But more than anything the names Anslinger, Hearst, Mellon and DuPont are the ones that come to mind when I think of why marijuana is illegal today. For the most part it was banned because of racism. First it was the usage by black musicians and the fear they would use marijuana like a Micky to get white women later it was the Mexicans who helped serve as an impetus because they were seen as corrupting forces.
For a good run down on the history of why it is illegal check out a movie called Grass (
http://imdb.com/title/tt0214730/) The plot summary is as follows:
This film explores the history of the American government's official policy on marijuana in the 20th century. Rising with nativist xenophobia with Mexican immigration and their taste for smoking marijuana, we see the establishment of a wrong headed federal drug policy as a crime issue as oppposed (
sic) to a public health approach. Fuelled (
sic) by prejudice, hysterical propaganda and political opportunism undeterred by voices of reason on the subject, we follow the story of a costly and futile crusade against a substance with questionable ill effects that has damaged basic civil liberites (
sic).
http://imdb.com/title/tt0214730/plotsummary AS imdb.com plot summaries go, this one is pretty accurate.
For some of the yellow journalism that was the impetus check out:
http://www.ukcia.org/potculture/20/madness.htmlFor information on the first "drug czar" check out Anslinger's bio on the wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_J._AnslingerAbove all, check out Grass. It's fun to watch, informative and just all around good entertainment.