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"There should be campaigns of education in every school, so that children will not be deceived by the wiles of peddlers, but will know of the insanity, the disgrace, the horror which marijuana can bring to its victims." Readers Digest, Feb 1938So what happened? Why weren't teachers and educators in the lead against the evil "Weed of Madness?" Perhaps part of the answer can be found in the following newspaper article, which ran under the following headline of:
"Insanity, Degeneracy and Violence Follow Use of Weed"It seems that the marihuana problems and Irish fairies had a lot in common. They were always to be found, one campfire down the road, or in some town in another state, but not here. No one locally seemed to be grabbing an axe and killing people while under its fiendish influence. Humm!
"South Beloit School Acquaints Pupils with Dangers"
" . . . Principal J. H. McNeel of the Beloit High School said that there is no marijuana problem in the local High School, and that no special instructions have been given Beloit high school pupils about the effects of the drug. . . . "I have no knowledge that any of the pupils have come in contact with that type of cigarette or that any have been sold in Beloit," McNeel said. "I have never talked with a boy or girl I had reason to suspect had contact with that type of cigarette." . . . Like McNeel, Principal Lienhard of South Beloit declared that so far as he knows none of his pupils has used marijuana or has been solicited to purchase it. . . . Chief of Detectives Herbert A. Schultz of the police department said that he is investigating a report about a suspected marijuana vendor here. Schultz does not think that the narcotic can be used here to any extent. "If it were being sold in wholesale quantities, somebody would be getting violent," he said. "
--- BELOIT (WI) DAILY NEWS - Feb. 10, 1938 pp 1
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The myth goes something like this: At one time our public schools lived in what is now known as a "Father Knows Best" society. A world where everyone lived like "Ozzie and Harriet," where there was no such thing as spousal abuse, rape, child molestation, drugs etc., and so NO ONE TALKED about them. (Meaning that is why we can't find very many reefer madness textbooks) But the myth is just that --- a myth. The reality is that our public school systems have always been a political hotbed of intrigue since the very beginning. As an example, in 1882 Vermont passed a law requiring their schools to teach about the harmful effects of alcohol and narcotics on the human body. Within five years nine other State legislatures (using it as a model) had adapted similar laws. One needs only look at today's ineffective DARE or botched up sex education (teenage pregnancy enhancement) classes to see just how political the public schools still are. Additionally, one need only look at how many textbooks on the subjects of hygiene, alcohol and narcotics existed at the time to disprove the theory. The only explanation that seems to makes sense for the lack of reefer madness textbooks is that there simply wasn't a problem. That wouldn't appear until well after the passage of the anti-medical marihuana laws (which in turn created the high prices, which created the black market, which created the problem), were passed. |
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"A person under the influence of marijuana is exposed to the unpredictable effects of . . . because of this vicious tendency experienced by some, it has been called the 'Killer drug.'"And although, only a few pages are devoted exclusively to marihuana, reference to it can be found throughout the book. All the old myths are there also, the Assassin's myths, the "marihuana distorts your sense of time myth, the marihuana as a starter drug myth etc. Be prepare for terms like, "The Marihuana Addict," instead of "The Medical Marihuana Patient" etc.
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Is the C.T.A. (California Teachers Association) evil? Maybe, in all likelihood probably! Our museum first became interested in them after locating one of their old articles: parts of which read as follows: "Marihuana has proven to be a drug of addiction and an alarming factor in the creation of degeneracy . . . The vicious qualities of the drug render it highly dangerous to the body and mind upon which it operates. Eventually it weakens the physical powers. It destroys the will, causes the user to lose the power of connected thought, produces imaginary situations and frequently leads to insanity. … the addict may develop a delirious rage and become temporarily irresponsible and likely to commit violent crimes." [The following examples were given:] " "A man under the influence of the drug attempted to shoot his wife but killed her grandmother instead and then committed suicide." " "A man 25 years old, charged with criminally assaulting a 10-year-old girl, entered a plea of not guilty because of insanity. He was convicted and sentenced to death." " "A young boy … addicted to smoking marihuana cigarets, killed his father, mother, two brothers and a sister, wiping out the entire family." SIERRA EDUCATIONAL NEWS Nov. 1938 (page 40) Official Journal of California Teachers Association. Pretty strong stuff for a group of schoolteachers; especially as it was published in their "Official Journal," meaning it constituted their official position at the time and one which they would hold for over 60 years thereafter. It must also be remembered that teachers (technically not the world's dumbest people), would have had access to public health nurses as well as close contact with other heath workers. At a time when there were numerous medicines containing Cannabis STILL on the market, it would have been all but impossible to them not to have known the truth. Surely someone would have spoken up and told the truth. The C.T.A. also serves as an excellent example of how hard it is to track down information about what occurred in our public schools during that era. Repeated requests for information on their role in the reefer madness campaign---what pamphlets were used, what lectures were given, minutes of C.T.A. meetings on the subject etc., have all been ignored. More importantly they have even refused to acknowledge any role in or apologize for their actions during that time. As an aside, some states have passed laws forcing companies to go over and make public their old records concerning their role in the Holocaust, slavery etc. One wonders what might turn up (how many big fish would come out of the closet) if reefer madness were added to that list. |
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