Pot Luck: The Legal History of Marijuana

I plan to teach first, preach last. Many have inquired as to why pot is illegal. There appears to be no real problem with it; millions smoke it daily to no ill effects. This article is an attempt to illuminate some of the bungholios involved in creating the original laws in the States. The beginning of the anti-drug mindset held by the bulk of the North American population stems from a slowly escalating tirade of insanity. What had begun as a sensible measure to solve a real problem has led to senseless situations of guilt where none is needed. Thus begins the chronology.

1914 marked the year that the States first began to strictly prohibit substance use. The Harrison Act made criminal the use of Opium, Morphine, Cocaine, and other similarly processed or harvested drugs. Technically, the act didn't prohibit any of the listed drugs -- the Act actually imposed a rather unreasonable tax on the possession of any of those substances. For example, in order to possess ten dollars worth of coke, you'd have to pay the gov't a thousand. In any case, many people were arrested due to this change in policy. The charges were never 'trafficking' or 'possession' or anything like that -- they got nabbed for 'tax evasion'. The point is, in 1914, the States began their policy of fear and ignorance when it comes to chemical substances that actively effect human consciousness (the reason for this as is morphine abuse by civil war vets and rednecks, but that’s another story).

1915 to 1937: Early state laws. In this time period, there was no strict tax or prohibition on weed. Individual states, however, had the option of inflicting such fortune on their respective populaces, and thusly, a number of states developed their own laws due to a variety of reasons. I have broken these three down to a trio of fears:

Fear of Mexicans -- a large immigration of Mexicans to the southwest prompted white officials to question the culture and customs of the newcomers. One habit that the Mexicans brought over the border was their taste for herbs. Common white folk everywhere latched on to the idea that Mexicans are crazy because they smoke pot. Thusly, many states passed anti-Marijuana laws in order to curb the influx of strange Chico's and their funky plants. The cause is clearly a derivative of racism and fear. This accounts for anti-MJ laws throughout the southwest in the 1915 to 1937 transition period. Here's a quote from the Texas State Legislature to sum it all up:

"All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff is what makes them crazy."

Fear of Polygamous Mormons -- the one state in the southwest that did not experience much of a Mexican influx was Utah. The path to the prohibition of pot in this one state is a bit strange, but sensible, considering the strong and intolerant church-led government. In 1914, the Feds decided to deprive Americans of the option of polygamous marriage. Mormons, who had always been a fan of that particular practice, swept across the border to isolated areas in the north of Mexico. In a few years that Mormon colonies flourished in Mexico, attempting to convert 'the heathen', the Mormons themselves underwent a little conversion. During visits or returns to the motherland, the state of Utah became familiar with Marijuana and its euphoric effects, and prohibited it on the grounds that it was unholy. Oh, and what ever happened to those tree-hugging multi-married Mormons from Mexico? They've all got three eyes and spend a lot of time looking at the sun for flashback value. Uh, anyways, the point is that Utah nuked the herbs in 1915.

Fear of Substitution -- few Eastern states paid much attention to dope. Caution was used as deemed necessary by the interested public -- many thought that since many drugs were becoming illegal in the 20s, weed might be used in place of other drugs. The problem of hard substance addiction (such as coke and morphine, not to mention alcohol, which was prohibited in 1919) would only have been sidestepped.

1937: Marijuana becomes illegal. Yeah, that’s the date. Many seem to assume that pot has always been considered a bad drug. Naw: not in the states until such a late date was it strictly criminal. In order to get the 'Marijuana Tax Act' passed the Senate held a hearing to determine the legitimacy of the claim that pot should be illegal. The representative of the Government on this bill was a young Mr. Anslinger (see below). One quote sums up his position:

"Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death."

You'll see how this little quote gets put to good use later on. Industry reps from hemp-based farms, refineries, rope manufacturers, and seed packagers met and exclaimed their general apathy on the topic. Industries that had a beef were granted exceptions under the new law (birdseed may be made from grass). Medical testimonies from an out-of-favour medical association (AMA) were disregarded on a political basis, and a stirring delivery by Dog Guy (no joke, see below) left the Senate with the picture that no one would really give a damn either way. The bill was passed without a debate or a recorded vote, and the law was signed later on by President Roosevelt.

A note on the pharmacologist: this guy is about to play a few key parts, so here's some more information on... The Dog Guy! -- At the 1937 hearing to determine the legality of toke, Anslinger had some pharmacologist step up and give a testimony. This researcher from Utah had injected the active ingredient of MJ* into the brains of 300 dogs (hence: Dog Guy) of which two died. Based on the sketchy logic that dogs are pretty close to humans and that dogs can die from pot, the hearing accepted the testimony as in favor of criminalization.

1938 to 1951: Goofballs. Alongside the creation of the FBI came the FBN (Federal Bureau of Narcotics). In the same respect that the FBI had a dictator/director of sorts (Hoover), the FBN had Harry Anslinger. That particular cat had a difficult time finding experts on various substances enough to warrant the continuation of the agency. Thusly, Anslinger appointed the only guy he knew who shared his views: Dog Guy. In planning their strategies, the two enforcers decided to target a community they felt was using weed all the time -- Jazz musicians. Anslinger sent out various memos to branches of the gov't requesting the support for a nation-wide musician round up. Needless to say, his receivers were less than pleased with a request for such a targeted attack. Not willing to suffer failure, Anslinger made an appointment with the Senate in order to increase funding and hire more agents.

