Monday, March 30, 2009

Reefer Madness, Du Pont, and the Marihuana Tax Act of 1939


Reefer Madness, Du Pont, and the Marihuana Tax Act of 1939

(I do not in any way advocate the use of drugs in any shape or form, including marijuana. But we all deserve to know the possible reasons behind the law that has ruined an industry, and put countless people behind bars.)

I was slouching quite comfortably in the LaGuardia Airport several years ago, waiting in a stupor for my next flight, when suddenly a beautiful middle aged woman in loose khaki shirt and bright orange and purple oriental sarong, sat next to me. Now here was a world traveler, a woman of the world!

She briefly glanced and smiled in my direction as she lowered a well-stuffed knit bag from her shoulder to the white polished floor, straddling it protectively with her legs. We sat there in silence for some time, while she rummaged for what looked like something to read.

Suddenly, from around our row of seats, a security man and a small “sniffer” dog started in our direction, looking for the usual suspected contraband: baggies of cocaine, plastic explosives, smuggled organics, or a residual smell of marijuana. Usually when the dog takes an interest in a bag it means a forgotten peanut butter sandwich, cheese from the gift shop, or an apple your mom stuffed in for a snack. All of these are illegal to export, and if you can’t produce any one of these pronto, you may be escorted away for a more proper search.

They passed us without incident, and disappeared within the terminal throng of travelers. Whew!

This is what stimulated our hour long conversation, and though it was several years ago, and a bit of the specifics have now long vaporized, some of the ideas she mentioned to me stuck. One thing, first off, was that she lived on a beach off the coast of England, in a house made from the wood of giant casks, used in the making of whiskey, though that isn’t part of this story.

We talked of the countries she had visited where certain drugs were completely legalized, and that American sensibilities about such matters have been distorted by the new age of synthetics. Synthetics? Yep, that’s what she said. She was originally from Norway, and the entire area is noted for their liberal views. She was well educated, opinionated, and seemingly informed, and without the least bit of hesitation told me I should look up the company called Du Pont, and the history of hemp as well.

I’m 55, and lived in the world of the sixties as a formidable and well conditioned teenager. I remember those days, the music, TV, and the thought processes, far better than even last week! Marijuana was very much against the law in our “hippie” generation, but just a few years before, it was quite legal. What changed?

I found the answers in some very unusual places: Albert Goldman’s, Grass Roots: Marijuana in America Today, 1979, Jack Herer’s, The Emperor Wears No Cloths: hemp and the Marijuana Conspiracy, 1992, and the main source, by Jon Vankin and John Whalen, The 60 Greatest Conspiracies of all time, 1995. In a nutshell…

What if I were to tell you that the lowly hemp plant, also known as buds, grass, pot, bhang, weed, boo, cannabis, or ganja, was once required by law to grow, and our founding fathers, yep, the same ones who signed the Declaration of Independence, like Washington and Jefferson, grew it on their farms.

It was so handy, known to be the strongest of all plant fibers, that it was used for the making of sails, clothing, rope, and a wide variety of health aids and therapy for dozens of ailments. Here is a plant that was thought to be the key to the problems of our new industrial age. It could have virtually replaced the use of fossil fuels in the new combustible engines, feed and clothe the world, and put an end to deforestation so rampant in the last century. That was the sales pitch, anyway.

So Du Pont rings in my ears! In the book above by Herer, he states, “malicious conspiracy to suppress not a ‘killer weed,’ but the world’s premier renewable natural resource, for the benefit of a handful of wealthy and powerful individuals and corporations.” He made reference to hemp’s demise as being the new Dark Ages, and nothing short of, “a conspiracy against mankind.”

Wow! A bit strong, don’t you think? But this is just the tip of the iceberg! There are three players here that I want you to meet. The first is a man we all know, William Randolph Hearst. He led what some consider the first “hysterical” crusade against marijuana. His newspapers were filled with anti-pot writings at the same time many magazines, like Popular Mechanics, were saying that hemp was the savior of mankind, and would be a “new billion dollar crop.” I wonder, what other holdings did William have?

What was behind his initial attempt to destroy this world market? Before the cotton gin, hemp was used to make clothing that kept our men warm at Valley Forge, bedding, tents, and even our “Old Glory” flag! Our bibles were printed on reefer paper, and hemp seed oil could have taken the place of whale oil, that brought on a near extinction of a species. God fearing men from every corner of America used it for a wide variety of medicinal purposes, from patented medicines legally sold in drug stores!

Next, and soon after Hearst, came A.J. Anslinger, and is the one who coined the term “reefer madness.” A so called “morality cop” of the prohibition era, he is quoted as saying, “If the monster Frankenstein would come face to face with the monster marihuana, he would drop dead from fright.” He later admitted to have illegally supplied morphine to Senator Joseph McCarthy, who was then addicted, and helped the OSS, the forerunner of our CIA, with unsuccessful experiments to use hashish concentrate and distillate as a truth serum for captured spies.

But then the powerful Du Pont Corporation took up the baton. And why is that would you suppose? Could it be that they wanted the new synthetic fibers like nylon and polyester to take the place of Hemp? And their plastic fibers did come to dominate, and a new super-polluting wood pulp process was born too. In 1939, Lammot Du Pont is quoted in Popular Mechanics as saying: We are…“conserving natural resources by developing synthetic products to supplement or wholly replace natural products.” Well, is this a lie? Was the additive dioxin understood then? Did they know of its cancer causing properties? I think they did…

Ha! Anslinger even went before Congress and said that the “reefer friend” was comprised mostly of the “Negro and Mexican”, and worst of all, “entertainers.” (This sentence has been deleted by CPS so as not to offend.) In my book, Anslinger was not much of a humanitarian. But truth is truth, and we should know our history.

