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Author
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Topic: Growing weed! why should it be illegal and how can you do it anyway?
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tuxedo meow
Knowflake Posts: 566
From: Texas Gulf Coast, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted February 18, 2007 12:10 AM
 
i am more interested in how to get away with growing it but camoflauging it so i don't go to the hoosegow! A very naughty old crone, Tuxedo "puffpuffpass" MEow of the Grandma GangIP: Logged |
lotusheartone
Knowflake Posts: 10685
From: piopolis, quebec canada
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted February 18, 2007 12:01 PM
Tuxedo Meow, be careful...really think it through, is it worth it?Did you ever see the movie
Saving Grace it's very funny! I'm sure you can find all the information you need, right here on the net...
and you really need to know what you are doing, or it will be a waste of your time and money...
research it well. ... Sending LOts of LOve and Light  IP: Logged |
hippichick
Knowflake Posts: 1288
From: The Ether
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted February 18, 2007 12:04 PM
HA!It is NEVER without risk! My ex bfriend grew some awesome plants in his backyard in pots. He has a very cluttery backyard, lots of flower beds, planters, etc. and they just blended in with the rest of the flora. He kept them pinched back so they would be little but mighty. Since we are from the same growing region, you could consider the same. Terri IP: Logged |
hippichick
Knowflake Posts: 1288
From: The Ether
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted February 18, 2007 12:08 PM
Oh, and legality???It NEVER ceases to amaze me how alcohol can be legal and pot can not. People drink, get in their cars, uninhibited and judgment obscured and kill people and themselves. Pot smokers on the other hand get stoned, vege on the sofa with food and a remote and venture out only if they run out of food!!  And if the stoners DO venture out, they drive 30 miles per hour cause they are so paranoid!! Geezzzzz----the machine and it's control issues!!! IP: Logged |
tuxedo meow
Knowflake Posts: 566
From: Texas Gulf Coast, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted February 18, 2007 03:46 PM
absolutely-
there is a reason alcohol is called SPIRITS. Don't worry Lotus I am just interested at this time. Weed grows free in nature-no war taxes either...It is also onr of the most beautiful vibrant green color good energy producing magical plants on Earth! Being around a plant you are growing for personal use only Is like the purple plate of nature even if you don't inhale! The very peacefullness it exudes may be what scares the lawmakers...
Of course, like aura colors, there are different but similar shades. When greed, profit-only, death, dishonor are "bred" in they are not as beautiful to look at. Kinda' like innocence lost..On my way to Christian Aerobics see ya later! Everybody add in your wisdom about growing green!" Luv Tuxedo MEow
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hippichick
Knowflake Posts: 1288
From: The Ether
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted February 18, 2007 04:02 PM
It is also a beautiful plant!ooooo.....how even beauty in nature can be misunderstood, misused~~~ IP: Logged |
aquaspryt69
Knowflake Posts: 998
From: Arizona
Registered: Feb 2004
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posted February 18, 2007 08:53 PM
Mighty good subject. Though I don't partake anymore. Ya know, I heard that it's legal to have one plant in Alaska. If only they would do that in ALL the states! I'm with ya on the alcohol bull. What's worse is when a drunk doesn't kill the person, but paralyzes them for life! Look at all the millions of dollars the health industry would lose if they made alcohol illegal. That's reason enough for the government.
Spry
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Harpyr
Moderator Posts: 2253
From: land of the midnight sun
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted February 19, 2007 09:14 PM
I've heard that thing about one plant being okay in Alaska too.. hmmmm
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lalalinda
Moderator Posts: 2172
From: nevada
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted February 19, 2007 11:30 PM
quote:
It NEVER ceases to amaze me how alcohol can be legal and pot can not. People drink, get in their cars, uninhibited and judgment obscured and kill people and themselves. Pot smokers on the other hand get stoned, vege on the sofa with food and a remote and venture out only if they run out of food!!
ain't it the truth!! 
the only person I ever saw get a little out of line and ever so slightly lewd
did it on accident 
she totally didn't realize what she said and that made it even funnier
talk about a stoner doofus  (puff away dumbo) but yes there is the legal aspect of it to consider and I don't condone breaking the law but....
