Men Die For It, Women Cry For It: Explosion of the Reefer Madness Movement

                                                                                                              

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Figure 6:
Reefer Madness Theatrical Poster

Source:

Reefer Madness Original Theatrical 

Release Poster by Motion Picture Ventures. 

Advertisement. 1936: Web.

From 1919 to 1933, alcohol prohibition became the focus of public opinion due to its impact on individual rights and the spread of organized crime. With alcohol prohibition extremely visible and openly debated on all levels of society, drug laws were passed without the general public's knowledge. This accumulated in a new division of the treasury formed in 1930 known as the Federal Bureau of Narcotics with Harry Anslinger, the first unofficial Drug Czar, named the director according to Jack Herer. This marked the beginning of the war against cannabis. The Bureau of Narcotics became a revolutionary government agency with the unique opportunity to define the problems with narcotics and the steps that needed to be taken to deal with the problem. 

At the time the only banned substances were cocaine and opiates, which lacked enough users to maintain an entire bureau, as a result Anslinger turned his attention to creating a problem with a plant already linked to racism and false propaganda--cannabis. These quotes from Anslinger are an example of the type of propaganda he used, “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.” “You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother.” “Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.” 

            Figure 6: 

            Theatrical Poster for anti-marijuana film.

Source:
Assassin of Youth Original Theatrical Poster by BCM 
Roadhouse Productions. Advertisement.1937. Web

In an interesting twist the Federal Government ignored the Siler Commission which studied the effects of off-duty marijuana smoking by American serviceman in Panama which concluded that smoking marijuana wasn’t a problem and that no criminal penalties should result in it’s use.Yet these blatantly racist and misleading statements aimed at solidifying subcultural groups as subordinate to white  Americans was unacceptable during the early 20th century and an abomination now. With the adaptation of laws that outlaw discrimination based on sex, race, and gender is it appropriate to have laws in place that prohibit a substance based on manipulative propaganda spread to further the career of one man?

Harry Anslinger partnered with William Randolf Hearst, the owner of a huge chain of newspaper heavily invested in the timber industry to support it’s production. The elimination of hemp paper would leave little competition for the timber industry and his magazine to flourish. Ultimately, Hearst’s newspapers used Yellow Journalism, the type of journalism that relies on sensationalism and lurid exaggeration to attract readers, to manufacture a new threat to America for the purpose of outlawing hemp. Which is illustrated in this quote found in the San Francisco Examiner: “Marihuana makes fiends of boys in thirty days. By the tons it's coming into this country --the deadly, dreadful poison that racks and tears not only the body, but the very heart and soul of every human being who becomes a slave to its cruel and devastating forms.” Finally Anslinger and Hearst gained support from the Dupont Chemical Company, that had just patented processes for the production of plastics from oil and coal; and a new sulfate process that would make paper from wood pulp.

                                                                                         Figure 7:

                                                                                         Clip from the 1937 film Reefer Madness. 

In 1937, Anslinger testified before Congress claiming that “Marijuana is the most violence causing drug in the history of mankind.” The accumulation of yellow journalism in addition to Anslinger's testimony persuaded Congress to pass The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 which called for an "occupational excise tax upon dealers, and a transfer tax upon dealings in marijuana”. The new tax virtually killed the legal cannabis industry because farmers couldn’t transfer cannabis without a special stamp and in order to apply for the stamp farmers had to bring their cannabis to Washington D.C. breaking the law in the process. The propaganda and laws created
during this time period led to these common practices:

• Politicians wanting to appear tough on crime by passing tougher penalties 
• Constant increases in spending on law enforcement and prison
• Racist application of drug laws
• Taxpayer funded propaganda
• Censorship of opposition speech
• Political contributions from corporation that profit from cannabis being illegal

Ultimately this tactic of lying to the public about the beneficial nature of cannabis through the publication of “marijuana” propaganda has been successful in manipulated the history of a plant that's been cultivated for thousands of years. 

                                            Figure 8: Assassin of Youth: Full Feature Film (1937)