The War on Marijuana in the United States: Part 1 – The Road to Prohibition (1860 – 1919)

In 1971, Richard Nixon declared his infamous ‘War on Drugs’ in the United States. He pledged to launch a nationwide anti-drug campaign based on “…eradication, interdiction, and incarceration” – in other words, eradicating the presence of illicit drugs in the USA and putting anyone associated with the sale, distribution, and/or possession of drugs behind bars. Key Points Political concerns about marijuana have existed since as early as the 1860s “Hashish dens” dominated the U.S. east coast in the 1880s Literary reports on weed changed from whimsical to fearful by the early 1900s The American media used Mexican immigrants in the early 20th century as scapegoats