Cannabis arrived in Mexico from Spain, this much is agreed. Whence sprang the Mexican word marijuana / marihuana, is not.
One narrative calls on mallihuan, the Nahuatl word for prisoner. This explanation, clearly enough, may be a useful piece of propaganda for opponents of the drug; the self-imprisonment afforded by misuse was widely publicised by Harry Anslinger, the inaugural commissioner of the US Federal Bureau of Narcotics and key proponent of the US Marihuana Tax Act. The Act came into force on 1 October 1937.
Ironically, the idea of imprisonment was the Act’s downfall.
The regime contemplated that a person who intended to use marijuana would be engaging in a “transfer”. The person had to complete a form – with name, address, and substance amount – and pay a small transfer tax.
The tail to the regime had two stings. First, if you didn’t complete the form, the penalty was far greater than the tax. Secondly, if you did complete the form, you incriminated yourself to the extent of any federal or state law proscribing use of marijuana.
Come the 1960s, come Timothy Leary. Either “the most dangerous man in America” or “a hero of American consciousness” or a “brave neuronaut”, the polarising Leary was convicted but, in Leary v United States, the Court declared the regime unconstitutional. The Act effected self-incrimination in violation of the Fifth Amendment.
The day the decision came down, Leary announced his candidacy for the governership of California, seeking to oust the incumbent Ronald Reagan, and asked John Lennon to pen a campaign song.
The song didn’t win any campaign, but Lennon worked with it and it became the opener for an album. On 1 October 1969, “Abbey Road” had its US release, opening with “Come Together”.
