Washington State lawmakers recently passed a measure that replaces the word “marijuana” with “cannabis” in all state laws, referring to the racist origins of the Spanish word for weed as utilized by Harry Anslinger, who in the 1930s implemented extreme drug laws and unreasonably long prison sentences that gave rise to the current prison-industrial complex.
"The term ‘marijuana’ itself is pejorative and racist," Democratic state Rep. Melanie Morgan claimed during 2021 testimony on House Bill 1210, which she sponsored, according to local CBS affiliate KIRO 7 and reported by Yahoo Finance.