(has anyone ever notice that good bud is worth more than gold?? ) IP: Logged |
thedividedsky
Knowflake Posts: 339
From: utah
Registered: Aug 2006
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posted February 23, 2007 08:09 AM
california too, i believe, lax on personal plants up to a certain amount.IP: Logged |
Bluemoon
Knowflake Posts: 3893
From: Stafford, VA USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted February 26, 2007 12:15 PM
It is a very useful medicinal plant. I agree with you Hippie, I would trust a stoner behind the wheel much faster that a drunk.   I know someone who found spots in the woods around the area and planted there. His plant did very well. IP: Logged |
Harpyr
Moderator Posts: 2253
From: land of the midnight sun
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted February 26, 2007 03:46 PM
That cartoon says it all.IP: Logged |
Bluemoon
Knowflake Posts: 3893
From: Stafford, VA USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted February 27, 2007 08:58 AM
Yes, Harpy, tooooooo true!!IP: Logged |
SunChild
Moderator Posts: 3826
From: Australia
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted March 08, 2007 06:02 AM
I like hemp products.  Hemp balm, oils, clothing...all good stuff!Hemp protein is amazing too. Did you know smoking weed is against the spirit of the plant (according to someone who I have forgot the name of but owns this website http://www.cannabis.uk.net/raw%20cannabis/RAW%20CANNABIS.htm) and the most pure way to ingest it is through drinking/eating it? IP: Logged |
tuxedo meow
Knowflake Posts: 566
From: Texas Gulf Coast, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted March 19, 2007 10:07 PM
have pinched.IP: Logged |
lotusheartone
Knowflake Posts: 10685
From: piopolis, quebec canada
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted March 19, 2007 10:36 PM
did you get rid of the naughty ones?  seed or clones? IP: Logged |
Randall
Webmaster Posts: 24313
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted March 20, 2007 01:22 PM
------------------
"There is no use trying," said Alice; "one can't believe impossible things." "I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." Lewis Carroll IP: Logged |
katipo
Knowflake Posts: 320
From: ~Aotearoa~
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted March 24, 2007 10:43 PM
The cartoon above outlines exactly WHY pot/weed/dak etc, is illegal.IP: Logged |
goatgirl
Knowflake Posts: 483
From: Anywhere
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted March 29, 2007 06:19 PM
More recent research found(not being done in this country BTW) one of the chemicals in Cannabis, one of the CBD's, are found only two places. This is one of the chemicals that tells your brain you need to eat, and gives you that "I'm hungry" feeling, without which you would die. The two places this particular chemical is found are: Breastmilk and Cannabis.Isn't that interesting. ------------------
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley IP: Logged |
goatgirl
Knowflake Posts: 483
From: Anywhere
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted March 29, 2007 06:20 PM
Why is Marijuana Illegal?
Shortcut Address:
http://marijuana.drugwarrant.com
A brief history of the criminalization of cannabis
7000-8000 B.C.
First woven fabric believed to be from hemp.
1619
Jamestown Colony, Virginia passes law requiring farmers to grow hemp.
1700s
Hemp was the primary crop grown by George Washington at Mount Vernon, and a secondary crop grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.
1884
Maine is the first state to outlaw alcohol.
1906
Pure Food and Drug Act is passed, forming the Food and Drug Administration. First time that drugs have any government oversight.
1914
Harrison Act passed, outlawing opiates and cocaine (taxing scheme)
1915
Utah passes first state anti-marijuana law.
1919
18th Amendment to the Constitution (alcohol prohibition) is ratified.
1930
Harry J. Anslinger given control of the new Federal Bureau of Narcotics (he remains in the position until 1962)
1933
21st Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, repealing alcohol prohibition.
1937
Marijuana Tax Act
1938
Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act
1951
Boggs Amendment to the Harrison Narcotic Act (mandatory sentences)
1956
Narcotics Control Act adds more severe penalties
1970
Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act. Replaces and updates all previous laws concerning narcotics and other dangerous drugs. Empasis on law enforcement. Includes the Controlled Substances Act, where marijuana is classified a Schedule 1 drug (reserved for the most dangerous drugs that have no recognized medical use).
1972
Drug Abuse Office and Treatment Act. Establishes federally funded programs for prevention and treatment
1973
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Changes Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs into the DEA
1974 and 1978
Drug Abuse Treatment and Control Amendments. Extends 1972 act
1988
Anti-Drug Abuse Act. Establishes oversight office: National Office of Drug Control Policy and the Drug Czar
1992
ADAMHA Reorganization. Transfers NIDA, NIMH, and NIAAA to NIH and incorporates ADAMHA's programs into the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Many people assume that marijuana was made illegal through some kind of process involving scientific, medical, and government hearings; that it was to protect the citizens from what was determined to be a dangerous drug.
