Cannabis And Propaganda

PROPAGANDA AND CANNABIS 1 Running head: PROPAGANDA AND CANNABIS

Bureaucratic propagandas effect on Cannabis. David “Toby” B. Meyers University of Phoenix January 20, 2009

PROPAGANDA AND CANNABIS 2 Print media effects people’s opinion on political and medical issues. Some people believe everything they read without question. This very conformist ideal, this propaganda has led us to believe that the Cannabis plant is the “Devils weed” (Stadie, 1936) and is “Satan’s tool” (I.Y.G., 2005; Green, Unknown) for causing “Reefer Madness.” (Gasnier, 1936) This essay will explore the time line of the beginning of Cannabis prohibition in the United States during the last century, looking at medical fact versus the propaganda of pulp fiction and newspaper articles used to create the false concept that Cannabis is a deadly drug, causing madness, violent behavior and sexual deviance. Showing the effect of propaganda by government officials and racial prejudice this essay will show propagandas’ effect on American Culture. Not to mention a lie that has cost us billions to imprison people that who possess a plant that has a billion uses not just recreational consumption. (Kampia, 2007)

“Harry J. Anslinger 1892-1975 is widely considered to be the first United States "drug czar". He served as the Assistant Prohibition Commissioner in the Bureau of Prohibition, before being appointed as the first Commissioner of the Treasury Department's Bureau of Narcotics on August 12, 1930, serving until 1962 when he was dismissed by President John F. Kennedy. It would appear that Anslinger was a conservative who truly believed marijuana to be a threat to the future of American civilization; his biographer maintained that he was an astute government bureaucrat who viewed the marijuana issue as a means for elevating himself to national prominence. The responsibilities once held by Harry J. Anslinger are now largely under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy,” (Fact-Archive. com, 2005).

Harry Anslinger was appointed the commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1930. He frequently used racial slurs in public to describe blacks and Hispanics; he was a known racist. (Wishnia, 2008) "Reefer makes ‘Darkies’ think they’re as good as white men." (Anslinger, 1929)

PROPAGANDA AND CANNABIS 3 Anslinger did not have jurisdiction over Cannabis at this time, he had an obsessive preoccupation. With the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s gore files and some help from William Randal Hearst’s’ newspapers to sensationalize marijuana (Herer, 1985) (Hearst had lost a substantial amount of land from Poncho Villa’s Pot smoking, (FFC, 2006) siesta taking, army during the Spanish-American war of 1898.) and some support from Lamont Dupont of DuPont chemicals (KT Botanicals, 2007). Anslinger literally went around claiming homicidal atrocities committed while under the influence of marijuana. (Wierichs, 1995; Guither, 2009; Primal Seeds, 2000; Herer, 1985) Hearst’s newspapers reefer madness articles in the early thirties created a clamor across the country and has been referred to as “Reefer Madness,” (Murphy, 2009; Speaker, 2002). In reference to the false claim of the delusional state that happened when a person smoked Cannabis or rather Anslinger’s term “marihuana.” The correct English term is Cannabis, "A California man decapitated his best friend while under the violent spell of the smoke!" (Newsweek, 1937) "Was it marijuana, the new Mexican drug that nerved the murderous arm of Clara Phillips when she hammered out her victim's life in Los Angeles? . . . Three-fourths of the crimes of violence in this country today are committed by dope slaves - that is a matter of cold record.” (Laurie, Unknown) The fact was that Hearst paper manufacturing division, Kimberly Clark and virtually all other timber, paper and large newspaper holding companies, could lose lots of money in current and previous holdings, because people would not buy their products if they could buy hemp paper and products legally. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 introduced by commissioner Anslinger basically made Cannabis illegal by making the treasury responsible for giving tax stamps to Cannabis farmers who were producing legally for the government and corporate producers of Hemp products. It did not criminalize it outright. The Treasury Department does not issue tax stamps, or did not at the time and it was unusually written to tax about a dollar an ounce. Each ounce would have to be paid for in advance, by farmers’ way out in the boonies. This also came with five years in prison if they

