[quote=Navydoc]If I’m not mistaken, I think the reason while it’s illegal is in the early 20th century William Randolf Hearst spent a fortune demonizing MJ as the paper made from it is vastly superior to that made of wood pulp, and Hearst had invested heavily into paper mills for his newspaper industry. Wood pulp paper is crap, it actually destroys itself with time due to organic acids. Want to know what’s printed on hemp paper? Try the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I doubt those documents would still exist if they were printed on wood paper.

One more thing, from a medical standpoint MJ does far less damage to your body than alcohol, and is NOT addictive, so count me in the “make it legal” camp of Piggs.[/quote]

Another industrial competitor to the natural, long and strong hemp fiber was the synthetic fiber producer DuPont. Ironic how they invented Nylon in 1935 and then passed the Marijuana Tax act in 1937 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon). Also during the 30s mid-depression a lot of white folks didn’t like cheap labor from Mexico coming here to steal their jobs. So calling it Marijuana instead of Hemp made people associate it with Mexicans, not to mention blacks with their jazz music luring all the white woman into their Clubs. Just pointing out that racism also fueled the criminalization of the plant. Looking back to colonial times George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew and smoked it. George Washington once said “Make the most of the Indian Hemp seed, sew it everywhere”. Landowners in those days were required to grow at least a quarter acre for the government by law since Jamestown 1619. You could pay your taxes with it up until the 1820s. In fact the very term Legal Tender meant you were bartering and trading in cannabis. Also looking at the word Canvas came from the word Cannabis. As in flags, uniforms, paintings, covered wagons, tents, anything called Canvas was once made from Cannabis. Not to mention the rope they made you climb in gym class that hurt your hands.