Originally Posted by
Kokizzzle
I actually knew this one. The prohibition of marijuana is mostly associated with Harry Anslinger, the first director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Critics believe he helped Secretary of Treasury Andrew Mellon (who also happened to be Anslinger's wife's uncle), DuPont, and Hearst, three of America's richest businessmen, play on Americans' racism and fear of communism to eliminate hemp-based products. I'm a huge economics geek, so this sort of stuff really interests me... sorry if I'm boring someone to death here.
Anslinger is also notable for ridiculous quotes such as "Marijuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing", "You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother", "Reefer makes African-Americans think they're as good as white men", and the crazy list goes on.
And while we're on the topic, I have a random useless fact that's somewhat related:
The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp-based paper.