Reefer Badness - Corporatist WR Hearst's prohibition creation

Reefer Badness
by Paul S Cilwa
Wed Aug 09, 2006 at 11:21:30 AM PDT

In colonial America, tomatoes were thought to be poisonous and were grown as an ornamental plant called the "love apple." The odor of the leaves made people think it was poisonous. It wasn't until the 1800s that tomatoes made their way into American cookbooks, always with instructions that they be cooked for at least three hours or else they "will not lose their raw taste."

Personally, I am not a big fan of tomatoes. But considering that I recently co-authored a political thriller in which the major characters grow medical marijuana (and smoke a little, too), one might assume that I am an experienced user of this other, so-called, "poisonous" plant. I am not. But marijuana's press has been just as misleading as that of the tomato once was.

A very thoughtful and informative article on the roots of cannabis prohibition in the USA.