PROPAGANDA AND CANNABIS 4 were in possession or growing without the tax stamp. (Solomon, 2000; Turner, 1998) The American Medical Association (A.M.A.) lawyer William C. Woodward and Ralph Lozier of the National Oil Seeds Institute testified against this legislation, (Turner, 1998) saying that there was no medical proof that Cannabis caused any ill effects and was use quite often in manufacturing. Woodward repeatedly asked why this bill had been “prepared in secret” and stated “marihuana is not a drug, simply a name given to Cannabis.” “Because of, its low profile and sly wording, many congress people were unaware that one of America's biggest and most profitable industries was being legislated into history.” (Turner, 1998) This act passed on October second. The first person arrested, on that day, was a white and patriotic farmer from Colorado. Samuel Caldwell was arrested that day for possession of two joints without the tax stamp. (Spencer, 2009) It was not white farmers that commissioner Anslinger hoped to arrest. "There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., 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." (Anslinger, 1937) In February 1938, Popular Mechanics hailed hemp as the "New Billion Dollar Crop.” (ParaScope, 1999) United States Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) made a movie called Hemp for Victory (U.S.D.A., 1942). American farmers were required to see the film. Not everyone was of the opinion that Cannabis makes people who consume cannabinoids crazy. Odds are that congress did not associate the term marihuana, with Indian hemp or its proper term Cannabis indica. Propaganda newspaper articles, Pulp Fiction and Detective magazines, depicted the evil Mexican drug ‘marijuana’ as smoke that caused madness, psychosis and sexual derision that was against rigid atavistic social rules, set by puritan values and racism caused a paranoid public opinion sway against Cannabis between 1936-1961. (The Reefer Madness Era, 2008)

PROPAGANDA AND CANNABIS 5 Marijuana propaganda is still as common today as it was in the thirties. Most people understand this is nothing but paranoid sensationalism. “Hmm, ‘potheads’… I took the blow on that one. The ads are humorous, but, ‘potheads’ are falsely stigmatized. Not everyone who smokes pot turns into a bowl of Jell-o.” (Bock, 2008) “Propaganda; Not a single fact on any of those above the influence posters. Did you know that The Partnership for a Drug Free America has the biggest ad budget of anything in America, even the Armed Forces? This is not about public health.” (Origin, 2008)

There is no medical proof that Cannabis has caused any ill effects in the average recreational smoker even though many anti-drug organizations still claim that ‘marijuana’ makes you stupid. Cannabis is the most valuable material on the face of the planet. Keeping it illegal keeps money in the pockets of a few, which prey on the superstitious to sell deadly petroleum, strip forests and create toxic waste. Petroleum products are a lame imitation of the benefits of Cannabis. “Farming 6% of the continental U.S. acreage with ‘Cannabis’ biomass crops would provide all of America's energy needs.” (Herer, 1985) Cannabis materials are far superior to wood pulp fiber products and petroleum textiles, they are eco-friendly as they break down naturally and are nontoxic. All petroleum products cause are toxic, cancer causing and harmful to the environment. The petroleum market could simply be replaced with Cannabis derivatives and textiles. (Herer, 1985) Cannabis is the single most valuable material on the face of the planet. Keeping it illegal, keeps high revenue in the pockets of a few elite that prey on the superstitious to sell deadly petroleum, strip forests and create toxic waste as a lame imitation of the benefits of Cannabis products. (Davis, 1997) Cannabis materials are far superior to wood pulp fiber products and petroleum textiles, they are environmentally friendly as they biodegrade naturally and are completely non-toxic except as allergen. Hemp can be produced 20 times as fast as paper, as pine produces 30 tons in 20 years, hemp can produce, under indoor conditions, more than 30 tons in

PROPAGANDA AND CANNABIS 6 one year. (Herer, 1985; Mitchell, 1954) This could be taken to mean that deforestation would not have to happen with the production of industrial hemp paper. (Davis, 1997) A common misperception is that low Cannabinoid yield Cannabis hemp, known as hemp textiles, was introduced during the sixties and that cannabis smoking is a direct result of breeding that strain for recreational use. That myth is false because “Tetra-hydro-cannabinol (T.H.C.) was isolated by Raphael Mechoulam, Yechiel Gaoni and Habib Edery in 1964.” (Murphy, 2009; Brown, 2006; Friedman, 2005). The oldest recorded smoking stash is carbon dated, to be 25,000 years old. (Russo, et al., 2008) The United States Constitution is written on hemp paper (Briggs, 2007; Herer, 1985) so was the Magna Charter (Briggs, 2007; Davis 1997; Herer, 1985) and the first printed book the Gutenberg bible (Briggs, 2007; Herer, 1985).

