E-mail
Print
Stopping the Drug War, Part 1
The Prohibition of a new age
By Adam Milich
Aside from being extremely difficult, banning a popular trade good has a nasty side effect – a black market
‘The roaring twenties’ conjures images of jazz, art deco, Al Capone, the end of the First World War, and unfortunately, prohibitionists. Prohibitionists were religious fanatics who believed progress could only be made by controlling the ‘immoral instincts’ of the masses. These zealots were eager to endorse the repulsive breach of church and state necessary for the 18th amendment: prohibition of intoxicating liquors. As you all know, prohibition is not around today. Controlling and eliminating a popular intoxicant was tougher than the government planned. Lying to people about the physical and mental effects of alcohol was not effective enough.
Aside from being extremely difficult, banning a popular trade good has a nasty side effect – a black market. Powerful gangs, corruption of law enforcement agencies, racketeering and a surge of stronger liquor were just some of the implications of deregulation. The induction of prohibition put all potential profits into the hands of illegal distributors, while the government lost an estimated $500 million annually on taxes. This was revenue that might have been handy during the Great Depression, which began in 1929 (during prohibition).
Author Douglas Adams once said “Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” Prohibition is back. This time the crusade is against a substance with no recorded fatalities. The D.E.A.’s Administrative Law Judge Francis Young concluded, “In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat [consume] enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its’ natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.” To overdose it would require approximately 40,000 times the marijuana it takes to get you high.
The story of marijuana prohibition begins with the Mexican Revolution of 1910. The consequences of which brought a surge of Mexicans into the American South. Marijuana was popular in Mexican Culture, and the south was largely racist. The first legal reaction came in 1914 with the El Paso Ordinance in Texas, which banned possession of marijuana. The law quickly became a way for the city to control Mexicans. Other Southern states followed suit in the years to come.
Washington responded in 1930, with the Federal Bureau Of Narcotics. Harry J. Anslinger, previously Assistant Prohibition Commissioner in the Bureau of Prohibition was appointed Commissioner under President Hoover. He applied his zealous ideology to the war on Marijuana. Propaganda was predictably his favorite method, “Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its’ users insanity, criminality and death.” Sometimes he stirred in racism, “Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.” Anslinger could even throw red fear into the mix, “Marijuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing.”
Anslinger’s first big achievement was the Uniform State Narcotic Law. He campaigned restlessly trying to convince the 50 states to police local marijuana traffic. Only eight states signed, the other viewed it as a federal interference in state affairs. Anslinger was crushed.
He, however, did not give up so easily. Anslinger received aid from William Randolph Hearst, the owner of a large chain of newspapers. Hearst had a lot to lose. He was a heavy investor in the timber industry to support his newspapers. The development of hemp would mean competition against paper. Furthermore, the printing of outrageous propaganda tended to sell more newspapers. The following was printed in Hearst’s San Francisco Examiner: “THREE FOURTHS OF THE CRIMES of violence in this country today are committed by DOPE [marijuana] SLAVES – that is a matter of cold record.” Anslinger gained additional support from the DuPont chemical company (patented nylon) and various other pharmaceutical companies wary of hemp competition.
With the energized support for the anti-marijuana lobby and his hugely successful propaganda campaign, Anslinger had no problem getting the rest of the states to sign his Uniform State Narcotic Law. The terrified and misinformed American public just couldn’t get enough of marijuana regulation. Without any scientific studies or political debate, President Roosevelt signed the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, effectively making marijuana illegal.
To be continued in 10-20 issue.
> Comments