Sociology of Reefer Madness

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Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher qualiQr 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for ary photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell intormation Com pany 300 Nonr. ZeeD Roao.Ann Amor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 3l3.'76l-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE SOCIOLOGY OF REEFER MADNESS: THE CRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA IN THE U.S.A. by Michael C. Eisner submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology; Justice Signatures of Committee: Chair: Dean of the College Date 1994 The American University Washington, D.C. 20016 THE AMEBICAH UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DHI Number: 9529083 Copyright 1994 by Eisner, Michael Charles All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9529083 Copyright 1995, by OMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. cCOPYRIGHT by MICHAEL C. ELSNER 1994 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE SOCIOLOGY OF REEFER MADNESS: THE CRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA IN THE U.S.A. BY Michael C. Eisner ABSTRACT In the United States of America, no legal sanctions against marijuana existed on the federal level until the U.S. Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act in 1937. The social origins of this law are, in effect, a mystery. There is a lack of consensus among sociologists and historians, and no clear, concise explanation of how and why marijuana came to be criminalized in the United States. This dissertation attempts to fill that void. In the 1930s, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (forerunner of today's Drug Enforcement Administration) and the Hearst publishing empire framed marijuana use in the context of a violence-inducing, insanity-producing "assassin of youth." "Reefer," a slang term for a marijuana cigarette, thus came to be associated with "madness." This dissertation provides its readers with a more comprehensive explanation of the Marihuana Tax Act than heretofore has been available. It examines the Act's passage and its subsequent enforcement in a social context, ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. that of popular culture and historical studies of marijuana use. It develops and puts forth a new theory, the Social Control Hypothesis, of why the Marihuana Tax Act became law. It is unique in its analysis of the role that 1930s-era jazz music and anti-marijuana motion pictures played in relation to the passage and enforcement of the Marihuana Tax Act. The historical analysis is extended to include in-depth examinations of the related, but yet distinct, issues of marijuana's decriminalization, legalization and medicalizacion. By comparing drug use data in the United States and Holland (the Netherlands), where cannabis use has been decriminalized, this study empirically tests and refutes the "stepping stone hypothesis" (also known as the "gateway theory"), which claims that marijuana leads the user to cocaine and heroin. By examining the anti-marijuana media campaign of the Partnership For A Drug Free America, "The Sociology of Reefer Madness" follows the trail of Reefer Madness to the present day. It is thus demonstrated on two fronts: the medical marijuana issue and anti-marijuana media propaganda, that Reefer Madness is alive and well in the 1990s. Extensive research for "The Sociology of Reefer Madness: the Criminalization of Marijuana in the U.S.A." was conducted at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and Suitland, Maryland. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The following people were gracious in taking the time to allow me to benefit from their areas of expertise and to learn from their vast ranges of cannabis knowledge: David Musto (Chapter 2), Bernard Brightman of Jass/Stash Records (Chapter 3), Michael Starks (Chapter 4), Peter Cohen (Chapter 5), David Gerstein (Chapter 6), and Kevin Zeese (Chapters 6 and 7). For their guidance and support throughout various stages of this endeavor, I am particularly grateful to Michael Aldrich, John Galliher, Jerome Himmelstein and John McWilliams. I am honored to consider this work as an extension of their own. For shepherding me down the doctoral road at American University, I hereby express my thanks to Arnold Trebach and David Saari of the Department of Justice, Law and Society, and to Muriel Cantor and Jurg Siegenthaler of the Department of Sociology. Finally, I would like to thank my neurosurgeon, Richard Dennis, and my acupuncturist, Yeh Chong Chan, for correcting my neck and back problems and enabling me to sit at the computer terminal and write again. IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................... il ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................ iv LIST OF T A B L E S ....................................... viii INTRODUCTION ............................................ 1 Chapter 1. THE RISE OF REEFER MADNESS 9 Marijuana: The Evolution of a D r u g ............. 10 The Roots of Marijuana in the U.S................ 14 The Legislative History of the Marihuana Tax Act .. 16 Indian Hemp Drug Commission Report: 1893-1894 . 18 Panama Canal Zone Military Investigations: 1925-1931 21 The LaGuardia Committee Report; 1939-1944 ........ 24 Reefer Madness Solidified ......................... 33 2. THE SOCIAL CONTROL HYPOTHESIS ..................... 34 Historical Background ............................. 36 The Criminology of Reefer Madness .................. 39 The Anslinger Hypothesis ......................... 41 The Mexican Hypothesis ........................... 45 Drug Control and Social Control ................... 51 The Ideology of the Marihuana Tax A c t .............. 54 The Social Control Hypothesis ..................... 56 V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Du Pont Hypothesis .............................61 Reefer Madness Reformulated ....................... 65 3. REEFER BLUES ......................................... 66 Blowing Reefer Smoke ............................. 68 Up the River with J a z z .............................73 Vipin*............................................... 74 The Anti-Jazz Campaign ........................... 79 Examining Reefer Songs ........................... 83 4. REEFER M O V I E S ...................................... 100 Sinister Menace ................................. 106 Assassin of Y o u t h .................................. 110 Tell Your Children ................................ 115 Marihuana: Weed With Roots in H e l l ................ 122 5. TESTING THE STEPPING STONE HYPOTHESIS ............ 128 Historical Foundations of Drug Control ........... 130 Dutch Cannabis Policy ..............................133 Normalization: the Dutch System of Drug Control .. 134 Comparing U.S. and Dutch Drug Control Policies . .145 6. BEYOND CRIMINALIZATION.............................148 Decriminalization ............................... 150 Marijuana Decriminalization in the United States.. 152 Civil Law Versus Criminal L a w .................... 153 The Unique Case of A l a s k a ........................ 155 The Overreach of the Criminal L a w ................ 156 The "Crime Tariff" ................................. 157 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Unique Case of A l a s k a .........................155 The Overreach of the Criminal L a w ................ 156 The "Crime T a r i f f " ................................

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