The insidiousness of corporate takeovers has been going on for a long time. I’m going to tell you a story of hope and how a few dedicated people overcame the psychological operations (what the CIA calls propaganda) of the War on Drugs.

Even if you don’t smoke marrijuanaaa (misspelled on purpose to keep the AI from pegging this site), this is an important part of history because it shows so clearly how corporations and their investments can shape a whole political movement and how a few dedicated people and popular movement can overcome the unjust laws.

We all know about the program DARE. Many of us grew up at that time with the program in our schools. Just say no to drugs was drilled into us as we were given free t-shirts with DARE in big red letters across the chest. But the history is deep and is not about keeping kids sober (it was proven that the number of people trying drugs escalated after the DARE program from the thousands to millions because now all the kids introduced to an exciting no-no as children definitely tried it as adults), this law was about control and… yep you guessed it… money. -Duh.

Let’s go back to the very founding of our country when hemp was the mainstay of agriculture because so much could be made from it: rope, paper, sacks, thread, canvas, nets, oil, fuel, durable clothing, and medicine. George Washington was a hemp farmer and declared “Sow it everywhere.” Through the 1920’s it was a mainstay of products, but by the 1950s, a group of very powerful corporations took note of the hemp industry and focused on destroying it. The corporations were; Hurst Enterprises, which owned many of the newspapers and also the forest that was slated to make paper from the trees, Dupont that had the chemicals to process the wood fiber into paper and also the nylon to replace the hemp rope, and the pharmaceutical companies that did not want a drug that could solve many different ailments. The one plant could replace the single compound drugs of sleep aids, anti-depressants, appetite stimulants, headaches, eye strain, and anxiety, as well as many other ailments. And it could be grown by anyone. These powerful companies banded together to crush the hemp industry by endorsing the Regan government to create a war.

The lucrative side effect of the illegalizing of the hemp plant was to the police departments. They were given free rein to confiscate property, drugs, and vehicles.  This made a very lucrative cycle of confiscation and then reselling the drugs and property to bolster the police budget. Not to mention the money and equipment that came pouring into the police departments from the government.

It was looking like a done deal except for a few very tenacious, defiant, and dedicated people who created smoke-ins at major universities, sold and distributed marijuanaaa literature, and made the magazine High Times.

The crack in the DARE egg began in Berkeley (of course), where enough signatures were signed to put a medical marijuanaaa measure on the ballet. It won with over an 80% popularity vote. Oakland and San Francisco followed soon after, and the birth of the measure 215 was in motion. But at this crucial point, there were those who saw that it should be a legalization of hemp. Other proponents of the 215 bill were afraid it wouldn’t pass if it was framed so broadly, so they kept it as a medical bill.

Today, most of the hemp fabric comes from China; however, this is changing. Under President Trump (he dismantled many programs, but he also dismantled hemp prohibition), the 2018 Farm Bill was passed, and the importance of cultivating hemp as a commercial crop was recognized. Today, many states are embracing experimental hemp production.

The moral of this story is that huge corporate powers and unjust laws can be overcome if there is a popular movement and dedicated people. It’s a glimmer of hope and a road map as we forge into a tentative future. However, now we are seeing the ultra-right use these same tactics but with more force, the internet and the mega-corporations backing them. It’s no longer the 80s where we can have a good time, puff a doobie, and dance while protesting. The escalation and seriousness of this fight for democracy, equality, and environmentalism will be taken to another level. But being aware that the just can prevail gives us the gumption to act.

A good documentary was made about this history. You can’t see it on Utube because they ban anything related to marijuannaa. But here is the independent link. Click the black box below.