Why I prefer the term Cannabis to Marijuana

[Oldgrowth]

Here's a 2016 show on the Anslinger Commission. He was the evil bastard behind the cannabis wars. The man behind the marijuana ban for all the wrong reasons

An excerpt on racism: "The second component to Anslinger’s strategy was racial. He claimed that black people and Latinos were the primary users of marijuana, and it made them forget their place in the fabric of American society. He even went so far as to argue that jazz musicians were creating “Satanic” music all thanks to the influence of pot. This obsession eventually led to a sort of witch hunt against the legendary singer Billie Holiday, who struggled with heroin addiction; she lost her license to perform in New York cabarets and continued to be dogged by law enforcement until her death."

I totally agree with the bro who eschews using the word "marijuana" because of its racist origins of its misuse for him (and for me too).

 

[TheFertilizer]

I'll repost what I said of this matter in the other thread here to try to keep it on-topic over there...

I think a lot of people also perceive those who insist on using the term marijuana to be more accepting of the authoritarian view point surrounding it, and make (antiquated) jokes about how only narcs still use that word. Of course, all of that operates on the assumption that most people are familiar with this history and the distinction between the terms, and so sometimes you see the effect of a comedian not reading his audience right.

Still there are others who see it as more serious, and believe that continuing to use that word just keeps the stigma and connotation associated with its early adoption alive. I think it's more a matter of people wanting to resist and rebel, and maybe just a little resentment, but bottom line it's kind of like other slurs and slang that people adopt for other meanings that become accepted as common, but still remain offensive to certain groups. The question is then, does society have the capacity to adapt and accept a new meaning for the word, or should we avoid that word to not offend the sensibilities of those it still deeply affects. Of course I could be talking about any number of words, so take your pick.

The term "marijuana" was corrupted, but that doesn't mean it cannot be cleansed. We can "take it back" and I do agree that's what needs to be done. The more this generation says, "marijuana" without spitting it out, without negative connotation, the more its former authoritarian tone will be a thing of the past. We have to be the ones that choose to use it without shame or the pretext that it's a "badword" and I think part of that comes with choosing to use the term "marijuana" where appropriate, and unabashedly. I think it will happen more sooner than later, as "bud tenders" and things of that nature are starting to use "marijuana" in their professional title. I believe that in ten years, "marijuana" will simply be thought of as the technical and professional way to refer to it, and other ways to refer to it will be seen as colloquial.

I was talking to my plant science teacher about all this, and he brought up a very, very good point that people do not consider. When we say "cannabis", that is a hugely vague term. Cannabis Sativa L. is taxonomic definition, and therefore could be used to describe any product of the cannabis plant including hemp. What is "hemp" then? That would be accepted as referring to the fibrous material in the stock, and just like that term is identifying one very specific portion of the plant we use as a specific product, "marijuana" is very colloquially accepted as referring to the flowers that we use as a drug product. We do need a way to differentiate, and even though "marijuana" is kind of a "slave-name" of cannabis flowers, it's so ubiquitously known that it makes far more sense to rely on the familiarity of that term and hope people's perceptions shift, than to try to impose an entirely new term on the general public. For those reasons, referring to the cannabis flowers as merely "cannabis" may be more soothing to some peoples' sensibilities, it does little to accurately describe the product we're talking about. Ultimately, insisting it be called "cannabis" over "marijuana" seems to be striving more for political correctness than technical accuracy.

I really felt the same way about not calling it marijuana for a long time, but I believe that the technical accuracy is more important than being politically correct, at least depending on the context.

I mean I may be wrong, but I just don't think there are a lot of latinos that are offended by the word "marijuana" and typically it seems like the only people who are offended by it are cannabis users who are familiar with this sordid history. As I said, I can empathize completely, but I also wonder if as cannabis users we just need to "get over it" and start using the word in a way that will defunct any of that old connotation. It was corrupted, but we can un-corrupt it, and spitting the word out of our mouths in a sour tone isn't going to help. If we don't embrace "marijuana" it will remain a dirty word.