The actual story shows a much different picture. Those who voted on the legal fate of this plant never had the facts, but were dependent on information supplied by those who had a specific agenda to deceive lawmakers. You'll see below that the very first federal vote to prohibit marijuana was based entirely on a documented lie on the floor of the Senate.
You'll also see that the history of marijuana's criminalization is filled with:
Racism
Fear
Protection of Corporate Profits
Yellow Journalism
Ignorant, Incompetent, and/or Corrupt Legislators
Personal Career Advancement and Greed
These are the actual reasons marijuana is illegal.
Background
For most of human history, marijuana has been completely legal. It's not a recently discovered plant, nor is it a long-standing law. Marijuana has been illegal for less than 1% of the time that it's been in use. Its known uses go back further than 7,000 B.C. and it was legal as recently as when Ronald Reagan was a boy.
The marijuana (hemp) plant, of course, has an incredible number of uses. The earliest known woven fabric was apparently of hemp, and over the centuries the plant was used for food, incense, cloth, rope, and much more. This adds to some of the confusion over its introduction in the United States, as the plant was well known from the early 1600's, but did not reach public awareness as a recreational drug until the early 1900's.
America's first marijuana law was enacted at Jamestown Colony, Virginia in 1619. It was a law "ordering" all farmers to grow Indian hempseed. There were several other "must grow" laws over the next 200 years (you could be jailed for not growing hemp during times of shortage in Virginia between 1763 and 1767), and during most of that time, hemp was legal tender (you could even pay your taxes with hemp -- try that today!) Hemp was such a critical crop for a number of purposes (including essential war requirements - rope, etc.) that the government went out of its way to encourage growth.
The United States Census of 1850 counted 8,327 hemp "plantations" (minimum 2,000-acre farm) growing cannabis hemp for cloth, canvas and even the cordage used for baling cotton.
The Mexican Connection
In the early 1900s, the western states developed significant tensions regarding the influx of Mexican-Americans. The revolution in Mexico in 1910 spilled over the border, with General Pershing's army clashing with bandit Pancho Villa. Later in that decade, bad feelings developed between the small farmer and the large farms that used cheaper Mexican labor. Then, the depression came and increased tensions, as jobs and welfare resources became scarce.
One of the "differences" seized upon during this time was the fact that many Mexicans smoked marijuana and had brought the plant with them.
However, the first state law outlawing marijuana did so not because of Mexicans using the drug. Oddly enough, it was because of Mormons using it. Mormons who traveled to Mexico in 1910 came back to Salt Lake City with marijuana. The church was not pleased and ruled against use of the drug. Since the state of Utah automatically enshrined church doctrine into law, the first state marijuana prohibition was established in 1915. (Today, Senator Orrin Hatch serves as the prohibition arm of this heavily church-influenced state.)
Other states quickly followed suit with marijuana prohibition laws, including Wyoming (1915), Texas (1919), Iowa (1923), Nevada (1923), Oregon (1923), Washington (1923), Arkansas (1923), and Nebraska (1927). These laws tended to be specifically targeted against the Mexican-American population.
When Montana outlawed marijuana in 1927, the Butte Montana Standard reported a legislator's comment: "When some beet field peon takes a few traces of this stuff... he thinks he has just been elected president of Mexico, so he starts out to execute all his political enemies." In Texas, a senator said on the floor of the Senate: "All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff [marijuana] is what makes them crazy."
Jazz and Assassins
In the eastern states, the "problem" was attributed to a combination of Latin Americans and black jazz musicians. Marijuana and jazz traveled from New Orleans to Chicago, and then to Harlem, where marijuana became an indispensable part of the music scene, even entering the language of the black hits of the time (Louis Armstrong's "Muggles", Cab Calloway's "That Funny Reefer Man", Fats Waller's "Viper's Drag").
Again, racism was part of the charge against marijuana, as newspapers in 1934 editorialized: "Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice."
