History of Marijuana
“Chuck Cirino gives us a short history lesson on how marijuana became illegal in the US. The November 2nd ballot in California includes Proposition 19, which if passed would legalize various marijuana related activities in California.” Via @LaughingSquid. Now I haven’t given this topic much thought but I found the history interesting, especially the part about racism. I couldn’t find anything on Wikipedia on this but you can Google around and find the same quotes. Does anyone have any thoughts or links to support or discredit this?
Posted in Videos on August 8th, 2010 by Jeremy at 7:55 am with (36 views)
August 8th, 2010 at 7:57 am
An interesting take on this history can be found in Peter McWilliams’ book, _Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do_.
August 8th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Source – http://www.drugwarrant.com
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Anslinger was an extremely ambitious man, and he recognized the Bureau of Narcotics as an amazing career opportunity — a new government agency with the opportunity to define both the problem and the solution. He immediately realized that opiates and cocaine wouldn’t be enough to help build his agency, so he latched on to marijuana and started to work on making it illegal at the federal level.
Anslinger immediately drew upon the themes of racism and violence to draw national attention to the problem he wanted to create. He also promoted and frequently read from “Gore Files” — wild reefer-madness-style exploitation tales of ax murderers on marijuana and sex and… Negroes. Here are some quotes that have been widely attributed to Anslinger and his Gore Files:
“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.”
“…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”
“Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.”
“Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.”
“Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing”
“You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother.”
“Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.”
Read the Gore Files
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http://reefermadnessmuseum.org/chap10/Gore.htm