“Hemp is the only plant on earth that supplies all three essential fatty acids: 6-Omega, 3-Omega and Super GLA.” (Stewart, 2002; Herer, 1985) “Cannabis was legal tender from 1631 until the early 1800’s.” (Herer, 1985) They passed into law, quietly and sneakily a proposition that outlawed the world’s most useful plant. Harry Anslinger, Lamont DuPont and William Randal Hearst with help of a ‘rope’ specialist and intimidation tactics against American Medical Association (A.M.A.) lawyer William C. Woodward and Ralph Lozier of the National Oil Seeds to keep them silent, to perpetuate the biggest fraud of American politics. They did this through racist grandstanding, Pulp Fiction novels and Propaganda articles that had no facts, to achieve wealth, political standing and personal vendetta against Mexicans and Blacks and poor people. What a bunch of self-serving loser idiots.

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References: Anslinger, H. (1929). Marijuana and Racism. Retrieved January 9, 2009, from Reefer Madness Propaganda Through the Ages: http://www. uccs. edu/~rmelamed/Physics%20of%20Life/Homepage/Marijuana%20and%2 0Racism. html Anslinger, H. (1937). Senate Hearing on Marijuana. Washington D.C. Bock, K. (2008, December 2). Above the Ignorance of 'Above the Influence'. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from Designer High; http://www. designerhigh. com/2008/12/above-the-ignorance/ Briggs J. (2007). Chronology of Hemp. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from Hemphasis: http://www. hemphasis. net/History/history. htm Brown (2006). The New Science of Cannabinoid-Based Medicine: An Interview with Dr. Raphael Mechoulam Retrieved January 12, 2009, from Smart Publications: http://www. smart-publications.com/articles/MOM-mechoulam.php Chester, Noel; Wiebe, Will; McKay, Sean;. (2008, Jan 31). Buisness Case Study: Portable Hemp Decorticator. Retrieved Jan 31, 2009, from Composites Innovation Centre, Canada: http://www. compositesinnovation. ca/reports/06-020-04-R02. pdf Davis R. M. (1997, June 19) State Of Arizona, vs. Richard Marvin Davis, Maricopa County: No. Cr96-92561 Retrieved January 12, 2009, from Hemp Legal Matters Room: http://www. hempmuseum. org/SUBROOMS/HEMP%20CONSTIT%20CHALLENGE. htm

PROPAGANDA AND CANNABIS 10 Esper, D. (Producer), Franklin, P. (Writer), & [Do not use an ampersand except in citations and on the sources page.] Gasiner, L.(Director). (January 15, 1936). Reefer Madness (aka Tell Your Children) [Motion Picture]. U.S.A.: Motion Picture Ventures. Friedman, O. (2005, August) My Grandfather discovered T.H.C.. Retrieved Jan 31, 2009, from High Times: http://hightimes. com/entertainment/ofriedman/2171 Green, James & [Do not use an ampersand except in citations and on the sources page.] Deborah (Date Unknown). Marijuana and Christians: Cure or Curse? Retrieved January 27, 2009, from Aggressive Christians: http://aggressivechristianity. net/articles/maryjane. htm Green, C. (2009). The First Marijuana Law In America, 1619. Retrieved January 27, 2009, from Associate [Do not capitalize unless part of a title or proper name] d Content: http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/1341969/the_first_marijuana_law_in_america. html Guither, P. (2009). Why is Marijuana Illegal? Retrieved January 9, 2009, from Drug War Rant: http://blogs. salon. com/0002762/stories/2003/12/22/whyIsMarijuanaIllegal. html Herer, J., (1985). The Emporer Wears no Clothes. Van Nuys: Ah Ha Publishing. KT Botanicals (August 24, 2007). The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 and the Birth of a Synthetic Economy. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from KT Botanicals: http://ktbotanicals. wordpress. com/ Laurie, A. (Unknown). Unknown. San Francisco Examiner . Murphy, T. (February 2, 2009) Email: Low-THC Hemp, Received: February 2, 2009, from Hemp Industries Association, HIA Member Services: "Tom Murphy" ..