Two other fear-tactic rumors started to spread: one, that Mexicans, Blacks and other foreigners were snaring white children with marijuana; and two, the story of the "assassins." Early stories of Marco Polo had told of "hasheesh-eaters" or hashashin, from which derived the term "assassin." In the original stories, these professional killers were given large doses of hashish and brought to the ruler's garden (to give them a glimpse of the paradise that awaited them upon successful completion of their mission). Then, after the effects of the drug disappeared, the assassin would fulfill his ruler's wishes with cool, calculating loyalty.
By the 1930s, the story had changed. Dr. A. E. Fossier wrote in the 1931 New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal: "Under the influence of hashish those fanatics would madly rush at their enemies, and ruthlessly massacre every one within their grasp." Within a very short time, marijuana started being linked to violent behavior.
Alcohol Prohibition and Federal Approaches to Drug Prohibition
During this time, the United States was also dealing with alcohol prohibition, which lasted from 1919 to 1933. Alcohol prohibition was extremely visible and debated at all levels, while drug laws were passed without the general public's knowledge. National alcohol prohibition happened through the mechanism of an amendment to the constitution.
Earlier (1914), the Harrison Act was passed, which provided federal tax penalties for opiates and cocaine.
The federal approach is important. It was considered at the time that the federal government did not have the constitutional power to outlaw alcohol or drugs. It is because of this that alcohol prohibition required a constitutional amendment.
At that time in our country's history, the judiciary regularly placed the tenth amendment in the path of congressional regulation of "local" affairs, and direct regulation of medical practice was considered beyond congressional power under the commerce clause (since then, both provisions have been weakened so far as to have almost no meaning).
Since drugs could not be outlawed at the federal level, the decision was made to use federal taxes as a way around the restriction. In the Harrison Act, legal uses of opiates and cocaine were taxed (supposedly as a revenue need by the federal government, which is the only way it would hold up in the courts), and those who didn't follow the law found themselves in trouble with the treasury department.
In 1930, a new division in the Treasury Department was established -- the Federal Bureau of Narcotics -- and Harry J. Anslinger was named director. This, if anything, marked the beginning of the all-out war against marijuana.
Harry J. Anslinger
Anslinger was an extremely ambitious man, and he recognized the Bureau of Narcotics as an amazing career opportunity -- a new government agency with the opportunity to define both the problem and the solution. He immediately realized that opiates and cocaine wouldn't be enough to help build his agency, so he latched on to marijuana and started to work on making it illegal at the federal level.
Anslinger immediately drew upon the themes of racism and violence to draw national attention to the problem he wanted to create. Some of his quotes regarding marijuana...
"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."
"Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."
"Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing"
"You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother."
"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."
And he loved to pull out his own version of the "assassin" definition:
"In the year 1090, there was founded in Persia the religious and military order of the Assassins, whose history is one of cruelty, barbarity, and murder, and for good reason: the members were confirmed users of hashish, or marihuana, and it is from the Arabs' 'hashashin' that we have the English word 'assassin.'"
Yellow Journalism
Harry Anslinger got some additional help from William Randolf Hearst, owner of a huge chain of newspapers. Hearst had lots of reasons to help. First, he hated Mexicans. Second, he had invested heavily in the timber industry to support his newspaper chain and didn't want to see the development of hemp paper in competition. Third, he had lost 800,000 acres of timberland to Pancho Villa, so he hated Mexicans. Fourth, telling lurid lies about Mexicans (and the devil marijuana weed causing violence) sold newspapers, making him rich.
Some samples from the San Francisco Examiner:
"Marihuana makes fiends of boys in thirty days -- Hashish goads users to bloodlust."
"By the tons it is coming into this country -- the deadly, dreadful poison that racks and tears not only the body, but the very heart and soul of every human being who once becomes a slave to it in any of its cruel and devastating forms.... Marihuana is a short cut to the insane asylum. Smoke marihuana cigarettes for a month and what was once your brain will be nothing but a storehouse of horrid specters. Hasheesh makes a murderer who kills for the love of killing out of the mildest mannered man who ever laughed at the idea that any habit could ever get him...."
And other nationwide columns...
"Users of marijuana become STIMULATED as they inhale the drug and are LIKELY TO DO ANYTHING. Most crimes of violence in this section, especially in country districts are laid to users of that drug."
"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."
Hearst and Anslinger were then supported by Dupont chemical company and various pharmaceutical companies in the effort to outlaw cannabis. Dupont had patented nylon, and wanted hemp removed as competition. The pharmaceutical companies could neither identify nor standardize cannabis dosages, and besides, with cannabis, folks could grow their own medicine and not have to purchase it from large companies.
