Why marijuana is illegal

[xMeTaL HeAdx]

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Philipino's and Entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others."

-- Harry Anslinger, Commissioner of Narcotics to Congress, why marijuana should be made illegal, 1937.
(Marijuana Tax Act, signed August 2 1937; effective Oct.1, 1937)

Edited by: xMeTaL HeAdx

[Loser]

shouldnt this be moved.. i could think of a couple of good spots for it...

[motorhead]

Ya could be moved. But ya, if you think america is conservative today it was much more so back in the day. At the turn of the century there was so much stuff that was legal. You could get cocaine and morphine kits with the needle included during the first world war. The whole prohibition movement caught on so big around that time and swooped up everything that was morally contemptable. Alcohol made it back, but the others didnt. Maybe someday prohibition will end for all. Dare to dream.

[FrankenChrist]

Wasn't Anslinger a notorious gambler?

[xMeTaL HeAdx]

Originally Posted by FrankenChrist

Wasn't Anslinger a notorious gambler?

Not to my knowledge. I looked it up on erowid heres what i found about him.

Erowid Character Vaults
Harry Jacob Anslinger
1892(3) - 1975
Summary
Known as the "Father of the Drug War", Harry Anslinger was the first Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics (somewhat equivalent to the later "drug czar") of the United States. Under president Hoover, Anslinger was appointed to the newly created position on August 12, 1930 at the age of 38. He continued in the position until 1962.

Anslinger was extremely anti-marijuana and is well known for many of his exaggerated claims about the plant. There are theories that his work was, in part, motivated by friends in various industries (Hearst, DuPont, etc.) who had much to lose if marijuana / hemp was allowed to spread.

[Nagognog2]

It wasn't about hemp (cannabis) spreading. It was due to the Hearst corporation having bought up huge tracts of forest in the Pacific Northwest in the USA, and wanting to control the entire paper industry. Hemp was in the way of this as hemp is an infinitely renewable resourse that could be grown by anyone. Dupont came into the picture as they had just patented Nylon. Nylon, they hoped, would replace hemp as a source foritems such as rope and tarps.


Anslinger was the hired-gun to marshall public demand for the outlawing of hemp. Which he did by playing the race-cardfor stirring up the fears of the people: Negroes were smoking the devil-weed and looking at white girls twice and playing jazz music. The horror!