Though saying that I feel a little hypocritical, since I still prefer to use "cannabis" when referring to it when I know that it is clear I mean cannabis flowers. However, I wrote a paper for my plant science class, and it became clear that in such botanical and academic contexts, that the distinction between "cannabis" as a plant and its flowers as a drug product had to be made. Instead of referring to it as marijuana, I insisted instead on using "cannabis flowers" and other redundant language due to my reluctance to use its "slave-name" so to speak, and due to the resentment of the reefer madness criminalization in the first place. But as I read it, I realized that it would be much more succinct to simply refer to it as "marijuana", and that there was an obvious bias as I willfully used the word "hemp" instead of saying "cannabis fibers" but would not use the common term "marijuana" to refer to cannabis flowers.

So I think context counts. Wherein we're expecting credence and trying to communicate with non cannabis-enthusiasts, I believe it is appropriate to continue using the term "marijuana." In more casual contexts, opting for the more generic "cannabis" instead is just fine, and doing both may actually spread more awareness about the history of the term and lead to more people using cannabis more of the time, at the same time it facilitates meaningful discussion about the plant on other levels.

For example, my plant science teacher had no idea of the history behind it, and by using both terms I was able to familiarize him with those facts as well as discuss the finer nuances of the botanical and political aspects. For example, it's difficult to tell a plant science teacher, "They should make it legal to grow cannabis," when there's thousands of people legally farming hemp all over already. Saying, "It should be legal to grow marijuana," is just a succinct and concise way of saying, "It should be legal to grow the flowers of the cannabis plant." Once we broke down the communicative barriers, we could freely discern the context of when and how I was using the term "cannabis", but I also expedited that by agreeing to also refer to it as "marijuana" initially to get on the same page. If I had just stubbornly refused to call it marijuana or chastised him for referring to it as such (and to be fair if he had done the same about me calling it cannabis), I don't think we would have had a channel of communication quite as open about it.


Anyway, glad you made the topic, it's something I've been thinking a lot about recently with the legalization industry. Interested to hear what other people have to say about it.

 

[GrizzWald]

Funny thing is, cannabis sounds more like a drug now in Australia, than marijuana. Also, the word came here from over there but not the connotations...
Not really word I use, wouldn't call somebody a narc if they did or scold them for it. Not everybody will know the history, so what's required is a rebranding to a negative.. majority of population know marijuana, accept it, have legalised it in few countries.. I see a risk there making them think it's bad, without their interest in the history...
Actually fuck it, I'm going to start using it more.. smoke the marijuana

 

[Oldgrowth]

I'll repost what I said of this matter in the other thread here to try to keep it on-topic over there...



I really felt the same way about not calling it marijuana for a long time, but I believe that the technical accuracy is more important than being politically correct, at least depending on the context.

I mean I may be wrong, but I just don't think there are a lot of latinos that are offended by the word "marijuana" and typically it seems like the only people who are offended by it are cannabis users who are familiar with this sordid history. As I said, I can empathize completely, but I also wonder if as cannabis users we just need to "get over it" and start using the word in a way that will defunct any of that old connotation. It was corrupted, but we can un-corrupt it, and spitting the word out of our mouths in a sour tone isn't going to help. If we don't embrace "marijuana" it will remain a dirty word.

Though saying that I feel a little hypocritical, since I still prefer to use "cannabis" when referring to it when I know that it is clear I mean cannabis flowers. However, I wrote a paper for my plant science class, and it became clear that in such botanical and academic contexts, that the distinction between "cannabis" as a plant and its flowers as a drug product had to be made. Instead of referring to it as marijuana, I insisted instead on using "cannabis flowers" and other redundant language due to my reluctance to use its "slave-name" so to speak, and due to the resentment of the reefer madness criminalization in the first place. But as I read it, I realized that it would be much more succinct to simply refer to it as "marijuana", and that there was an obvious bias as I willfully used the word "hemp" instead of saying "cannabis fibers" but would not use the common term "marijuana" to refer to cannabis flowers.

So I think context counts. Wherein we're expecting credence and trying to communicate with non cannabis-enthusiasts, I believe it is appropriate to continue using the term "marijuana." In more casual contexts, opting for the more generic "cannabis" instead is just fine, and doing both may actually spread more awareness about the history of the term and lead to more people using cannabis more of the time, at the same time it facilitates meaningful discussion about the plant on other levels.

