United States: A Stain On Our Integrity (Harry J. Anslinger and the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act of 1937)

Marijuana is taken by ____ musicians. And I'm not speaking about good musicians, but the jazz type." Harry J. Anslinger, Commissioner of the US Bureau of Narcotics 1930-1962

By Resident of Kentucky

Harry J. Anslinger testified before Congress and the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act of 1937 became law. The law required that to possess marijuana one must have a Federal tax stamp for it, but in order to get the stamp you must have the marijuana in hand. Well, if you have the marijuana in hand you had already broken the law. Additionally Anslinger knew there would be no stamps issued anyway. The mayor of New York City at this time borrowed some marijuana from Anslinger and set up his own commission to study the issue. The La Guardia Commission's findings refuted everything the Government was saying and all that Anslinger testified to, but the fix was in and the La Guardia Commission was virtually ignored. Anslinger later admitted his testimony wasn't true and in fact marijuana was relatively harmless. The push for prohibition started in the southwest as a means to keep Mexicans from crossing the border taking Gringo jobs. It was simple Mexicans smoked marijuana, Gringos drank alcohol. Scapegoat the drug you can scapegoat the people. Thus based on lies, racism and politics America's war on marijuana smokers had begun.

The 1937 Tax Stamp Act was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court for obvious reasons in 1970. This led to the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. A law designed to once and for all hide the facts about marijuana and make it impossible for the truth to ever get in the way of prohibition again. President Nixon set up the Shaffer Commission on Drugs around this time expecting his appointees to support his prohibitionist policies. The President had a lot of pot smoking Anti - War protesters to deal with. Surprisingly the Shaffer Commission's outcome was about the same as the La Guardia Commission's report, that marijuana was relatively harmless and that drugs were a medical problem not a criminal one. It also found the government's claims about marijuana were untrue. This led to some interesting and questionable provisions in the 1970 Controlled Substances Act.

First, the Drug Czar is required to lie about any substance that is listed as schedule 1,(Dangerous and has no medical value). This explains the outrageous things the government says about marijuana but also illuminates the fact that you can't believe anything the government says about it. The government's excuse for prohibition has gone from, "It will cause you to kill yourself an others and then you will go crazy', to 'Well it's dangerous but we don't know how and by the way it has no medical value'.

In addition to this provision there is another that allows no research without the marijuana for the research being supplied by, and the research being approved by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This little provision protects against another La Guardia or Shaffer Commission letting the truth about marijuana get in the way of prosecuting users. Interestingly enough the Drug Enforcement Administration has neither supplied marijuana for research or approved any research in forty years. That's kinda like the tax stamp act isn't it?

It is obvious that the current laws on marijuana are not only unjust and dictatorial but amount to the systematic persecution of a portion of the population based simply on the type of drug they choose to use for their medical or recreational uses. In a country based on the just rule of law these laws are an abomination and a stain on the integrity of our Justice System.

The time has come for our leaders to acknowledge the failed state of our current drug policies. It's time to end the War on Drugs. Americans need the jobs, the government needs the revenue and we need to bring our drug laws back to a level of integrity that the people can once again trust and support.

Anslinger Testimony 1: Congressional Hearings on HR 6385 (April/May 1937)
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/anslng1.htm

Anslinger Testimony 2: Congressional Hearings on HR 6385 (April/May 1937)
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/t10a.htm

Anslinger Statement: Congressional Subcommittee Hearing on HR 6906 (July 12, 1937)
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/t3.htm

Anslinger: Letter about Hemp
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/ansllet.html

Opening Statements at Marijuana Conference (Dec 5, 1938)
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/mhc2.htm


Source: http://www.state-journal.com/news/simple_article/4769173?page=0

Source: http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/anslinger_harry/anslinger_harry...