WI anti-drug crusader Harry Anslinger died early?

[Hendryk]

Like the better-known J. Edgar Hoover, Harry J. Anslinger (there seems to be something cursed about that initial) was a long-serving US official who tirelessly injected his personal prejudices into law enforcement, with consequences that are arguably felt to this day. He headed the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1930 to 1962 and, in that capacity, was instrumental in setting up the repressive apparatus which, ostensibly intended to fight drug trafficking, was in fact used to harass nonwhite minorities. His influence also went beyond domestic US law enforcement, as he had a significant role in drafting international anti-drug policies such as the 1931 Geneva Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, results from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and others. (Harry Anslinger)

Granted, his crusade largely rode a racist zeitgeist that, if not drugs, would certainly have found some other cudgel to beat nonwhites with. But I still wonder whether how different things might have been had Anslinger died early, say in the course of one of his overseas postings in the 1920s.

 

[Time Enough]

Granted, his crusade largely rode a racist zeitgeist that, if not drugs, would certainly have found some other cudgel to beat nonwhites with. But I still wonder whether how different things might have been had Anslinger died early, say in the course of one of his overseas postings in the 1920s.

Partially the reasoning for the criminalisation of marijuana was a feeling that Alcohol Prohibition was going so poorly that a new drug should be found to crackdown upon. Without Anslinger, I suspect another drug is chosen (probably Morphine/Heroin which was popular in the 20s and equally had perceptions of vice and decadence) whilst marijuana is probably criminalised on a state by state basis.

Amusingly this helps the hemp growing industry, the criminalisation of marijuana lead to a running battle of the legality of growing hemp, only solved by World War 2 requiring lots of rope.

 

[Roger II]

yea, I think the bigger problem is that you have to find a way to cut down on drug panic or at least redirect it to something more seriously harmful.