History of Cannabis Use: Harry Anslinger & Prohibition (2024)

While it appeared at the turn of the 20th century that cannabis would become a prominent and widespread medical treatment option, the tides of government opinion caused a paradigm shift in the societal perception of cannabis in the United States and around the world.

The World Turns Against Cannabis

In 1925, this forced social perspective culminated as the League of Nations approved and ratified the International Opium Convention. According to Michael Backes in The Cannabis Pharmacy, the IOC contains wording that “prohibits cannabis and its derivatives except for medical and scientific purposes.” This specific form of cannabis prohibition continues to this day.

The United Kingdom followed this approval by banning cannabis in 1928, and by the mid-1930s, cannabis was banned in all 48 U.S. states—Hawaii and Alaska were not officially recognized states at this time. Access to medical cannabis was virtually impossible at this point, although cannabis continued to be listed as a medicine in the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP).

Samuel Caldwell is a kind of martyr of the cannabis movement, as he was the first person arrested on the day the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed. He was sentenced to four years of hard labor for selling two joints.

The federal government continued to suppress cannabis in the United States until it was effectively made illegal with the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937; the very name "marijuana" reveals the biased and, frankly, racist sentiments held by those pushing the cannabis prohibition agenda.

This was a devastating blow to the medical community, as illustrated by the statement of the legislative attorney for the American Medical Association at the time, Dr. William C. Woodward, during a hearing on the Marijuana Tax Act, which was ultimately ignored:

...there are potentials in the drug that should remain available for medical use and further investigation.

You may wonder: "Why did this perception shift so suddenly and dramatically?" The answer lies in the motives and vehement opposition of one man who made it his sole mission to eradicate cannabis from the world; his name: Harry Anslinger.

The Most Notorious Enemy of Cannabis

Many may hear the phrase "war on drugs" and attribute this sentiment to the Nixon and Reagan administrations. However, the impetus for these calls began with the failed alcohol prohibition.

According to Laura Smith of Timeline, Harry Anslinger began working for the government in the early 1920s in the enforcement of Prohibition, as this was the peak of alcohol prohibition. He would rise through the ranks, known for his ruthless and unforgiving approach, eventually appointed by President Hoover himself to head the newly created Federal Bureau of Narcotics and quickly becoming acquainted with influential politicians, Washington insiders, and the pharmaceutical industry. His appointment was not without opposition, as then-Senator Royal Copeland requested a delay, citing concerns over appointing someone without a medical background or training as the narcotics commissioner, but he ultimately supported the appointment.

At the start of his tenure at the FBN, Anslinger was originally indifferent and hardly cared about cannabis, but with the end of alcohol prohibition, his newly founded agency would seemingly have little to no work—and he could fall from his influential position.

According to Johann Hari, author of Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, Anslinger's office initially focused on cocaine and heroin, each of which had only a small number of users. Anslinger would make the fateful decision at this point to find his "golden ticket" by essentially manufacturing a drug war. He used his position to depict cannabis as a dangerous substance by linking cannabis use to violence to criminalize cannabis. He was known to say, "You smoke a joint, and you're likely to kill your brother."

Anslinger gained support by not only aggressively fabricating associations between cannabis use and violence but also linking cannabis use to toxic racist ideologies that were ripe for belief in the 1930s. Anslinger summarized cannabis use with the words, "Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men," in addition to "There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz, and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and others." According to what Hari told CBS News, "The insanity of racism is something you can see when you go into his archives."

Anslinger found several cases where individuals had committed violent crimes while allegedly high on cannabis and presented these cases to Congress. Anslinger highlighted one particular case after consulting with 30 doctors to support his claim that grass was linked to violent crime. Only one doctor supported Anslinger's claim, and with this single dissenting doctor's statement, Anslinger went around Washington peddling this "evidence." Moreover, the press adopted and followed this sensational view.

Arrests of Doctors

Most insidiously, Anslinger used his power to threaten, intimidate, and abuse doctors across the country who disagreed with his view that cannabis was not a dangerous narcotic. According to Jack Herer in The Emperor Wears No Clothes: "After the New York 'LaGuardia Marijuana Report' of 1938-1944 disproved his argument by reporting that marijuana caused no violence at all, and cited other positive findings, Harry J. Anslinger went on public tirade after tirade, denouncing Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the doctors who researched the report." Herer goes on to explain:

"Anslinger announced that these doctors would never conduct marijuana experiments or research without his personal permission again or face prison time!"

And these were not just empty threats, as Anslinger would leverage his full influence over the federal government—even if it was illegal—to virtually stop all medical research on cannabis. Additionally, according to Herer, he would blackmail the AMA into denouncing the New York Academy of Medicine and its doctors for the research they reported.

By 1939, Anslinger's FBN was responsible for prosecuting over 3,000 individual doctors nationwide who prescribed narcotics for purposes he, Anslinger, deemed illegal. As a concession, the AMA conducted a biased research study to directly refute the findings of the Laguardia report, and between 1939 and 1949, only three doctors were prosecuted. The message: Cooperate with Anslinger or go to jail.

Anslinger's Racist Ideologies Spread

Anslinger's racist, paranoid, and outright falsehoods regarding cannabis would become the dedicated work of the FBN moving forward as he used his position and network to influence the opinions of influential lawmakers who could help him implement his vision. As John C. McWilliams writes in his book "The Protectors," "Anslinger was the Federal Bureau of Narcotics."

Anti-marijuana propaganda began appearing in the 1930s, often focusing on cannabis causing a loss of morals and values. Additionally, more racially motivated designs suggested that cannabis made white women want to be with black men.

Around this time, articles began appearing in the news parrotting the "dangers of marijuana." According to Smith, "During this period, the term 'cannabis' was replaced by 'marihuana' or 'marijuana,' hoping that the Spanish word would conjure anti-Mexican sentiment"—today also known as the "Reefer Madness" era. Shortly after this media campaign spread nationwide, the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed.

Following his success in making cannabis illegal in the United States, Anslinger spent the 1940s implementing his racist agenda by brutally targeting the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday until her death, with her friends blaming Anslinger's campaign for the stress that led to her death. Nine years later, Anslinger continued targeting the jazz community. "In marijuana cases, arrests are increasing, affecting a certain type of musician," he wrote in a draft letter to the president of the American Federation of Musicians, clarifying further, "I am not talking about the good musicians, but the jazz type."

In the 1950s, Anslinger played a crucial role in the country's entire drug legislation. According to McWilliams, Anslinger was regarded as America's foremost drug expert. Anslinger's influence extended worldwide over time as he traveled to various countries, peddling his belief in cannabis as a dangerous, society-threatening narcotic. Anslinger remained head of the FBN until the Kennedy administration, but according to Smith, "his ideas were quickly adopted by successive administrations—always improperly, to the detriment of People of Color."

Thus, by the mid-20th century, the perception of cannabis had shifted from a safe and effective medical treatment option to a dangerous narcotic. While the AMA continued to fight for cannabis to remain in the USP, cannabis was removed from the list five years after the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act, where it would remain for the next 75 years. From World War II through the 1960s, cannabis was officially studied only in the context of being a dangerous narcotic, not as a medical compound. This has led to the, for lack of a better word, criminal lack of medical cannabis research.

Fortunately, the "modern" scientific era of cannabis research began in 1964 with the discovery of cannabis's most well-known cannabinoid: THC (Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol).