While at the turn of the 20th century it looked like cannabis would become a prominent and widely used medical treatment option, the tides of government opinion would cause a paradigm shift in society's perception of cannabis in the United States and around the world.
The world revolves around cannabis
In 1925, this forced social perspective culminated when the League of Nations approved and ratified the International Opium Convention. According to Michael Backes in The Cannabis Pharmacy, the IOC contains language that "prohibits cannabis and its derivatives except for medical and scientific purposes." It is this specific form of cannabis prohibition that continues to this day.
The United Kingdom followed this endorsement by banning cannabis in 1928, and by the mid-1930s, cannabis had been banned in all 48 US states - Hawaii and Alaska were not officially recognized states at this time. Access to medicinal cannabis was virtually impossible at this point, although cannabis was still listed as a drug in the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP).
Samuel Caldwell is something of a martyr to the cannabis movement, as he was the first person arrested on the day the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed. He would be punished with 4 years hard labor for selling two joints.
The federal government would continue to suppress cannabis in the United States until cannabis was effectively made illegal with the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937; the very name "marijuana" reveals the prejudiced and, to be blunt, racist sentiments harbored by those pushing the cannabis prohibition agenda.
This was a devastating blow to the medical community, as illustrated by the testimony of then American Medical Association legislative advocate Dr. William C. Woodward during a hearing on the marijuana tax bill, which was ultimately ignored:
...there is potential in the drug that should be left to develop discretionary use of that drug.
You may be asking yourself, "Why did this shift in perception happen so suddenly and dramatically?" The answer to that question lies in the motives and vehement opposition of one man who would make it his sole mission to remove cannabis from the world; his name: Harry Anslinger.
The most notorious enemy of cannabis
Many may hear the phrase "war on drugs" and attribute this sentiment to the Nixon and Reagan administrations. However, these calls were triggered by the failure of alcohol prohibition.
According to Laura Smith of Timeline, Harry Anslinger began working for the government in Prohibition enforcement in the early 1920s, as this was the height of alcohol prohibition. He would rise through the ranks, known for his ruthless and unforgiving approach, eventually appointed by President Hoover himself to head the newly created Federal Bureau of Narcotics and quickly became cozy with influential politicians. Washington insiders and the pharmaceutical industry. His appointment was not without opposition, as then-Senator Royal Copeland requested a delay due to concerns that a person with no medical background or training would be appointed narcotics commissioner, but he would ultimately support the appointment.
At the beginning of his tenure at the FBN, Anslinger was originally nonpartisan and cared little about cannabis, but with the end of alcohol prohibition, his newly formed agency would seemingly have little to no work - and he could fall out of bed , influential position.
Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari is an absolutely incredible book that details the implementation of the War on Drugs, the insidious practices to make it happen. And the effects and results of these policies in more detail.
According to Johann Hari, author of Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, Anslinger's office originally focused on cocaine and heroin, each of which had a small number of users. Anslinger would make the fateful decision at this point to find his "golden ticket" by essentially creating a drug war. He used his position to portray cannabis as a dangerous substance by linking cannabis use and violence in order to criminalize cannabis. He was known to say, "You smoke one joint and you'll probably kill your brother."
Anslinger gained support by not only making aggressively fabricated associations between cannabis use and violence, but also linking the use of cannabis to toxic racist ideologies. Ripe for belief in the 1930s; Anslinger would summarize cannabis use by saying, "Reefer makes darkies think they are as good as white men," in addition to "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 the use of marijuana. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and others." According to what Hari told CBS News, "the insanity of racism is one thing you can see if you go into your archives."
Anslinger found several cases where individuals had committed violent crimes while allegedly high on cannabis and submitted those cases to Congress. Anslinger highlighted one particular case after consulting with 30 doctors to confirm his claim that pot was linked to violent crime. Only one doctor supported Anslinger's claim, and with this single dissenting doctor's statement, Anslinger went around Washington peddling this "evidence." Moreover, the press would adopt and follow this sensationalist view.
Arrests of doctors
Most insidiously, Anslinger used his power to threaten, intimidate and abuse doctors across the country who disagreed that cannabis was not a dangerous narcotic. According to Jack Herer in The Emperor Wears No Clothes, "After the 1938-1944 New York 'LaGuardia Marijuana Report' refuted his argument by reporting that marijuana caused no violence at all, and citing other positive findings, Harry J. Anslinger went on public tirade after tirade, denouncing Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the doctors who researched the report." Herer continues:
"Anslinger proclaimed that these doctors would never again conduct marijuana experimentation or research without his personal permission or be put in jail!"
And these weren't just empty threats, as Anslinger would use his full influence with the federal government - even if it was illegal - to stop virtually all medical cannabis research. Moreover, Herer said, he would blackmail the AMA into denouncing the New York Academy of Medicine and its physicians for the research they reported.
By 1939, Anslinger's FBN was responsible for prosecuting over 3,000 individual physicians across the country "who prescribed narcotics for purposes he, Anslinger, deemed illegal." As a concession, the AMA conducted a biased research study designed to directly refute the findings of the Laguardia report, and only three doctors were prosecuted between 1939 and 1949. The message: work with Anslinger or go to jail.
Anslinger's racist ideologies spread
Anslinger's racist, paranoid, and outspoken falsehoods regarding cannabis would become the dedicated work of the FBN to advance while using his position and network to sway the opinions of influential legislators who could help him realize his vision. As John C. McWilliams writes in his book "The Protectors," "Anslinger was the Federal Bureau of Narcotics."
Anti-marijuana propaganda began to appear in the 1930s, often focusing on cannabis causing a loss of morals and values. In addition to more racist designs that said cannabis made white women want to be with black men
Around this time, articles began popping up in the news parroting the "dangers of marijuana." According to Smith, "During this time, the term 'cannabis' was replaced with 'marijuana' or 'marijuana' in hopes that the Spanish word would conjure up anti-Mexican sentiment" - also known today as the "Reefer Madness" era." Shortly after this media campaign spread across the country, the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed.
After his success in making cannabis illegal in the United States, Anslinger spent the 1940s implementing his racist agenda by brutally targeting legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday until her death, with her friends blaming her for the stress of Anslinger's campaign death. Nine years later, Anslinger would continue to target the jazz community. "Arrests are increasing in marijuana cases involving a certain type of musician," he wrote in a draft letter to the president of the American Federation of Musicians, further clarifying, "I'm not talking about the good musicians, but the jazz type ."
In the 1950s, Anslinger had a decisive hand in all drug legislation in the country. According to McWilliams, Anslinger was considered the preeminent expert on drugs in America. Anslinger's influence spanned the globe over time as he traveled to various countries to peddle his belief in cannabis as a dangerous narcotic that threatened society. Anslinger remained head of the FBN until the Kennedy administration, but according to Smith, "his ideas were quickly adopted by successive administrations - always inappropriately to the detriment of people of color."
And so, by the mid-20th century, the perception of cannabis had changed from a safe and effective medical treatment option to a dangerous narcotic. While the AMA would continue to fight for cannabis to remain in the USP, 5 years after the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act, cannabis was removed from the schedule, where it would remain for the next 75 years. From World War 2 through the 1960s, cannabis was only officially studied in the context of being a dangerous narcotic and not a medical compound. This led to the, for lack of a better word, criminal lack of medical cannabis research.
Fortunately, the "modern" scientific era of cannabis research arrived in 1964 with the discovery of cannabis' most well-known cannabinoid: THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol).
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