Throughout the 19th century, news reports and medical journal articles almost always use the plant’s formal name, cannabis. Numerous accounts say that “marijuana” came into popular usage in the U.S. in the early 20th century because anti-cannabis factions wanted to underscore the drug’s “Mexican-ness.” It was meant to play off of anti-immigrant sentiments.
I don’t think it’s more racist, but I definitely don’t like the idea that it was called marijuana to create a negative connotation with Latin Americans, but now that public opinion is coming around on it, people no longer want to associate it with the Latin American name.