Marijuana smokers, assassin's of society

  Marijuana tax stamps. Buy one and then get arrested for having the pot.

Marijuana smokers, and those that support the drug's recreational, or medical use always seem to be fighting against an element hell-bent on keeping its use illegal, as well as battling those wayward individuals who insist it is somehow responsible for producing the next serial killers.

Of course, this article wouldn't have been written had it not been for an accidental reading of an article that had so much drivel in it that the connotations harkened back to the thinking prevalent in the1930s.

The two most reponsible for creating the atmosphere of panic regarding marijuana back then was a dude named Harry J. Anslinger, and the father of "yellow journalism," William Randolf Hearst. However, rather than go into detail about these 2 scandalous individuals, here are a couple of links you can check out, Anslinger, Hearst.

Harry Aslinger seized an opportunity in 1930 when the U.S. Treasury Department created the Bureau of Narcotics. It was there that Anslinger worked his mischief. He single-handedly created the atmosphere of violence, and racism associated with marijuana, and to this day his tendrils snake through the laws controlling this drug as well as what many in society think about it. Though marijuana was not federally illegal at the time, Anslinger, (gunslinger?), set about making it so spewing out malicious misinformation..

DEA raid on medical marijuana collective

The recreational use of marijuana is more accepted today than when Dirty Harry was ricocheting around the country spitting his particular brand of venomous rant, but there is still a resistance by the federal government, society, and states to keep this drug under the law's thumb.

  Marijuana add warning of its affects of murder, insanity and
  death. Watch out for that friendly stranger too, he or she might
  offer you a bag of chips and a Snicker's bar to go along with
  the munchies.

Check out some of Harry Anslinger's work from DrugWarRant.com below.

“…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.”

“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.”

  U.S. government marijuana crop at the University of
  Mississippi-Oxford

Anslinger obviously had his problems, most of which were probably born from a whole lot of misinformation, personal beliefs, and possibly getting his pockets lined. And that is being overly kind to this dude. 

William Randolf Hearst was a financial viper only interested in his bottom line, even though you could argue that he helped a lot of people just by employing them. But that does not mitigate his brand of journalism, in this case, at the expense of the minorities, and others who were affected by it.

Here are excerpts from Hearst's newspapers around the country at the time of the assault on marijuana culled from DrugWarRant.com.

This one is from the San Francisco Examiner:

“Marihuana makes fiends of boys in thirty days — Hashish goads users to bloodlust.”

These are from other newspapers Hearst owned:

“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.”

Spreading manure around America is basically what Anslinger, and Hearst did. As it soaked into the masses minds, it worked like fertilizer to sway public opinion, and legislation on marijuana laws. Partly, as a result, we have prisons all over the US filled with many people who should not be in there. These 2 throwbacks are responsible for the billion's of dollars being spent on enforcement of draconian marijuana laws, as well as the costs associated with keeping these drug offenders locked up.

So what about the recreational use of marijuana? The organization NORML has a philisophy that seems responsible, and well as reasonable. Their principles are below in pertinent part.

I. Adults Only
Cannabis consumption is for adults only. It is irresponsible to provide cannabis to children.

II. No Driving
The responsible cannabis consumer does not operate a motor vehicle or other dangerous machinery while impaired by cannabis, nor (like other responsible citizens) while impaired by any other substance or condition, including some medicines and fatigue.

III. Set and Setting
The responsible cannabis user will carefully consider his/her set and setting, regulating use accordingly.

IV. Resist Abuse
Use of cannabis, to the extent that it impairs health, personal development or achievement, is abuse, to be resisted by responsible cannabis users.

V. Respect Rights of Others
The responsible cannabis user does not violate the rights of others, observes accepted standards of courtesy and public propriety, and respects the preferences of those who wish to avoid cannabis entirely.

If these principles can be followed by marijuana users, then fine. But there are a certain percentage that will not stop at smoking weed. NO, MARIJUANA IS NOT A GATEWAY DRUG FOR EVERYONE. Some, yes, simply because it will not fill their needs, or wants.  Still others end up eventually destroying themselves for reasons ranging from child abuse to a medically precipitated prescription drug addiction.

Teenagers, however, will probably disagree with NORML's adults-only principle. Their arrogance usually overshadows their ability to reason out what drugs could do to them. Not all of them, just those that believe experimenting with the chemicals is somehow a right of passage into adulthood. These are the people society needs to focus on when it comes to substance abuse, or use issues. That is not to say adults should not be considered, however.

Introducing any kind of psychotropic medication into a developing mind, and body is just not a good proposition, or practice, unless for medical, or psychiatric reasons. And if teens do decide to start drug experimentation early, they will be that much more susceptible to addiction, and addiction related problems later on.

Marijuana's legality, or illegality notwithstanding, simply equates to too much money being wasted on enforcement of a drug where one might need 40,000 doses to OD on, that no one has ever died from, and certainly has very negligible withdrawal affects from its use. (Some claim not to have any at all).

Has anyone ever saw one of Anslinger's marijuana-induced psychotic, raving Negroes, or Mexicans with glazed-over eyes lurking around every corner, and in every school bus in the past 80 years? No, very doubtful. The worst behavior one might see from a person smoking pot is that if you were to leave a Snicker's bar lying around the house, it might come up missing.

If you or a loved one needs help with any type of drug problem, contact these sites depending on where you live. SEMCA (Wayne County residents), CARE (Macomb County residents), PACE (Oakland Countyresidents), Drug Free Detroit (City of Detroit residents).

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Reefer Madness short clip (beginning)

Marijuana smokers, assassin's of society by Michael Velardo, a.k.a. Crash Test Addict is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

(Photos - Wikimedia Commons Public Domain)