Marijuana

Many of Harry Anslinger's marijuana horror stories have been tracked down to stories in the yellow press. Of 200 specific cases referred to by Anslinger, his accusation that marijuana was the cause of a gory crime was proved false in 198. The other two stories were untraceable and no account of them ever appeared in print where the crimes allegedly occurred.

The most sensational crime in Anslinger's »gore file« was the Victor Licata case. A young man got up one morning and killed his parents, two brothers and a sister with an axe. Harry Anslinger claimed marijuana was responsible for this horrific crime because, he said, Licata »had been addicted to smoking marijuana cigarettes for more than six months«.

However, psychiatric examination of Victor Licata told a different story. The examining psychiatrist, Dr. H. Mason Smith, concluded that Licata's insanity was probably hereditary. His parents were first cousins and a granduncle and two paternal cousins had been committed to insane asylums. Licata's younger brother – one of his victims – had been diagnosed with dementia praecox.

Police had tried to have Victor Licata committed almost a year before he butchered his family, but withdrew the petition when the youth's parents insisted they could take better care of him at home.

Licata's history indicates that the cause of his crimes was a long lasting psychosis. At the Florida State Mental Hospital, he was diagnosed as suffering dementia praecox with homicidal tendencies, and he was observed to be overtly psychotic. In the hospital, Licata killed another patient and finally hanged himself.

Hospital records do not blame either Licata's crimes or his lifelong mental illness on marijuana. In fact, marijuana is never mentioned. Yet Anslinger misrepresented the Licata case for over 15 years in order to terrify the public about marijuana.

http://www.heartbone.com/no_thugs/hja.htm

HARRY J. ANSLINGER
»The Father of the Drug War«
Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics 1930-1962

On January 1, 1932, the newly established Federal Bureau of Narcotics, a unit in the Treasury Department, took over from the Alcohol Unit of the department the enforcement of the federal antiopiate and anticocaine laws; and former Assistant Prohibition Commissioner Harry J. Anslinger took over as commissioner of narcotics. Commissioner Anslinger had no legal jurisdiction over marijuana, but his interest in it was intense.

The Bureau's first Annual Report under his aegis warned that marijuana, dismissed as a minor problem by the Treasury one year earlier, had now »come into wide and increasing abuse in many states, and the Bureau of Narcotics has therefore been endeavoring to impress on the various States the urgent need for vigorous enforcement of the local cannabis laws.«




Many people believe that Mr. Anslinger collaborated with industry giants to outlaw marijuana. It is known that he was acquainted with both the Hearsts (of Hearst Newspapers) and the DuPonts, of DuPont plastic fame. (Hemp seed oil derivatives could replace DuPont's petroleum derived compounds.)

In the 1930s, Hearst, who owned newspapers all over the country, started publishing sensationalist-type »news« stories about marijuana use. These stories, often written by Hearst or Anslinger himself, talked about »insanity, criminality, and death« caused by smoking marijuana, sometimes after just one joint. This intense propaganda campaign led to anti-marijuana laws in many states.

In 1937, the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act was passed, effectively prohibiting possession or use of marijuana. It was claimed to be needed to oversee and coordinate existing state law concerning marijuana.

The following are excerpts of Mr. Anslinger's testimony before a Senate hearing on marijuana in 1937:

»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.«

»You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother.«

»Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.«

"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 usage.
This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others."

Harry J. Anslinger, testimony to Congress, 1937

Marijuana (or marihuana) is a weed that turns into a flower in the mind. It is because of the fact that it can produce a great deal of joy while producing rather little, if any real harm that it is so hated by society. Despite its medical value as a anti-nausea agent, a possible cure for glocoma, and other medical uses, it remains illegal because government bureauracies owe their existence and trafficers their fortunes to its continued illegal status. Legalize this noble herb now! »For I given you every...herb that grows...to use,« thus saith the Lord.