Legalize life (and life)

I was born, raised and raised in Monster Energy Drink, California.

Southern California borders the US-Mexico border. America’s quasi-laissez-faire “build-a-wall” tribe believes that (1) cheap labor is good, but (2) immigration from Mexico is bad.

Conservatives’ cognitive dissonance leads to a “don’t-ask-don’t-tell” policy for undocumented labor. In Southern California, you can easily hire undocumented gardeners, day laborers, kitchen workers, housekeepers, farmers, factory workers, nannies, etc.

This is the story SoCal conservatives told me my entire life:

“The Good Mexicans work very hard, but refuse to learn enough skills (e.g. English) to work white-collar jobs. The bad Mexicans bring crime/drugs and their friends bring more crime/drugs.”

This story is exactly how conservatives perpetuate their cognitive dissonance: they say that “good” immigrants work and assimilate, while “bad” immigrants commit crimes and multiply.

But I want to tell a different story. It’s the story of how (1) the US took advantage of native fabrics, while (2) used those same native fabrics as pretexts for oppression.

Is there fruit (or Mexicans) in your car today?

Is that a banana in your pocket or — GET ON THE GROUND! POP! POP!

Here in Southern California we have another major fruit fly quarantine:

Exotic fruit flies are a concern for California’s agricultural industry. The larval stage (maggot) of fruit flies such as the Mediterranean fruit fly, Mexican fruit fly and Oriental fruit fly can damage most fruits and vegetables grown in our state. These and other exotic pests have not become established in California due to (1) strict federal quarantines outside and inside the state, (2) a pest detection program, and (3) aggressive eradication programs when an infestation is discovered.

Federal and state quarantines protect against the entry and spread of exotic fruit flies by requiring strict adherence to treatment and inspection procedures for hosts. Smuggled and/or illegally imported fruit is the most common way fruit flies enter California.

If you drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on I-15, you’ll be stopped at one of the many Pest Police checkpoints, where they also happen to search your car for drugs (and Mexicans).

And that’s from California to Nevada — inside the US – imagine driving through a US/Mexican border checkpoint.

It’s nice that the pest police protect us against ‘invasive species’, but sometimes it is unclear whether they are talking about Mexican fruit flies or Mexican people. Much of the rhetoric about “invasive species” is subtext, as explained in this excellent podcast episode.

The whole situation is painfully ironic: (1) The fragile monocultures of industrial agriculture cause rapidly spreading pest outbreaks. (2) Industrial farms are responsible for moving most truckloads of fruits and vegetables across the border. (3) Industrial farms attract, use, and exploit illegal immigrants who evade the same pest police responsible for stopping their outbreaks.

In other words, industrial farms (1) cause pest outbreaks, (2) spread pest outbreaks, and (3) exploit the very people who evade the pest police.

And if you think Mexican immigration to the United States is not labor-related, consider the following chart:

To no one’s surprise, providing more documentation (i.e. H-2 visas) solves the “undocumented immigrant” documentation problem.

Pest control is used as pretext for search/seizure of drugs (and Mexicans). Maybe drugs are also a pretext for…

Is there marijuana (or Mexicans) in your car today?

The political unrest in Mexico that culminated in the 1910 Revolution led to a wave of Mexican immigration to states throughout the American Southwest. The prejudices and fears these farm immigrants faced also extended to their traditional intoxication: smoking marijuana. Police officers in Texas claimed that marijuana incited violent crimes, induced a “bloodlust” and gave users “superhuman strength.”

— Eric Schlosser via
Reefer madness

In 1937, the US Narcotics Commissioner made the following statement to Congress:

Referring to Table II, we see that Colorado reports that the Mexican population there grows an average of 2 to 3 tons of cannabis annually. The Mexicans use this to make cigarettes, which they sell for two for 25 cents, mostly to white high school students.

In 2024, cannabis is still maximally illegal, which means the FBI claims the drug is dangerous and has no conceivable medical benefit. By comparison, cocaine and fentanyl are less illegal than cannabis.

Cannabis remains a mechanism of selective law enforcement.

PBR openly sells THC drinks while over 40,000 people rot in jail for cannabis-related crimes.

This whole thing smacks of pretext.

Is there cocaine (or Mexicans) in your car today?

Long before PBR sold THC drinks, Coca-Cola sold cocaine drinks:

Coca-Cola once contained an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass. (For comparison, a typical dose or “line” of cocaine is 50-75 mg.(76)) In 1903 it was removed.

After 1904, instead of using fresh leaves, Coca-Cola began using “spent” leaves: the remains of the cocaine extraction process with trace amounts of cocaine. Since then (in 1929), Coca-Cola has used a cocaine-free coca leaf extract.

Summary: America’s Coca Cola has become a billion-dollar brand thanks to a plant that only grows in South America. During the same period, the US government destabilized South America with a series of coups/invasions.

American citizens remain the largest cocaine users in the world. Meanwhile, the US government has created a power vacuum in Latin America through military force. The rest is history.

The resulting drug lords took over an eternal reign of terror. The rampant violence and poverty created migrants, who continue to seek refuge in the US to this day. In response, the US is doing worse than nothing to asylum seekers.

Within U.S. borders, the modern Mexican cartels remain a scandalous stepchild of U.S. foreign policy. American law enforcement has an evergreen bogeyman to use as pretext for selective enforcement, militarization of the police, etc.

Is there peyote (or Mexicans) in your car today?

Quick history lesson: People lived on the North American landmass before other people drew the borders on maps and called the places “Mexico” and “the United States.” And long before humans lived on that landmass, many plants lived there. Some of those plants would have strange effects on human cortical tissue, i.e. they would get you high.

Of course, those plants still grow in North America. But in general, you shouldn’t grow them, think about them, put them in your mouth, or inhale their fumes:

These plants were really important to the Native American peoples, so as a consolation prize for killing their ancestors and stealing their land, the US government allows them to smoke/eat the plants under religious exemptions. But no one else!

Maybe pharmaceutical companies can use it too. But no one else!

Despite thousands of years of medicinal use and decades of scientific research, the government continues to insist that these plants are dangerous and provide no conceivable medical benefit. For this reason, these plants remain maximally illegal.

It smells like a lot excuse for selective enforcement cow shit for me.