Free Gangland by Jerry Langton Page B

religious leaders indicates that it probably originated from the burning of incense. The conquistadores reported back to Spain that the Mayan priests they encountered often became highly intoxicated from their smoking.
    Marijuana is native to south and central Asia and made its way to North America—along with opium—with the migrant workers from China starting in 1849. Hired to work on the railroads to connect the developing west with the prosperous east, the Chinese tended to live together and retain their culture, leading to the establishment of “Chinatowns” in many western American cities.
    Many Americans, and even more Mexicans, traveled to Chinatowns for opium and discovered marijuana. At about the same time, pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. and Canada were manufacturing home remedies with marijuana, while Spanish and Portuguese traders had introduced it to South and Central America for recreational use. And there was plenty to be had. Cannabis sativa, known as hemp, was introduced to the United States as a crop for its fiber, which has a variety of uses and is especially good for making rope. It became extremely important to the economy of the United States for making textiles during the Civil War because cotton was in very short supply.
    Marijuana did not take off with English-speaking Americans at first. Those who took drugs at the time preferred faster acting options like alcohol and opium. It did, however, become very popular with indigenous people and, even more so, Mexicans. Because of a widespread belief that marijuana made workers lazy, a few laws were passed in counties around the western United States and Canada banning its use or at least its use on the job. But where marijuana smoking was popular—especially among miners and railway workers—the laws were mostly ignored. Opium was outlawed in San Francisco in 1875 as many politicians blamed Chinese immigrants there for corrupting the local youth. Many also called for the banning of marijuana.
    Throughout the late 19 th century and into the 20 th century, marijuana use increased dramatically among non-white and non-English-speaking Americans, and as the Mexican Revolution increased immigration from the south with Mexicans fleeing violence, more marijuana smokers arrived.
    Marijuana smoking usually fell under the radar of most Americans—who generally considered it one of many habits particular to minorities—until politicians realized they could make hay of it. In 1914, a violent bar fight broke out in El Paso between a Mexican and a Texan. After police determined that the Mexican, who had started the fight, was under the influence of marijuana, politicians banned it from the city. Other southern cities and towns followed suit, calling marijuana a “corrupting menace.” The drug received further bad publicity when it was associated with Pancho Villa and his raiders at Columbus, New Mexico. The popular song “La Cucuracha” was written about his men and their habit of smoking marijuana.
    The war on drugs begins
    The prohibition of alcohol in North America began in the Canadian Province of Prince Edward Island in 1901 and by 1920 every other province and American state had followed suit. For a brief period, the entire North America north of the Rio Grande—except Quebec, which overturned prohibition almost immediately after passing the legislation—was dry. A few former drinkers turned to marijuana (mainly jazz musicians and other bohemian sorts), but in the national consciousness of the day, marijuana was inexorably associated with Mexicans and Chinese, and believed to have terrifying effects. As late as 1927, The New York Times ran an article headlined “Mexican Family Goes Insane” blaming marijuana smoking for one family's eccentric and criminal behavior.
    In Canada, however, a well-publicized report of soldiers smoking marijuana led to a backlash against the drug and it was made illegal