PROPAGANDA AND CANNABIS 11 to Meyers, D: "Toby Nixon" .. Murphy, D. (2009). Willam Randolph Hearst. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from Reefer Madness: http://www. reefermadness. org/propaganda/essay. html Origin. (2008, December 8). Above the Ignorance of 'Above the Influence'. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from Designer High; http://www. designerhigh. com/2008/12/above-the-ignorance/ ParaScope, Inc. (1999, July). Marijuana Timeline. Retrieved January 9, 2009, from Recreational Drugs Information: http://www. a1b2c3. com/drugs/mj004. htm Primal Seeds. (2000). DuPont "The Miracles of Science?".[A period or comma always goes inside the closing quotation mark] [In English, a period or comma always goes inside the quotation marks.] Retrieved January 9, 2009, from Primal Seeds: http://www. primalseeds. org/dupont. htm Russo, E. B., Jiang, H.-E., Li, X., Sutton, A., Carboni, A., Bianco, F. d., et al. (2008). Phytochemical and genetic analyses of ancient Cannabis from Central Asia. (E. Russo, Ed.) Journal of Experimental Botany , 59 (15), 4171-4182 . Retrieved Jan 9, 2009, From Journal of Experimental Botany: http://jxb. oxfordjournals. org/cgi/content/full/59/15/4171#BIB23 Solomon, D. (2000). The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. Retrieved January 9, 2009, from The Shaffer Library of Drug Policy: http://www. druglibrary. org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/mjtaxact. htm Sloman, L. (1979). HYPERLINK "http://www. fact-archive. com/encyclopedia/Reefer_Madness" Reefer Madness : A History of Marijuana in America. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill

PROPAGANDA AND CANNABIS 12 Speaker, S. L. (2002). Creating a Monster: Newspapers, Magazines and America's Drug Problem. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from Molecular Interventions: http://molinterv. aspetjournals. org/cgi/content/full/2/4/201#RFN2 Spencer, J. (2009). The First U.S. Marijuana Arrest. Retrieved Jan 9, 2009, from Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer: http://blog. austindefense. com/2007/10/articles/marijuana-controlled-substance/the-firs t-us-marijuana-arrest-ever/ Stadie, H.; Esper, D. (Producers & Directors), Stadie, H. (Writer), (May 1936). Marijuana [Motion Picture]. Los Angeles, California: Roadshow Attractions Inc.; Marden Films (Canadian release, 1973). Stewart K. (2002). A Short History of Hemp. Retrieved Jan 9, 2009, from kevinstewart. net : http://www. kevinstewart. net/hemphistory.html Turner, E. (1998). Anslinger, Hearst and the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act. Retrieved January 9, 2009, from ephidrina: http://www. ephidrina. org/cannabis/taxact. html The Reefer Madness Era. (2008). Pulp Fiction (a.k.a.Dime Store Novels) Retrieved January 12, 2009, from Reefer Madness: http://www. reefermadnessmuseum. org/book/APulpFiction. htm Unknown (1932). Newsweek. Urena, A. (2002). Legitimate resons to Legalize Cannabis. Retrieved January 9, 2009, from Cannabis News: http://cannabisnews. com/news/14/thread14829. shtml U.S.D.A. (Director). (1942). Hemp for Victory! [Motion Picture]. Mitchell, H. L. (1954, July). U.S.D.A. Greater Pulp Yields Per Acre Per Year.

PROPAGANDA AND CANNABIS 13 Retrieved January 12, 2009, from Oregon State University Library: http://ir. library. oregonstate. edu/dspace/bitstream/1957/2459/1/FPL_1993ocr. pdf Wierichs, J. (1995). William Randolph Hearst 1863-1951. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from Z Publish: http://www. zpub. com/sf/history/willh. html Wishnia, S. (2008, February 21). Debunking the Hemp Conspiracy Theory. Retrieved Jan 9, 2009, from AlterNet: http://www. alternet. org/drugreporter/77339/?page=entire Zhukovsky, S. (January 13, 2007). Why is Marijuana Illegal? Retrieved Jan 9, 2009, from Digglicious: http://digglicious. blogspot. com/2007/01/why-ismarijuana-illegal. html