7 turned into a bat and flew’
‘Reefer Madness’ sprang from old tax bill
(CPS) — "Reefer Madness,"
the once popular concept of mari
juana that misled a generation's
beliefs about the drug, began with
an obscure tax bill hearing nearly
40 years ago, according to a legal
researcher,
Charles H. Whitebread of the
University of Virginia's law school
traced the history of marijuana
laws from the passage of the first
state prohibition of the drug by
Utah in 1915.
Whitebread, who began search
ing records in 1968 to discover
where the idea started of making
marijuana usage criminal, said 27
states had made the drug illegal
when Congress passed the Mari
juana Tax Act in 1937.
Congressional hearings on the
bill lasted only two hours, White
bread said. “Their key witness
was Enslinger, the head of the
Federal Bureau of Narcotics, who
testified that marijuana created in
its users “insanity, criminality and
death."
The Marijuana Tax Act, an ex
tensive measure that included
prohibition of marijuana and hemp
production, passed Congress
without debate against protests
from the American Medical As
sociation “Now no medical bill
could pass Congress without the
approval of the AMA," Whitebread
Howitzer used
to settle argument
(AP) — Feel edgy?
In Ansbach. West Germany, residents of an apartment building were
awakened before dawn last Thursday to find a big U S Army cannon
aimed straight at their building The landlady and 19 residents promptly
fled
Not a shot was fired, however, from the 175 mm howitzer. A news
paper later reported the gun wasn t loaded
A U S Army spokesman said Tuesday that Spec. 4 Jonathon Robin
son requisitioned the self-propelled weapon from a guarded motor pool
after an argument with the landlady, smashed it through barriers at the
post and tore up streets and a park en route to the apartment building
Military Police caught up with the soldier by the time he reached the
building, where he lived, and took him into custody, the spokesman
said
Robinson, 24, from Memphis, Tenn., was charged with misappro
priating a government vehicle, dnving while intoxicated and destroying
government and civilian property worth $2,500. The Army said he was
normally assigned as a gunner on the tracked weapon.
A German newspaper said Robinson's landlady had confiscated his
tape recorder and phonograph because he refused to pay $600 he
allegedly owed her.
1
"Our law system has become
increasingly secularized."
Up until the Luc 19th Century the method of training lawyers was
that of apprenticeship rather than tin university law- schools we have today
It was during that time tliat Biacksronc'sCommentaries were relied upon
heavily by the apprenticing attorney. The significance of Blackstone istlut
be echoed t he historic Western view tliat human law is derived from divine
law. "This, then, is the general significance of law. a rule of action by some
superior being
i Blackstone reflected the Judeo-Christian
view that. |ust as the Universe is governed by
certain natural laws, which are discoverable by
man. there " are the eternal, immutable laws
of good and evil, to which the creator has enabled
human reason to discover, so tar as they arc neces
sary tor rite conduct of human actions. The
knowledge of God is discoverable in similar man
ner. I Romani 1:19)
Before the Fall man lived in fellowship with God During this period
man s reason was unclouded, and God put it to work \X hen God chose
man to name all the animals, 11 is interesting to note that man just named
them right then and there He did not have to watch them in their habitats
to see what species they were He just named tliem. (Gmail 2:191 Adam
did not have to employ the scientific method to realize who Eve was. He
knew how Eve had been created even though he had never seen a woman
and had been asleep during her creation (Genesis 2:21-21)
The fall of man resulted in separation from God Since then, man
hasn't been able to totally understand God's natural law through the use of
reason but can only perceive glimpses of it. Man's " . reason is corrupt
and his understanding is full of ignorance and error, according to Black
stone.
Man lias continued to re|ect God and His wisdom. (Romans 1:221
Consequently. God has also fatten ns His lau by dm a ret flat ion. such at the ten
Commandments, (hxodns 20:1-17) According to Blackstone, The doctrines
thus delivered we call the revealed or divine law', and they are to be found
only in the Holy Scriptures."
Since the mid-19th century our law system has become increasingly
secularized. It s divine basis is rarely mentioned. Despite the popularity of
secular thinking, our present law is closely intertwined with Christian
ethic.
Throughout Scripture you find tlie seeming paradox of mans
insignificance, yci eternal importance. (Psalms 8:3-5) Man is a unique
creature and was the subject of a very special creation. (Genesis 1:26 and
Genesis 2:7)
The value of tlx- individual is an idea which permeates the U S
Constitution and the American legal system, yet the foundation of that
concept is found in the Bible.
P.O. Box 5199
For more information write:
said. "Why did it then?"
Birdseed manufacturers who
were using marijuana seeds in
their mixed seed products were
exempt from the act because,
Whitebread said, "they tried other
seeds, but none other made the
bird’s coats so shiny or made
them sing so much."
The 1937 act set the stage for
"Reefer Madness,” Whitebread
said, but the real origin was the
sensationalistic newspaper
coverage of five major criminal tri
als in the early 1940’s in which
murderers were acquitted on crim
inal insanity resulting from mari
juana use.
A prominent physician testified
on one of the trials that he had
tried smoking marijuana himself,
Whitebread said. “After two puffs
on a marijuana cigarette,’’ the doc
tor said, “I turned into a bat and
flew around the room for five mi
nutes, landing at the bottom of a
200-foot inkwell.’’ A terrified audi
ence believed him.
<
Whitebread said he holds no
high hopes for national legaliza
tion of marijuana because the pub
lic confuses legalization with
promotion. He believes that sup
pression of marijuana usage
poses graver dangers than legali
zation.
“We simply have more to lose
as a nation from that intrusion than
from practice, whether it be smok
ing marijuana, reading pornog
raphy or using contraceptives,"
Whitebread said.
jim “izzif
WHtfSTine
fOR
flSUO
President
Somebody has got
to be President
ujhh noi m£p
Paid for bq
Grass Roots Political Services.
"Find out how you can earn a
commission as an Army officer in
just two years, with a possibility of
serving right here in Oregon.”
_ A- o» •— ' ^
Call me.
Captain Phil Richey
1761 Alder Street
686-3102
M Amy
■Learn
ROTC.
Learn what it takes to lead.