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- Weird orgies.

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Wild parties.

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Roots in Hell.

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How did marijuana get such a bad wrap?

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The answer is simple.

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(record scratch)

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Racism.

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(digital music)

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As early as the 1800s, there
were no federal restrictions

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on the sale or possession
of cannabis in the US.

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Hemp fiber from the plant was used to make

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clothes, paper, and rope.

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Sometimes it was used medicinally,

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but as a recreational drug,
it wasn't that widespread.

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A New York Times article
from 1876 even cites

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the positive use of cannabis
to cure a patient's dropsy.

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Basically swelling from
an accumulation of fluid.

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In the early 1900s an influx of

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Mexican immigrants came to the US

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fleeing political unrest
in their home country.

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With them, they brought
the practice of smoking

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cannabis recreationally.

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And it took off.

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The Spanish word for the plant

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started to be used more often too.

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Marijuana.

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Or as it was spelled at that
time, marihuana, with an H.

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This is when the more
sensational headlines

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about the drug began to appear.

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In 1936, a propaganda film

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called Reefer Madness was released.

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In the movie, teenagers
smoke weed for the first time

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and this leads to a
series of horrific events

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involving hallucination,
attempted rape, and murder.

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(gun shot)

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Much of the media portrayed
it as a gateway drug.

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- [Reporter] Marijuana,
a powerful excitant,

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produces unpredictable emotional results.

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But its greatest danger lies in the fact

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that it is a stepping
stone to the harder drugs

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such as morphine and heroine.

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The following year in 1937,

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the Marihuana Tax Act was passed.

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Cannabis sales were now taxed.

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Part of the reason this act was passed

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was because of all the fear
mongering going on at the time.

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(old timey dramatic music)

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And a huge instigator
of that fear mongering

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was the man behind the Marihuana Tax Act,

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Harry Anslinger.

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Anslinger was named the Commissioner

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of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics

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during the prohibition era.

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But once national
prohibition ended in 1933,

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Anslinger turned his focus to marijuana.

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This is when racism and
xenophobia really kicked in.

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Harry Anslinger took the
scientifically unsupported

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idea of marijuana as a
violence inducing drug,

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connected it to black and Hispanic people,

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and created a perfect package of terror

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to sell to the American media and public.

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By emphasizing the Spanish word marihuana

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instead of cannabis, he
created a strong association

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between the drug and the newly
arrived Mexican immigrants

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who helped popularize it in the States.

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He also created a
narrative around the idea

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that cannabis made black people

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forget their place in society.

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He pushed the idea that
jazz was evil music

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created by people under
the influence of marijuana.

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But these racist ideas
didn't just influence

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the media's portrayal or the

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public's perception of the drug,

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the discrimination they encouraged

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was evident in real numbers.

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In the first full year after

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the Marihuana Tax Act was passed,

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black people were about
three times more likely

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to be arrested for violating
narcotic drug laws than whites.

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And Mexicans were nearly
nine times more likely `

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to be arrested for the same charge.

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By 1952, the Boggs Act was passed.

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This made sentencing for
drug convictions mandatory.

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A first offense for possession

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could land you two to five years in prison

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and a fine up to $2,000.

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Through the 1960s and 70s,

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weed smoking took on a new perception

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through the counter culture movement.

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Young white people
resisted mainstream culture

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and powerful institutions.

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This was the era of hippies,
beatniks, and flower power.

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But despite all the peace and love,

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laws continued to emphasize
the severity of the drug.

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The Controlled Substances Act of 1970

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passed under President Nixon.

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- America's public enemy number one.

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- Repealed the Marihuana Tax Act

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and instead made cannabis
a schedule I drug.

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The most serious class.

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Schedule I drugs are considered to have

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a high potential for abuse and addiction.

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With no medical use.

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Other examples of Schedule I drugs

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are heroin, LSD, and ecstasy.

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Classifying cannabis as a schedule I drug

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has been highly debated since then.

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- Marijuana is not a schedule I

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any more than a hedgehog
is an apex predator.

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- But to this day, it
remains in that category

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and criminalization
still disproportionately

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affects minority groups in the US.

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The ACLU reported that in 2010,

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black people were four times more likely

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to be arrested for
marijuana than white people,

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even though both groups consume marijuana

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at about the same rate.

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Some states have taken action to

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reduce this type of criminalization.

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Nine states and Washington DC

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have legalized the
recreational use of cannabis.

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And 29 states allow some
form of medical marijuana.

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San Francisco recently dropped

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thousands of marijuana
related convictions.

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And Seattle plans to do the same.

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But this doesn't change
the federal restrictions.

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And Attorney General Jeff Sessions

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seems Hell bent on enforcing
those federal rules.

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- Good people don't smoke marijuana.

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- Kansas State
Representative Steven Alford

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made a case against legalizing cannabis

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by referring to the racist rhetoric

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of the Anslinger era.

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- And we're still seeing a lot of

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anti-immigrant sentiment.

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- They're bringing drugs,

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they're bringing crime,

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their rapists.

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- So while some things have
changed on the state level,

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some politicians are sticking
with the fear mongering

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and racism playbook.

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Even though Pew Research polls show that

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61% of Americans now approve
of nationwide legalization.

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Up from 16% about 30 years ago.

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Popular opinion suggests it's high time

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to reconsider federal laws.

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(upbeat music)