Anslinger: "I need more agents." The Senate Committee then inquires as to why Anslinger wants more agents. Anslinger: "Because there are people out there violating the marijuana laws." The Senate Committee then inquires as to whom is violating the law. Anslinger: "Musicians." (pause for dramatic effect) "And I don't mean good musicians, I mean jazz musicians."

Two things must be remembered: this all takes place when Jazz music is an incredibly strong force in America. Also, reporters were attending this particular hearing for whatever reason, and happened to get a few chuckles out of that line. Anslinger got fucked up over all this!

Some ghosts come back to haunt a person. Anslinger's quotation (heh) stating that marijuana use = insanity gave lawyers everywhere a wild card. Remember, Anslinger was speaking on behalf of the gov't; the top dog says that reefer madness is real, so it is! A number of murder trials in this time period gave MJ a bad name for the simple reason that the defense often used marijuana as a rationale for pleading insanity. But oh, don't take the word from paper; these trials required an Expert to provide witness. Guess who?

Defense Lawyer: "Doctor, when you used the drug, what happened?" Dog Guy: "After two puffs on a marijuana cigarette, I was turned into a bat. I flew around the room for fifteen minutes and then found myself at the bottom of a two-hundred-foot high ink well."

Being an Expert, the Dog Guy had of course tried some for himself. Musta been fun. In any case, following such a testimony, the defendant would rise to the stand and proclaim something along the lines of:

"After two puffs on a marijuana cigarette my incisor teeth grew six inches long and dripped with blood."

After a few of these cases, Anslinger got wind and told Dog Guy to beat it. What could have been successful trials for extreme murder cases were turned into a pathetic misuse of the justice system. Following a number of these successful defenses, public opinion darkened over the issue of pot use. I mean, smoking it makes you kill people, dogs, cats, and other small woodland creatures. Of course it should be illegal! (snort)

By now (the 50s) a lot of distinguished officials began to have a look at the matter and were generally peeved at the way the bureaucracy had handled such an issue. In an attempt to call for relegislation, informed doctors were shot down by Anslinger's confession that, no, marijuana does not cause death, criminality, or insanity, and above that, it isn't even addictive... but:

"[Marijuana is] the certain first step on the road to heroin addiction."

Uh oh. So much for that. To this very day that mind-set is still prevalent. Pot is often lumped in with hard substances such as coke & heroin and all that shit. Responding to this statement, the gov't increased the penalties for drug-related offenses four-fold through the Boggs Act. This was the basis of modern thinking when it comes to drugs, and specifically, marijuana: the solution is harsher punishment, and the dangers are substitution (remember the East Coast '15 to '37?).

From that point, drug doing and dealing became the affair of men who had little respect for the law. Dope became the business of organized crime, which served only to increase the negative image of MJ and other drugs. State legislation continued to increase penalties (in Virginia, trafficking carried a minimum of forty years, whereas murder was half that). The hippie movement of the sixties served to provide an element of peace amidst the chaos that was drug culture. Perhaps owing to the tree-hugging ideology of pacifism, a more detailed drug law was written up that classified different substances based on their potential for medical use, and for addiction. Pot, hash, and LSD all fit into the category of 'no medical use, high addiction value' (which, by the way, is absolutely false) and cocaine, heroine, morphine, and that sort of thing got slapped in 'potential medical use, high addiction value'. Recreational drugs got the shaft in other words.

The last chapter of this epic is familiar to many of us. Having grown up in an environment in the midst of anti-drug propaganda, we all know about the War on Drugs. The cynics would state that the WOD began when the Americans ran out of opportunities to show their glory: there was no Vietnam, Korea, or USSR with which a squabble could be initiated. Thusly, to stay in the light of public favour, the States began to fight on the streets.

All of the elements combine to create the philosophy shared by many that Drugs are Bad. Forced into an association with criminals through an association with foreigners, weed has been treated badly by the legal system. Misinformed and selfish individuals seeking power have done much to ruin the name of pot. In my mind, Power Tools are Bad. If you don't know how to use them, it is really easy to lose a finger, or maybe even an eye. But that only happens if you don't know how to use them. Knowledge empowers. Drugs, in my mind, are tools that can be used to do great harm, or great good. I feel that we, as human beings, must overcome the natural response to new stimuli; namely cowering in fear from whatever demon manifests nearby. Are we not intelligent beasts? We should make intelligent decisions.

Give peace a chance, guys. Uh...

References: Most of this material came from speeches and books from Charles Whitebread and Richard J. Bonnie. Other slightly dubious accounts from the web have been used as support, but all this shit is the real deal. Our problem is the lack of real research into MJ.

* The 'active ingredient' (THC) was not synthesized until after WW2. Dog Guy was really lying. Dog Guy was full of shit. And you can take that to the mufukkin' bank, yo!