Ben van Kerkwyk

So marijuana was originally a term, a slang term for a wild Mexican tobacco.

It had nothing to do with cannabis.

Cannabis, which had been used for thousands of years, and hemp, which had been used for thousands of years.

So then they start printing these stories that blacks and Mexicans were taking this new drug and raping white women.

And then you have the reefer madness films and all these propaganda films that show young people taking a smoke of marijuana and losing their mind.

So people act quickly and they pass laws, not even knowing that they're outlawing hemp.

thinking that they're stopping this new drug because most people are unaware of it.

Clearly, this is a time before the internet, very difficult to access information and understand exactly what's going on.

So they hoodwinked the entire world.

So Harry Anslinger, William Randolph Hearst, they all conspired to stop a commodity.

And that's what hemp was.

It had nothing to do with the psychoactive form of THC.

It had everything to do with hemp as a commodity that was threatening to the businesses.

And to this day, you can make hemp crete.

It's a superior building material.

It's flame resistant.

It's lighter.

It's stronger.

It lasts longer.

You can build houses with it.