Explanation: In the lectures, early U.S. drug panics racialized substances: opium was stigmatized through association with Chinese immigrants/opium dens, while cannabis later became linked to Mexicans. The lectures also note that before this “Mexican” association, smoked cannabis use was attributed to Africans who arrived in the U.S.; once cannabis was identified with Mexicans, it was framed as a foreign drug. Relatedly, the term “marijuana” became common only after this Mexican association—before that it was generally referred to as “cannabis.” (Lecture/Reading: Wright, Not Just a “Place for the Smoking of Opium”; broader racialized framing also discussed in Ram, Squaring the Circle.)

Explanation: In the lectures, early U.S. drug panics racialized substances: opium was stigmatized through association with Chinese immigrants/opium dens, while cannabis later became linked to Mexicans. The lectures also note that before this “Mexican” association, smoked cannabis use was attributed to Africans who arrived in the U.S.; once cannabis was identified with Mexicans, it was framed as a foreign drug. Relatedly, the term “marijuana” became common only after this Mexican association—before that it was generally referred to as “cannabis.” (Lecture/Reading: Wright, Not Just a “Place for the Smoking of Opium”; broader racialized framing also discussed in Ram, Squaring the Circle.)