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[–] whisky_cat 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago  (edited ago)

There's a bit more to it than that.

Marijuana was legislated against in the '30s because:

  • Hemp threatened the textile industry, where any marijuana grower could produce their own fabrics with the free plant.

  • Hemp oil threatened the oil industry, where any marijuana grower could produce oil useful for tractors and automobiles with the free plant.

  • Marijuana usage threatened the known conventional medicine industry.

First the US Congress (colluding with industry, and with the media publishing propaganda) reacted by passing the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. Later the act would be interpreted as criminal law, shortly followed by the sweeping 1970 Controlled Substance Act which sadly categorized marijuana exclusively with the most dangerous substances.

The Controlled Substance Act - and things like cocaine and crack flooding urban areas - is where your argument of disenfranchising the minorities is better framed. And I'd say "disenfranchising" is a hell of a euphemism.