The history of cannabis and Hispanic/Latino people in the United States is one full of racism, dating back to when the plant was made illegal in the early 1900s. However, as legalization spreads across the nation, an increasing number of Hispanics are trying to rewrite the narrative of cannabis and their people.
Multiple accounts of how cannabis became classified as a dangerous drug point to a growing movement against immigrants from Mexico in the early 20th century. The term “marijuana” is even believed by many to be a term favored by factions attempting to link use of the plant for intoxication to Spanish speakers.
Eric Schlosser, who wrote the best-selling book Reefer Madness, said in a 1994 article for The Atlantic that “prejudices and fears” led to the spread of false accounts about the supposedly menacing weed causing deviant behavior among American citizens after they were introduced to it by immigrants.
– Read the entire article at Newsweek.
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