Throughout the 19th century, news reports and medical journal articles almost always use the plant’s formal name, cannabis. Numerous accounts say that “marijuana” came into popular usage in the U.S. in the early 20th century because anti-cannabis factions wanted to underscore the drug’s “Mexican-ness.” It was meant to play off of anti-immigrant sentiments.
In the United States drug prohibition is historically ALWAYS about racism. The exception being weed which was about racism and anti-war protestors.
With cannabis it’s always been a tool to break up ethnic communities. Grass was an excuse, strength and community was the target.
But of course the anti-war protests were also inextricably tied up with civil rights protests happening at the same time.
It was banned in the usa in the 1930s, long before hippies or vietnam
idk about that, powder cocaine is illegal too and it’s mostly just for rich white people.
Exceptions make the rules, though.
When cocaine usage first exploded, it was almost entirely in “laborers, youths, black people, and the urban underworld”. Most of the early history of its usage is associated with non-whites and lower class peoples. Making it illegal worked for a long time until the cocaine boom happened and then it became popular with disco and rock, but again, still mostly used by non-whites. It wasn’t until crack became a thing that the racial divide became more clear - rich whites got the clean cocaine, everyone else got addicted to crack.
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.12987/9780300255874/html
The switch to being heavily used by the rich white class is a “relatively” recent development.
Most of the early history of its usage is associated with non-whites and lower class peoples.
“Jazz-cigarettes”
Devil’s lettuce is my favoruite
Mine has always been “The Whacky Tobacky”
Electric lettuce is not bad ether.
That’s not racist, though, and this topic is about racist terms for cannabis.
Er, black devil’s lettuce?
Sticky icky
This is an interesting read. English isn’t my native language, and while I’m quite proficient, I lack a lot of cultural context, particularly when it comes to American English. My partner is American, and through/with them I’ve learned a lot of problematic phrases and expressions. It’s baffling just how much language is used to dehumanise, other, and discriminate against people.
That’s not to say it doesn’t happen in my native tongue, it definitely does, but I guess it’s more baffling when it’s something that’s unfamiliar to you.
Marijuana obviously sounds like it’s rooted in Spanish, but I never thought much about it. If you’d asked me, I’d just wager a guess that it’s the Spanish term for it. I hate how oftentimes when I start poking at these preconceived notions, an uglier reality reveals itself. It’s never as benign as I initially believe.
Interesting! What are some other examples of common American English terms inconspicuously being used to dehumanize people?
Gypped is the most common one I still hear even used by people who consider themselves progressive.
When you get outside progressive circles boy is there a long list. But I used that example because it’s good evidence of how ingrained they are in American culture and language. Many people are using them without any idea of the context.
It’s baffling just how much language is used to dehumanise, other, and discriminate against people.
Yeah, such language sucks, of course, but since right now that connotation of marijuana, for example, seems to be lost - why the hell worry about it. There are worse things which are not in the language, but in the way “protected group” works in the heads of some homo sapiens specimens.
I’ve recently had my comment deleted for answering “Armenian Genocide was bad, but not even close to the Holocaust” with “Holocaust was bad, but not even close to the Armenian Genocide” and in the next sentence clarifying that for me they are on the same level, but people for whom one of these statements is acceptable are not people.
Yeah it’s a traditional form of medicine for basically all of Europe. It was made foreign in the anti drug campaign. Something similar was done with opium (which is actually very bad)
Yep. That’s why I usually call it cannabis.
Pot, weed, grass, ganja, herb, trees, green, chronic, reefer, doobage, dagga, dank, tea, …
I feel like pretty much all of those have negative connotations as slang, more than cannabis, which is just the scientific name.
Edit: Although weed is pretty accurate. Trying to get it to stop growing is a problem in the right climate.
I wouldn’t mind having that problem.
I mean… it is a problem if you’re also trying to grow food. But it’s not the worst problem one could have.
I had to stop calling it reefer when I started dealing with shipping containers, though a 40-foot blunt would be hilarious.
“Impossible sir. My doobage is in Johnson’s underwear.”
Love that word.
Has a nice cromulent feel to it.
NYC Italians… Babania
marih-jeh-wanna
I’m gonna smoke me a Mary J. Wana
Y’all ain’t can stop me, I’m totally gonna
Bake me a stoned like a sunny iguana
I’m gonna smoke me a Mary J. WanaI’m gonna hash pipe to high me my head
Mellow my jello from born until dead
Teq’ me no 'quila, no pills blue and red
I’m gonna hash pipe to high me my headI’m gonna weed me some grassical pots
Look you my dime bag 'cause that’s what I gots
Ain’t gonna shoot me no heroin shots
Just gonna weed me some grassical pots
Yup. Marijuana has always had widespread use by those from formerly Spanish-colonised cultures which are Hispanics and Filipinos.
Filipinos!? Are you sure about that? My wife is from these and is horrified at the mere suggestion of it. She doesn’t talk shit about people doing it, but having it around is a hard NO for her. She’s even leery about me getting mack on medical.
Speaking broadly, Asians have a hard line stance against drugs, figured that was her thing. Maybe she’s just worried about being an immigrant on the wrong side of the law?
And yes, they’re the Mexicans of Asia.
I mean historically Filipinos who migrated to the United States were also one of the wide users of marijuana along with Hispanics. And among those communities, the cannabis/marijuana did not have had any negative connotation until the war on drugs.
Oh, I knew I heard Mexico had a major reason for that name to stick; thanks for posting!
What happened to “Mary-Jane”? Wasn’t that in use for some time?
Early 20th century here gets discounted because of the zero century so that’s 1900 through say 1930. Marijuana and Mary Jane both used at the same time it’s older than you’re thinking when you read the article
There’s still some Mary Jane erasure going on here.
And it seems like nobody is using mary jane any more. There’s got to be a reason for that.
Just call it grass. It’s got history and style…
Call it reefer, man
I feel like it’s more racist to start calling it cannabis once it’s legal.
Can you explain your logic?
We called it marijuana before it was legal. Marijuana is a term that’s obviously linked to Latin communities. So while it’s illegal, we’re OK with calling it something that’s linked to a community, BUT once it’s legal, suddenly we’re trying to erase that connection. Like it’s too good for that community anymore. It would be less racist to continue calling it marijuana WHILE recognizing the historical racism and celebrating the culture that ensured the plant was still here when it was legalized. Ignoring that contribution is like appropriation. Erasing the Latin influences in marijuana culture once the plant is legal isn’t anti racist.
I like this take but it relies on a critical analysis that isn’t going to occur to most people. Most people aren’t even aware up the word’s racist origins.
I think calling it cannabis helps distance it from it’s illegal past. There’s a lot of more conservative people out there that still think of “marijuana” as something dangerous and criminal that is used by disreputable people. I think calling it “canabis” will help shed that negative connotation.
For the record, I call it “weed.”
I don’t think it’s more racist, but I definitely don’t like the idea that it was called marijuana to create a negative connotation with Latin Americans, but now that public opinion is coming around on it, people no longer want to associate it with the Latin American name.
Jokes on them, they could’ve just called it Kush to acknowledge its Himalayanness. Americans definitely would’ve understood that
Hooold up, wait a minute, let me put some kush up in it…
