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1938 to 1951 - The Marijuana Gateway Myth
Now, the next step in our story is the period from 1938 to 1951. I have three stories
to tell you about 1938 to 1951.
The first of them. Immediately after the passage of the national marijuana prohibition,
Commissioner Anslinger decided to hold a conference of all the people who knew something
about marijuana -- a big national conference. He invited forty-two people to this
conference. As part our research for the book, we found the exact transcript of this
conference. Ready?
The first morning of the conference of the forty-two people that Commissioner Anslinger
invited to talk about marijuana, 39 of them got up and said some version of "Gee,
Commissioner Anslinger, I don't know why you asked me to this conference, I don't know
anything about marijuana."
That left three people. Dr. Woodward and his assistant -- you know what they thought.
That left one person -- the pharmacologist from Temple University -- the guy with the
dogs.
And what do you think happened as a result of that conference? Commissioner Anslinger
named the pharmacologist from Temple University the Official Expert of the Federal Bureau
of Narcotics about marijuana, a position the guy held until 1962. Now, the irony of trying
to find out what the drug did after it had been prohibited -- finding out that only one
person agrees with you -- and naming him the Official Expert, speaks for itself.
The next story from this time period was a particular favorite of the police groups to
whom I spoke at the FBI Academy, because it is a law enforcement story.
After national marijuana prohibition was passed, Commissioner Anslinger found out, or
got reports, that certain people were violating the national marijuana prohibition and
using marijuana and, unfortunately for them, they fell into an identifiable occupational
group. Who were flouting the marijuana prohibition? Jazz musicians. And so, in 1947,
Commissioner Anslinger sent out a letter, I quote it verbatim, "Dear Agent So-and-so,
Please prepare all cases in your jurisdiction involving musicians in violation of the
marijuana laws. We will have a great national round-up arrest of all such persons on a
single day. I will let you know what day."
That letter went out on, I think, October 24, 1947. The responses by the resident
agents were all in the file. My favorite -- at the bottom line, there wasn't a single
resident agent who didn't have reservations about this idea -- came from the Hollywood
agent. This is the exact letter of the FBN agent in charge in Hollywood.
"Dear Commissioner Anslinger,
I have your letter of October 24. Please be advised that the musical community here in
Hollywood are unionized and very tight we have been unable to get an informant inside it.
So, at the present time, we have no cases involving musicians in violation of the
marihuana laws."
For the next year and a half, Commissioner Anslinger got those kinds of letters. He
never acknowledged any of the problems that the agents said they were having with this
idea and always wrote them back the same letter.
"Dear Agent so-and-so,
Glad to hear you are working hard to give effect to my directive of October 24, 1947.
We will (and he always underlined the word 'will') have a great national round-up arrest
of musicians in violation of the marijuana laws all on a single day. Don't worry, I will
let you know what day."
This went on -- and, of course, you know that some jazz musicians were, in fact,
arrested in the late 40's -- this all went on until it ended just the way it began -- with
something that Anslinger said. I don't see anybody in here really old enough to appreciate
this point, but Commissioner Anslinger was testifying before a Senate Committee in 1948.
He was saying, "I need more agents." And, of course, the Senators asked him why.
"Because there are people out there violating the marijuana laws."
Well, you know what the Senators asked -- "Who?"
And in a moment that every Government employee should avoid like the plague, Anslinger
first said, "Musicians." But then he looked up at that Senate committee and he
gave them a little piece of his heart and said the single line which provoked the most
response in this country's history about the non-medical use of drugs. Anslinger said,
"And I don't mean good musicians, I mean jazz musicians."
Friends, there is no way to tell you what a torrent ensued. Within 24 hours, 76
newspaper editorials slammed him, including special editions the then booming trade press
of the jazz music industry. With three days, the Department of the Treasury had received
fifteen thousand letters. bunches of them were still in bags when I got there -- never
been opened at all. I opened a few. Here was a typical one, and it was darling.
"Dear Commissioner Anslinger,
I applaud your efforts to rid America of the scourge of narcotics addiction. If you are
as ill-informed about that as you are about music, however, you will never succeed."
One of the things that we had access to that really was fun was the Commissioner's own
appointment book for all of his years. And, five days after he says "I don't mean
good musicians, I mean jazz musicians." there is a notation: 10 AM -- appointment
with the Secretary of the Treasury." Well, I don't know what happened at that
appointment, but from that appointment on, no mention is ever made again of the great
national round-up arrest of musicians in violation of the marijuana laws all on a single
day, much to the delight of the agents who never had any heart for it in the first place.
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