Want to see it for yourself? Watch Hemp for Victory on YouTube
Or read about South Dakota’s agricultural exhibits here.
? After the Ban: No One Spoke Its Name
The era of anti weed propaganda didn’t just criminalize cannabis—it erased hemp from everyday life. Once the government outlawed it, the plant quietly slipped from public memory. Schools stopped teaching it. As a result,Farmers stopped planting it. And the truth got buried under fear. The government didn’t need a bonfire to erase the plant’s legacy. instead, they just let it rot in silence
Agriculture programs that once included hemp cultivation quietly dropped it from the curriculum. Rural communities that had relied on hemp for textiles, paper, and oil adapted quickly — not by choice, but survival.
No one wanted to be tied to something the government had targeted. Especially as the word “marihuana” was becoming synonymous with crime.
? A Plant Rewritten by Fear
As the decades rolled on, public perception shifted from hemp being useful to hemp being dangerous. The word “hemp” all but disappeared in media. “Meanwhile, ‘Marijuana’ took over…a new, foreign-sounding word that helped rebrand the plant as something menacing.
People who once worked with hemp stopped passing down their knowledge. Families, teachers, and even doctors avoided the topic. As a result, it wasn’t just hemp that was outlawed…it was the truth about hemp.This anti weed propaganda didn’t come from science. It came from fear, power, and industry influence.
? Cold War, Chemicals, and Control
During the Cold War, anti weed propaganda helped erase hemp from agricultural curriculum’s. This campaign For example, that included promoting synthetic materials. Examples include nylon and plastic.
Hemp no longer fit the narrative.After all, it was natural. It was old. It wasn’t owned by a corporation.Chemical farming, Big Ag, and pharmaceutical solutions became the new standard. Hemp, once seen as a patriotic crop, became the forgotten weed.
? Not Just a Drug: Remembering the People Who Used It for Good
In earlier times, cannabis wasn’t scandalous. It sat quietly in medicine cabinets and home remedies.
. It was in medicine cabinets and home remedies.
For example, my great-grandma made her own remedy. She added cannabis to green rubbing alcohol. She always kept it in the pantry. She used it for arthritis and body aches. “Let it bite a little,” she’d say. “That means it’s working.”
She wasn’t a criminal. In truth, she was a healer.
And her story is one of thousands that never made it into textbooks.
Back then, cannabis tinctures were common… in pharmacies before 1942. It was used for pain, inflammation, menstrual cramps, and more and in fact, it was still listed in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia until political pressure wiped it out.
? Study: Transdermal CBD reduces pain in patients with neuropathy (NIH.gov)
? Harvard: CBD and chronic pain
The science was there. The stories were real. In fact, CBD would later prove life-saving for children with severe epilepsy—halting seizures that even the strongest pharmaceuticals couldn’t touch. Parents battled across states for their children’s right to a normal life.. It wasn’t just medicine—it was their last hope.
Nevertheless, the system chose to forget.
? Then vs. Now
Then:
- Families used cannabis topically without fear
- Schools taught how to grow hemp
- Hemp was part of patriotic wartime campaigns
Now:
- Most Americans under 40 grew up never hearing the word “hemp”
- People still argue whether it’s medicine, a drug, or both
- The internet is now rediscovering what elders once knew
The plant didn’t change. The story around it did.
In the 1950s and 60s, forgetting was the goal. Today, remembering is resistance.
Next up: Part 3 — The War on Weed
Nixon’s war didn’t just target drugs. It reshaped lives, laws, and the truth about cannabis.