reefer madness / anti- medical marijuana

THE REEFER MADNESS ERA ANSLINGERS' GORE FILE

[An editorial opinion may not represent the views of all museum society members]

WHY THIS WEB SITE
What is now known simply as "Anslingers' Gore File," was originally put together at the bequest of then Drug Czar H.J. Anslinger. The reasoning for its origin is by now obvious and needs no further explanation at this time. However, it is of interest to note, that although first started in the early 1930's, as can be ascertained by statements entered into the Congressional Record (April 4, 1968), it was still being maintained and even added too, well into the early 1970's.

Obviously historians have investigated into the background of (at least) some of these cases, and to no ones surprised, found no merit to their supposed medical marihuana links. However, doing such research can be very frustrating. One of the main stumbling blocks seemed to be the total lack of reference points. The Who, What, Where, When of the each of these cases. Take a look at the following example:

"In Alamosa, Colo., a degenerate brutally attacked a young girl while under the influence of the drug." --Marijuana, assassin of youth By H.J Anslinger - July 1937

Obviously, if these was all the information one had to work with, it would be all but impossible to locate the incident, let along do any research on the subject. Yes someone (under the influence of Marihuana) did rape a young girl, but Who was that person? Where did the incident take place? What was the date, etc?

Thus, the reason for this website, because the museum has been able to collect so many Reefer Madness era articles, from newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, etc. It has been able to pool together many bits and pieces, from various publications. Using the above example, here are two other write-ups about the same incident:

" Alamossa Daily Courier Colo. -- [The Editor] Describing an attack by a Mexican American allegedly under the influence of marihuana on a girl of his region. -- Two weeks ago a sex-mad degenerate, named Lee Fernandez, brutally attacked a young Alamosa girl. He was convicted of assault with intent to rape and sentenced to ten to fourteen in the state penitentiary. Police officers here know definitely that Fernandez was under the influence of marihuana. Traffic in opium and other Dangers Drugs Dec. 1936

" It happened in Colorado. In August, 1936, in Colorado a sex-mad degenerate brutally attacked a young girl. He was convicted of assault with intent to rape, and was sentenced to ten to fourteen years in the state penitentiary. Police officers knew definitely that the man was under the influence of marihuana. It was stated by a resident at the time that this was one case in hundreds of murders, rapes, petty crimes, and insanity that have occurred in southern Colorado in recent years because of marijuana. --Heath magazine Oct. 1938

Notice that one quotation gives a date, another gives a name, and the third a geographic location. Individually they mean nothing, but pool together they can be used to identify an incident.

The purpose of this index (a work in progress) is solely to provide a reference point, a means of helping the scholar or historian, to identify the incidents. It therefore serves only as a starting point or a way for future research into the subject.