This all set the stage for...
The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.
After two years of secret planning, Anslinger brought his plan to Congress -- complete with a scrapbook full of sensational Hearst editorials, stories of ax murderers who had supposedly smoked marijuana, and racial slurs.
It was a remarkably short set of hearings.
The one fly in Anslinger's ointment was the appearance by Dr. William C. Woodward, Legislative Council of the American Medical Association.
Woodward started by slamming Harry Anslinger and the Bureau of Narcotics for distorting earlier AMA statements that had nothing to do with marijuana and making them appear to be AMA endorsement for Anslinger's view.
He also reproached the legislature and the Bureau for using the term marijuana in the legislation and not publicizing it as a bill about cannabis or hemp. At this point, marijuana (or marihuana) was a sensationalist word used to refer to Mexicans smoking a drug and had not been connected in most people's minds to the existing cannabis/hemp plant. Thus, many who had legitimate reasons to oppose the bill weren't even aware of it.
Woodward went on to state that the AMA was opposed to the legislation and further questioned the approach of the hearings, coming close to outright accusation of misconduct by Anslinger and the committee:
"That there is a certain amount of narcotic addiction of an objectionable character no one will deny. The newspapers have called attention to it so prominently that there must be some grounds for [their] statements [even Woodward was partially taken in by Hearst's propaganda]. It has surprised me, however, that the facts on which these statements have been based have not been brought before this committee by competent primary evidence. We are referred to newspaper publications concerning the prevalence of marihuana addiction. We are told that the use of marihuana causes crime.
But yet no one has been produced from the Bureau of Prisons to show the number of prisoners who have been found addicted to the marihuana habit. An informed inquiry shows that the Bureau of Prisons has no evidence on that point.
You have been told that school children are great users of marihuana cigarettes. No one has been summoned from the Children's Bureau to show the nature and extent of the habit, among children.
Inquiry of the Children's Bureau shows that they have had no occasion to investigate it and know nothing particularly of it.
Inquiry of the Office of Education--- and they certainly should know something of the prevalence of the habit among the school children of the country, if there is a prevalent habit--- indicates that they have had no occasion to investigate and know nothing of it.
Moreover, there is in the Treasury Department itself, the Public Health Service, with its Division of Mental Hygiene. The Division of Mental Hygiene was, in the first place, the Division of Narcotics. It was converted into the Division of Mental Hygiene, I think, about 1930. That particular Bureau has control at the present time of the narcotics farms that were created about 1929 or 1930 and came into operation a few years later. No one has been summoned from that Bureau to give evidence on that point.
Informal inquiry by me indicates that they have had no record of any marihuana of Cannabis addicts who have ever been committed to those farms.
The bureau of Public Health Service has also a division of pharmacology. If you desire evidence as to the pharmacology of Cannabis, that obviously is the place where you can get direct and primary evidence, rather than the indirect hearsay evidence."
Committee members then proceeded to attack Dr. Woodward, questioning his motives in opposing the legislation. Even the Chairman joined in:
The Chairman: If you want to advise us on legislation, you ought to come here with some constructive proposals, rather than criticism, rather than trying to throw obstacles in the way of something that the Federal Government is trying to do. It has not only an unselfish motive in this, but they have a serious responsibility.
Dr. Woodward: We cannot understand yet, Mr. Chairman, why this bill should have been prepared in secret for 2 years without any intimation, even, to the profession, that it was being prepared.
After some further bantering...
The Chairman: I would like to read a quotation from a recent editorial in the Washington Times:
The marihuana cigarette is one of the most insidious of all forms of dope, largely because of the failure of the public to understand its fatal qualities.
The Nation is almost defenseless against it, having no Federal laws to cope with it and virtually no organized campaign for combating it.
The result is tragic.
School children are the prey of peddlers who infest school neighborhoods.
High school boys and girls buy the destructive weed without knowledge of its capacity of harm, and conscienceless dealers sell it with impunity.
This is a national problem, and it must have national attention.
The fatal marihuana cigarette must be recognized as a deadly drug, and American children must be protected against it.
That is a pretty severe indictment. They say it is a national question and that it requires effective legislation. Of course, in a general way, you have responded to all of these statements; but that indicates very clearly that it is an evil of such magnitude that it is recognized by the press of the country as such.
And that was basically it. Yellow journalism won over medical science.
The committee passed the legislation on. And on the floor of the house, the entire discussion was:
Member from upstate New York: "Mr. Speaker, what is this bill about?"
Speaker Rayburn: "I don't know. It has something to do with a thing called marihuana. I think it's a narcotic of some kind."
"Mr. Speaker, does the American Medical Association support this bill?"
Member on the committee jumps up and says: "Their Doctor Wentworth[sic] came down here. They support this bill 100 percent."
And on the basis of that lie, on August 2, 1937, marijuana became illegal at the federal level.
The entire coverage in the New York Times: "President Roosevelt signed today a bill to curb traffic in the narcotic, marihuana, through heavy taxes on transactions."
Anslinger as precursor to the Drug Czars
Anslinger was essentially the first Drug Czar. Even though the term didn't exist until William Bennett's position as director of the White House Office of National Drug Policy, Anslinger acted in a similar fashion. In fact, there are some amazing parallels between Anslinger and the current Drug Czar John Walters. Both had kind of a carte blanche to go around demonizing drugs and drug users. Both had resources and a large public podium for their voice to be heard and to promote their personal agenda. Both lied constantly, often when it was unnecessary. Both were racists. Both had the ear of lawmakers, and both realized that they could persuade legislators and others based on lies, particularly if they could co-opt the media into squelching or downplaying any opposition views.
Anslinger even had the ability to circumvent the First Amendment. He banned the Canadian movie "Drug Addict," a 1946 documentary that realistically depicted the drug addicts and law enforcement efforts. He even tried to get Canada to ban the movie in their own country, or failing that, to prevent U.S. citizens from seeing the movie in Canada. Canada refused. (Today, Drug Czar John Walters is trying to bully Canada into keeping harsh marijuana laws.)
Anslinger had 37 years to solidify the propaganda and stifle opposition. The lies continued the entire time (although the stories would adjust -- the 21 year old Florida boy who killed his family of five got younger each time he told it). In 1961, he looked back at his efforts:
"Much of the most irrational juvenile violence and that has written a new chapter of shame and tragedy is traceable directly to this hemp intoxication. A gang of boys tear the clothes from two school girls and rape the screaming girls, one boy after the other. A sixteen-year-old kills his entire family of five in Florida, a man in Minnesota puts a bullet through the head of a stranger on the road; in Colorado husband tries to shoot his wife, kills her grandmother instead and then kills himself. Every one of these crimes had been proceeded [sic] by the smoking of one or more marijuana "reefers." As the marijuana situation grew worse, I knew action had to be taken to get the proper legislation passed. By 1937 under my direction, the Bureau launched two important steps First, a legislative plan to seek from Congress a new law that would place marijuana and its distribution directly under federal control. Second, on radio and at major forums, such that presented annually by the New York Herald Tribune, I told the story of this evil weed of the fields and river beds and roadsides. I wrote articles for magazines; our agents gave hundreds of lectures to parents, educators, social and civic leaders. In network broadcasts I reported on the growing list of crimes, including murder and rape. I described the nature of marijuana and its close kinship to hashish. I continued to hammer at the facts.
I believe we did a thorough job, for the public was alerted and the laws to protect them were passed, both nationally and at the state level. We also brought under control the wild growing marijuana in this country. Working with local authorities, we cleaned up hundreds of acres of marijuana and we uprooted plants sprouting along the roadsides."
After Anslinger
On a break from college in the 70s, I was visiting a church in rural Illinois. There in the literature racks in the back of the church was a lurid pamphlet about the evils of marijuana -- all the old reefer madness propaganda about how it caused insanity and murder. I approached the minister and said "You can't have this in your church. It's all lies, and the church shouldn't be about promoting lies." Fortunately, my dad believed me, and he had the material removed. He didn't even know how it got there. But without me speaking up, neither he nor the other members of the church had any reason NOT to believe what the pamphlet said. The propaganda machine had been that effective.
The narrative since then has been a continual litany of:
Politicians wanting to appear tough on crime and passing tougher penalties
Constant increases in spending on law enforcement and prisons
Racist application of drug laws
Taxpayer funded propaganda
Stifling of opposition speech
Political contributions from corporations that profit from marijuana being illegal (pharmaceuticals, alcohol, etc.)
... but that's another whole story.
This account only scratches the surface of the story. If you want to know more about the history of marijuana, Harry Anslinger, and the saga of criminalization in the United States and elsewhere, visit some of the excellent links below. (All data and quotes for this piece came from these sources as well).
