Posted by dennis on February 10, 2001, at 17:11:23
In reply to Re: Personal Note on Harmful Chemical Use, posted by orthius on February 7, 2001, at 3:46:48
I have tried to find something explaining the history of how marijuana became illegal, this is what I found, you might find it interesting, I dont know?
The time was 1937.
Commissioner Anslinger gave the Government testimony and I will quote him directly.
"Marihuana is an addictive drug which
produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death."
That was the Government testimony to support the marijuana prohibition from the Commissioner.There were two pieces of medical evidence introduced with regard to the marijuana prohibition.
The first came from a pharmacologist at Temple University who claimed that he had
injected the active ingredient in marihuana into the brains of 300 dogs, and two of
those dogs had died. When asked by the Congressmen, and I quote, "Doctor, did you choose
dogs for the similarity of their reactions to that of humans?" the answer of the
pharmacologist was, "I wouldn't know, I am not a dog psychologist."Well, the active ingredient in marijuana was first synthesized in a laboratory
in Holland after World War II. So what it was this pharmacologist injected into
these dogs we will never know, but it almost certainly was not the active ingredient
in marijuana.The other piece of medical testimony came from a man named Dr. William C. Woodward.
Dr. Woodward was both a lawyer and a doctor and he was Chief Counsel to the
American Medical Association. Dr. Woodward came to testify at the behest of the
American Medical Association saying, and I quote, "The American Medical Association
knows of no evidence that marihuana is a dangerous drug."What's amazing is not whether that's true or not. What's amazing is what the Congressmen
then said to him. Immediately upon his saying, and I quote again, "The American Medical
Association knows of no evidence that marihuana is a dangerous drug", one of the Congressmen
said, "Doctor, if you can't say something good about what we are trying to do, why don't
you go home?"That's an exact quote. The next Congressman said, "Doctor, if you haven't got
something better to say than that, we are sick of hearing you."And, did you know that the American Medical Association, from 1932, straight through 1937,
had systematically opposed every single piece of New Deal legislation.So, over the objection of the American Medical Association, the bill passed out
of committee and on to the floor of Congress. Now, some of you may think that the
debate on the floor of Congress was more extensive on the marijuana prohibition.
It wasn't. It lasted one minute and thirty-two seconds by my count and, as such, I will
give it to you verbatim.The entire debate on the national marijuana prohibition was as follows --
"Mr. Speaker, what is this bill about?"
To which Speaker Rayburn replied, "I don't know.
It has something to do with a thing called marihuana.
I think it's a narcotic of some kind."Undaunted, the guy from Upstate New York asked a second question, which was as important to the Republicans as it was unimportant to the Democrats. "Mr. Speaker, does the American Medical Association support this bill?"
In one of the most remarkable things I have ever found in any research, a guy who was on the committee, and who later went on to become a Supreme Court Justice, stood up and said, "Their Doctor Wentworth came down here. They support this bill 100 percent." It wasn't true, but it was good enough for the Republicans. They sat down and the bill passed on tellers, without a recorded vote.
In the Senate there never was any debate or a recorded vote, and the bill went to President Roosevelt's desk and he signed it and we had the national marijuana prohibition.
poster:dennis
thread:52766
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010131/msgs/53687.html