For example, my plant science teacher had no idea of the history behind it, and by using both terms I was able to familiarize him with those facts as well as discuss the finer nuances of the botanical and political aspects. For example, it's difficult to tell a plant science teacher, "They should make it legal to grow cannabis," when there's thousands of people legally farming hemp all over already. Saying, "It should be legal to grow marijuana," is just a succinct and concise way of saying, "It should be legal to grow the flowers of the cannabis plant." Once we broke down the communicative barriers, we could freely discern the context of when and how I was using the term "cannabis", but I also expedited that by agreeing to also refer to it as "marijuana" initially to get on the same page. If I had just stubbornly refused to call it marijuana or chastised him for referring to it as such (and to be fair if he had done the same about me calling it cannabis), I don't think we would have had a channel of communication quite as open about it.


Anyway, glad you made the topic, it's something I've been thinking a lot about recently with the legalization industry. Interested to hear what other people have to say about it.

you make thoughtful points. now at 77 i must reach for words at times or substitute so i cannot be sure what i will call the stuff in the future just so long as it is in our future. the slang doesn't work for me in that regard because of the love and respect i have for it. a new word would be nice indeed

 

[Jackalope]

We can't be scared, intimidated or offended by words alone. How those words are used maybe. In the end they are just words. A person needs to be stronger then that just to get through life.

 

[SparkNShred]

Cannabis is the scientific name for the genus of the plant. Marijuana is a common name. Since from a botanical standpoint there is only one species of Cannabis, it makes sense to use the term. It's always best to use the scientific name when discussing any plant, as it prevents the confusion caused by the use of common names. My 2 cent's worth.

 

[GrizzWald]

Actually this is a education and class debate... Speak properly, use correct words.. no..

 

[Oldgrowth]

Class debate?

 

[GrizzWald]

people look down on others and are segregated simply by language... a proper use and feeling of superiority... but whatever, its a plant, I don't really care (believe it or not ) If I want to call the drug marijuana or medical cannabis or ruderalis garbage, I will, lol...

 

[andIhalped]

Actually this is a education and class debate... Speak properly, use correct words.. no..

Thorsten Veblen in his incisive work on the motivations for consumption, The Theory of the Liesure Class, put forth that same argument, that the primary purpose of grammar was to provide another demarcation between classes.

 

[andIhalped]

I use the terms I grew up with: weed, bud, dope, smoke, & being from the SW, the term all the hispanic stoners that I knew used: mota

I did notice that the term cannabis became en vogue when dispensaries started selling the weed.

I don't think the term "cannabis" shows up in any of the Cheech & Chong bits or movies.

As Goethe observed: There's a big difference between knowing the term for something & truly knowing that thing.

 

[andIhalped]

OG's def. right that the demonization & criminalization of weed...errr, cannabis...was deeply rooted in classism and racism.

Like most laws.

As an anarchist writer observed: "Laws are like spider webs, only very small creatures are ensnared, while large powerful creatures break right through them, just as intended by lawmakers."

 

[GrizzWald]

You would have enjoyed a "conversation" on another thread and the cause of starting this one yes, I think we all here agree it was initially with a racist tone... The conflict is the difference in how we fight racism....

 

[andIhalped]

Agreed!

 

[JWM2]

Personally I use whichever term fits my mood at that moment. I never call it dope and rarely call it pot. But cannabis and marijuana are both interchangeable terms in my personal vocabulary. But to each their own. Kudos on the topic. It’s interesring.

 

[TEXOMAGRASS]

A while ago I started using the word cannabis instead of marijuana. I thought it sounded less of the sterio type. More in tune with the times and the movement, you know. Then these CBD stores start opening up selling hemp CBD and calling themselves Cannabis stores. Sometimes even Medical Cannabis CBD. I found that anytime I said cannabis, I had to explain to somebody the difference between hemp, marijuana, and ruderalis. So now I'm back to calling each one what they are, marijuana is marijuana. I'm a little older so I generally still refer to it as GRASS.

My 2 cents

 

[bluter]

my mom doesn't get the term cannabis. she keeps asking "isn't that marijuana ?" "whats going on ?" " why can't you call it what it is ? " lol ... she feels cannabis as a term belongs to the whole hemp family. she understands the stigma behind the term marijuana, and feels the attitude towards it is just deep rooted fear and prejudice.

there has never been a point in my life that i saw this could be happening lol .

 

[Jackalope]

Never under estimate the ability of humans to whine about things that don't matter. At least things are changing enough to have them whine about weed names now LMAO.

 

[Blew Hiller]

At least things are changing enough to have them whine about weed names now

First world problems...

 

[Oldgrowth]

I recall reading that if drinking a cup of clean potable water could cure HIV/AIDS then 95% of the world's people would have no cure.