The History of the Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the United States by Charles Whitebread, Professor of Law, USC Law School. A Speech to the California Judges Association 1995 annual conference.
THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT AND THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE: AN INQUIRY INTO THE LEGAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN MARIJUANA PROHIBITION by Richard J. Bonnie & Charles H. Whitebread, II. VIRGINIA LAW REVIEW. VOLUME 56 OCTOBER 1970 NUMBER 6
The Consumers Union Report - Licit and Illicit Drugs by Edward M. Brecher and the Editors of Consumer Reports Magazine
The History of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 By David F. Musto, M.D., New Haven, Conn. Originally published in Arch. Gen. Psychiat. Volume 26, February, 1972
The Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse I. Control of Marihuana, Alcohol and Tobacco. History of Marihuana Legislation
The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. The history of how the Marihuana Tax Act came to be the law of the land.
Marijuana - The First Twelve Thousand Years by Ernest L. Abel, 1980v------------------
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley IP: Logged |
angel_of_hope
Knowflake Posts: 1092
From: The Valley
Registered: Jul 2004
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posted April 18, 2007 06:53 PM
Being from Alaska and a habitual(on a reg. basis)Sticky-Icky Puffer I keep up on the laws around here. Not much has changed in recent years ... there's been a push to decriminalize marijuana all together (meaning right now, we have some pretty lax laws and can get away with possession to a certain degree)Right now in the State of Alaska ... If you have 1oz or less in your home or residence there is no penalty, no fine and no jail time. 1oz - 4oz - or UNDER 25 plants is considered a misdemeaner - a slap on the wrist and a tick on your record. Although there is possible jail time of no more than 90days and a possible fine of $1000. *** 4oz or more, or over 25 plants is a FELONY. With up to 5 years in jail and $50,000 fine. *** 1-4oz or under 25 plants *** Alaskan's are protected under the Alaska Constitutions right to Privacy. However ... federally speaking - marijuana is Illegal in any quanitity or form. If it's lil stuff chances are the state would not do anything ... but if they wanted to, they could push it thru to the Feds in which anyway u look at it - u'd be looking at jail time and fines. The only catch to all this is ... if you are caught with weed and are within 500 feet of a school zone (or on a school bus)or at a rec. center it is a automatic FELONY, 5 yrs and $50,000. The only way around that law is if your home/residence is within 500 feet of the school ... you could state that it took place entirely inside your house/residence. If you are caught with a small amount (under 1oz) in public, the police here are so lax that chances are they will confiscate the ganja and u'll be on your way. I have yet to know of anyone, personally, going to jail or paying fines for such small amounts. I had one friend, who was caught puffin it up in a local park. The cop asked him to hand over the weed and any utensils he may have had. The cop them made him get outta the vehicle, cup his hands as the officer poured the baggie out into his cupped hands and made him throw it over his head onto the bluff behind him. The officer stuck the pipe in his pocket and let my bud be on his way. Needless to say, later that night there we were scouring the bluff for our pleasant lil green buddies. lol. I've had friends do the same as above, in that they plant them within their gardens or out in a remote location, thats for the most part, untraveled by others. Others simply grow it in their basement .... but come harvest time(or close to), it can be quite stinky. I agree on the alcohol vs. pot issue as well. Most domestic violence issues arise from the use of alcohol (up here anyways), drunk drivers etc ... But i dont think we will ever see alcohol illegal in our lifetimes. One can hope i guess. IP: Logged |
angel_of_hope
Knowflake Posts: 1092
From: The Valley
Registered: Jul 2004
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posted April 18, 2007 07:21 PM
Know ur laws , keep up to date...
http://www.norml.org/ Workling to reform Marijuana Laws IP: Logged |
hippichick
Knowflake Posts: 1288
From: The Ether
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted April 20, 2007 12:12 PM
HAPPY 4/20!!!!!NATIONAL POT SMOKER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!! IP: Logged |
Solane Star
Knowflake Posts: 2476
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted April 20, 2007 12:43 PM
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lotusheartone
Knowflake Posts: 10685
From: piopolis, quebec canada
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted April 21, 2007 12:51 AM
I think, that if anything should be illegal, it's alcohol...it's man made. ...just for fun, google Jesus bible marijuana... . IP: Logged | |
Lindaland
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