Thanks to the legalization and decriminalization of cannabis across multiple states as well as in different countries globally cannabis is now used as a medicine as well as a recreational resource by many Americans as well as internationally.
This is all thanks to a big change in the mindset of the general public en masse since the days of ‘Reefer Madness’.
During this period Marijuana was attributed with many misinformed, exaggerated and straight up false facts that turned many people against the drug.
Some of our elders, even to this day, still hold onto this propaganda as a reason against the legalization of cannabis.
However, looking at some of the quotes from the harbingers of cannabis prohibition Harry Anslinger can really show how far we have come in our understanding of cannabis.
We’re going to run through some of the worst so that you can see just how mad cannabis prohibition got during this period known as ‘Reefer Madness’.
Read on for some laughs as well as some gasps.
Marijuana And Race
Believe or not, this was a huge part of the propaganda against using marijuana back in the Reefer Madness period.
It’s well documented that Harry Anslinger, the man to create marijuana prohibition laws which were eventually deemed unconstitutional in the 70s, was a devout racist, as well as a Class A idiot.
As racism was pretty ripe at the time, the officials preyed on this social opinion at the time to try to get white people to stop smoking ‘reefer’.
Much of this is also founded in a fear of communism at the time, which made many nationalistic and fearful of most races no matter their ties to a communist state or not.
“Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men” – Harry Anslinger
This is very much a genuine quote they used in government legislation to get people to not smoke marijuana.
It shouldn;t take our explanation to illustrate how absurd this is, but there is almost no logic to this statement – it is purely a divisive statement to put white people off the drug as it is used by Africans.
Here’s some more quotes along this logic, just to show how far we have come in terms of civil rights, as well as marijauan legislation.
“… the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”
“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 worst thing about this is that it actually worked, it’s hard to get numbers on who was smoking marijuana during the period, the number Anslinger pulls out has been proven wrong countless times, but his strategy started to receive support from pharmaceutical companies and newspapers at the time. Soon after, in 1937, Marijuana became illegal.
It took the US a long time to accept racial equality, and much longer to accept cannabis, but the absurdity of these comments in our modern day understanding shows how far we have come within both topics, which is reflected in the necessary legislation for both.
Marijuana And Insanity
One strategy from the government at the time, this was even further back in 1927, although only a few years before Anslinger was placed in charge of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, was to employ a tactic we would now recognize as ‘fake news’.
They would create many news stories that were obviously fake in order to create hatred against marijuana and fear of its effects as well as other racial issues. This quote is from the NYT back in 1927.
“A widow and her four children have been driven insane by eating the Marihuana plant, according to doctors, who say that there is no hope of saving the children’s lives and that the mother will be insane for the rest of her life”
The science we have now not only shows that marijuana doesn’t induce immediate insanity that is incurable, but we actually understand that eating marijuana would simply give you a funny tummy and actually have no psychoactive effects.
We know now that THCA must be converted to THC through combustion in order to exhibit any psychoactive effects.
In fact, we actually understand the marijuana plant much more now, that it is ultimately just a plant like any other, none of which induce immediate insanity as these fake news stories portray.
Here’s some other quotes from Anslinger making out Marijuana as a drug which induces insanity:
“Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.”
“You smoke a joint, and you are likely to kill your brother”
We know marijuana is not addictive, perhaps habit forming when abused, but not addictive.
Most of this information that turns you against your fellow race as well as against marijuana was fueled by a fear of communism.
There was widespread fear that communists were spreading marijuana in communities as some sort of chemical weapon. As well as being compounded with a fear of sleeper agents and spies at the time.
Moreover, marijuana is actually used to treat mental health in certain cases thanks to modern medical understandings of the drug and how it can affect our brain.
Those who suffer from depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses often choose marijuana over the pharmaceutical alternatives of antidepressants.
Mairjuana And Violence
Not only does marijuana cause you to go insane, according to Anslinger, but also sends you both into a state of pacifism as well as violence.
Again, this has much to do with communism and state goals outside of drug prohibition, and shows how Marijuana was used as a scapegoat for just about everything at the time.
“Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind”
“Therefore, from the standpoint of police work, it is a more dangerous drug than heroin or cocaine”
“Marijuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing.”
All three of these quotes are again from Anslinger’s agency, regardless of how ridiculous they sound to modern day users, they are paradoxical at their core.
Describing marijuana as violence inducing is basically the same as saying it causes insanity, they are both based in untrue stories and is an easy blow to deliver to parents who are already scared of the drug.
But Anslinger also attempts to point out that it leads to pacifism and brainwashing.
This is probably actually based on the practical experience that Anslinger actually referred to. He’s essentially perpetuating the old myth that pot makes you into a mindless zombie.
But it is clearly a military minded piece of propaganda, that somehow marijuana will make you less of a US citizen, make you vulnerable to communism, and also make you against the military.
As we mentioned, it’s clear marijuana is being used as a scapegoat for practically any problem the US government had at the time.
Final Thoughts
We hope that these quotes have at least brought a wry giggle to your life, rather than the bleakness with which it paints the history of our own society. However, the purpose of this is to show how far we have come.
Cannabis prohibition during this ‘Reefer Madness’ period was not really based on cannabis prohibition at all.
It seems that the government was willing to brainwash its own people in order to avoid the perhaps irrational fear of communism which still perpetrates a lot of right leaning politics in our country to this day.
Politics aside, perhaps the biggest lesson we can learn is from Anslinger’s story himself. How, by the time he died, he had become a drug user and peddler himself. Teaching us not to judge a painting before the paint has dried.
Senator Mccarthy was a heroin addict himself, likely fuelling much of his communist paranoia, but rather than belittling him as he did with other drug users Anslinger ensured the Senator had a safe supply of the old brown so their communist witch hunt could continue.
What Anslinger sought to expose in marijuana was instead an exposé of his own dark and unsavory attributes. Time has in fact exposed the truth in both matters.
Moreover, Anslinger developed angina later in his life and turned to heroin and morphine to deal with the pain – again, this shows how far we have come in terms of medical treatment. Ironically, as Johann Hari puts it best, “Anslinger died with his veins laced with the chemicals he had fought to deny the world.”
Another quote comes to mind which sums up what we have learned; a quote which predates Anslinger himself; a quote which Anslinger could have learned a lot from.
“What madness is it, to be expecting evil before it comes” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Hello, my name is Tom Bowler and I have been interested in the studies of cannabis for years. My brother and I have been testing out different strains and smoking techniques since we were in our early 20s, so we have some knowledge to impart on anyone willing to listen.
This website is a safe space for people genuinely interested in cannabis to learn in a judgment-free zone. We’ll look at the different ways it can be smoked, rolling techniques, strains, and much more.
So, stay a while and get acquainted with the world of cannabis - it’s not as dark and scary as the rest of the internet would have you believe.
