• Roboticide@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    ·
    1 year ago

    Buddy, we’re still working on legalizing an absurdly common plant because for a while much of the country thought it was satanic or whatever.

    “In this day and age,” in America, of course it’s not legal yet. That is gonna take a long time.

    • roofuskit@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      1 year ago

      No, it’s not illegal because people thought it was evil. It was illegal because it allowed the government to jail black men and war protestors and throw away the key.

      • lefaucet@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        1 year ago

        …And because the cotton industry didn’t want to compete with hemp. … and more recently booze companies don’t want to compete with weed

        • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          1 year ago

          Yeah that isn’t true. Hemp is and always has been legal in many parts of the world and couldn’t compete with cotton for the bulk of applications.

          • lefaucet@slrpnk.net
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            My bad. I think I watched a documenrary on it like 15 years ago.

            Wikipedia says 1937 marijuana tax act effectively stopped hemp from being able to compete with heavy taxation and greatly reduced production. Thou it also attributes dupont and newspaper and timber magnate William Hearst and not cotton as the killer.

            Then in 1969 the courts struck down the Marijuana Taxation Act, but then the Controlled substances act of 1970 banned it all at a federal level.

            So yeas still shady AF, just not Cotton being shady. My bad

    • Smokeydope@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      The plant legalization is happening relatively quickly all things considered. Its funny how fast the laws change the moment the rich pigs smell potential profits of a new industry and the pressure of missing out on pocketing some of that sweet sweet tax revenue neighboring states are collecting instead.

      • Roboticide@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Sure, but it’s also taking longer than it should. It’s also, fundamentally, not hard for even many conservatives to accept as “not that bad.”

        Legalized prostitution also has tremendous potential for new markets and profit, but it’s a lot harder for conservatives to accept compared to weed, as America is just too goddamn puritanical.