The final kick came with the legislation called “The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.” It virtually breezed through Congress with the strangled voices of hemp growers and the American Medical Association watching helplessly on the sidelines. Strange to find out now that Anslinger was then in charge of the Treasury Department, who owed his job to his relation Andrew Mellon, owner of the sixth largest bank in our great nation, and just happened to be the Du Pont banker.

Of course there is no real proof of conspiracy; all of it is just pure speculation, of course. But then, Du Pont continues to be the “largest producer of man-made fibers, while no citizen has legally harvested a single acre of textile-grade hemp in over fifty years?” says Herer. Well, thought you should know…

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Christian and Pops go to the Acadiana Zoo


Christian and Pops go to the Acadiana Zoo






This book is dedicated to the children in all of us.

Christian and Pops






Copyright 2009








Page one

I like going to Granny and Pop’s house. They have a lot of toys they played with when they were my age, and none of them light up or talk! I thought we would just play in the yard, but Pops said: “What a nice Saturday. Want to go to the Zoo Christian?”


I said yes because the Acadiana Zoo is one of my most favorite places to go in the whole wide world!





Page 2




I have been here many times, and even when it is raining and cold, it’s still fun.



Page 3

I like to go with Pops because he points to animals that are hidden in the trees. The squirrels here aren’t afraid at all, and come very close to us looking for a snack. Pop’s says they get a “free lunch” here.


Page 4



Pops gets a red wagon and pulls me. It’s fun, and Pops says I have the best seat in the house. Mommy made us a snack of apples. We both love apples, and Pops cuts slices with his silver pocket knife. “One for you and one for me... Look Christian! The Monkeys eat apples too!” said Pops.





Pops says to ask the zoo-keeper if it is okay to feed the animals because they may be on special diets! Not everyone likes apples!

Page 5





Sometimes I have to look a long time to see what Pops is pointing to. “Look Christian, look way up there in that top branch. Do you see the monkey?”


“No Pops.” I’d say, but then all of a sudden I would see it. “Yes Pops I see it!”
"Wow!” said Pops. “He is way up there!”





Page 6


“What’s that noise?” I said looking around.



“That’s a tiger howling way on the other side of the Zoo!” said Pops, “Let’s go find him!” And sure enough, in a few minutes we are in front of the cage.



“It’s that one” Pops said pointing ...and the Tiger looked right at us! It was very big and white, but looked a lot like Pop’s kitties, Pumpkin and Pi.





Page 7

Pumpkin
Pi
This is Pops’ two kitties, Pumpkin and Pi.


They showed up at his door looking for a home when they were just little kittens and Granny and Pops took them in. Pops says they have a good life, but still a bit wild...




Page 8



The Acadiana Zoo has a big hill I’m old enough to climb by myself. Pops says when he was a boy there was a big hill at his Zoo in New Orleans called Monkey Hill. He said it was tall when he was a boy, but when he went back later it had shrunk!


Pops likes to tell me stories of “the good old days” while we walk, and says that someday these will be my “good old days.”


Page 9



I like the chickens and ducks, especially when they have little babies following them. Pops tells me there is no need to ever fear animals if you can speak their language. The animals talk to Pops, and they all tell him hello. Pops said it is easy, and I will learn their language one day too.


Page 10
I like to ride the train!


Pops buys us a ticket and we try to get in the last seat. This train doesn’t have a face on it like my Thomas toys at home, but it has a shiny gold bell and a loud whistle too. Pop’s said the “conductor” is “a good man” because he carries a pocket full of grapes to feed the monkeys along the way. Pops says he always has a smile on his face because he likes his job.


Page 11

There is a green pond where a lot of alligators like to play and swim. Pops says they take long naps during the day and stay up late at night. He said their eyes light up when it is dark so we can see them coming.
When they swim everything gets out of their way!


Page 12


The turkeys are taller than I am, and like to walk with me.



Pops tells me they want to be friends. One shakes his feathers and says: “Gobble-gobble!”



I think that means: “How are you?”



Page 13


Well, we have made two walk abouts,” said Pops. “Are you about ready to go home? Mom says its nap time at 2 o’clock.”


I say “Once more Pops! One more time!” and Pops shakes his head and laughs again out loud. “Okay, one more time Christian!”


He calls mom and says “Yep, yep, yep! You got it Toyota! We’ll see you soon.” And we turn the wagon around and go back again.



Page 14



No matter how many times we “Walk About,” we see animals we never saw before. Sometimes they are very big, and other times very small. Some are just visitors like us.


Page 15


My sister Madeline likes to go to the Zoo too, but she is just learning to walk. When she gets a little older Pops and I will take her with us. She likes the lions and dressed like one for Halloween. She says “Geeerr!” and sounds just like one.









Page 16




Pops and I could stay at the Zoo all day long . He says that a grandfather doesn’t age when he is with his grandchildren or fishing. I keep him young!



Granny says we are “two peas in a pod.”


I heard Granny say to bring me back when I rub my eyes, so I try very hard not to do that.


Page 17

Zoo animals I like.



Gibbon



African Zebra




Page 18





Mexican Toucan


Mexican Leopard
African Crown Crane
Till next time, á bientôt
!