Home Grown: Marijuana and the Origins of Mexico's War on Drugs

Contents

Contents Acknowledgments / ix Introduction / 1 1 Cannabis and the Psychoactive Riddle / 7 2 Cannabis and the Colonial Milieu / 39 3 The Discovery of Marijuana in Mexico / 67 4 The Place of Marijuana in Mexico, 1846–1920 / 81 5 Explaining the Missing Counterdiscourse I: The Science of Drugs and Madness / 103 6 Explaining the Missing Counterdiscourse II: People, Environments, and Degeneration / 123 7 Did Marijuana Really Cause “Madness” and Violence in Mexico? / 155 8 National Legislation and the Birth of Mexico’s War on Drugs / 181 9 Postscript: Mexican Ideas Move North / 203 Conclusion / 225 Appendix: Newspaper Analysis / 233 Notes / 241 Bibliography / 291 Index / 315 This page intentionally left blank Figures, Charts, and Tables FIGURES I.1 Illustration of cannabis / 2 5.1 “Very interesting news of the four murders by the wretch Antonio Sánchez in the town of San José Iturbide, Guanajuato State” / 109 5.2 “Woman praying to the Virgin of Guadalupe as her husband (?) rages madly” / 110 5.3 “Horrible and frightful episode!! A despicable son poisons his parents and a servant in Pachuca!” / 111 5.4 “The earth swallows José Sánchez for murdering his children and his parents” / 111 7.1 “Don Chepito with a bicycle” / 157 7.2 “Don Chepito witnessing a boxing match between a black man and a white man” / 158 7.3 “Don Chepito addressing people in the street from a cart” / 160 7.4 “Don Chepito: For loving a married woman” / 161 7.5 “Bloody Drama in Belém Jail” / 162 CHARTS 4.1 References to Vice in the Media (“Raw Hits”), 1880–1922 / 86 4.2 Variance in Marijuana News Coverage in Raw Numbers, 1878–1920 / 88 4.3 Variance in Marijuana News Coverage by Percentage, 1878–1920 / 90 4.4 Demographic Characteristics of Marijuana Users as Reported in the Press, 1854–1920 / 91 4.5 Geography of Marijuana Use as Represented in the Mexican Media, 1854–1920 (Mexico City Excluded) / 92 4.6 Sex of Individuals Linked to Marijuana in the Press / 95 4.7 Distribution of Users and Distributors among Men and Women / 95 4.8 Effects of Marijuana as Represented by the Mexican Press, 1854–1920 / 96 4.9 Effects of Marijuana with Consolidated Categories / 97 TABLES 4.1 Political Affiliation of Newspapers / 85 4.2 References to Vice in the Media (“Raw Hits”), 1805–1922 / 86 4.3 Frequency of Marijuana References by Newspaper / 89 A.1 Available Mexican Newspapers in the Readex/CRL: World Newspaper Archive / 233 ...