Mexican immigrants, hysterical rumors about marijuana began to circulate about the dangers of this drug. Eventually, many states passed laws banning it.

The Surprising Link Between U.S. Marijuana Law and the History of Immigration

In the mid-1960s, the number of state-level marijuana arrests rose ten-fold from 1965 to 1970. President Richard Nixon campaigned on “law and order” and aggressively recruited journalists to join the War Against Drug Abuse. The War on Marijuana and the History of Immigration is not new, but the connection between marijuana and immigration was never clear.

There is also a Mexican hypothesis, which is a popular theory for marijuana prohibition. The Mexican hypothesis claims that immigrants from Mexico brought marijuana to the United States in the early 1900s, and that marijuana prohibition was a racist effort to criminalize these workers. However, Campos’ research shows that the Mexican hypothesis’s original evidence was limited. Mexican immigrants introduced marijuana smoking, fueling anti-Mexican prejudice.

The recent legalization of marijuana in California and Colorado has increased federal enforcement of marijuana. Marijuana is becoming a taxable product, bringing in approximately $5 billion annually. About thirty-five percent of the money from marijuana sales will be diverted to state and white widow feminized seeds local governments. The federal government’s backlash is not surprising, given the long history of racially motivated wars against the drug. However, marijuana and immigration are intertwined, and the federal government will continue to pursue its longstanding policy against immigrants.

While Mexican immigrants were the first to introduce recreational marijuana use to the United States, the history of their history has been linked with their impact on the country. During the Great Depression, Mexican immigrants were associated with marijuana, and anti-drug campaigns warned of a “Marijuana Menace.” As a result, the history of immigration was tied closely with the history of the drug. As a result, Mexican immigrants became a target for governmental resentment and criminal retaliation.