THE ANTIQUE CANNABIS BOOK
Chapter 3 - (2nd Edition)
CENSORED MEDICAL STUDIES

HARRY ANSLINGER
and the Canadian Connection




AFTERWARDS
For those who want more information on this one subject, the below mentioned article (about 13 pages long) is very informative.

Lindesmith v. Anslinger: An early government victory in the failed war on drugs [1]
“. . the Bureau targeted a film that embraced his theories. The film, Drug Addict, is a 1946 documentary made by the Canadian Film Board, with the assistance of the narcotics specialists in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.   The film was intended to assist in the training of law enforcement and medical professionals. The film deals with the nature of drug addicts, addictive drugs, and drug trafficking.   It also advocates modest reform and reconciliation of drug policy commensurate with the facts surrounding addiction. Drug Addict won a Canadian Film Award and was cited as a "bold, honest record of the drug traffic and its toll in human misery. It is as honest as it is stark.   The film treats drug addiction as an illness and thus has run afoul of some who would condemn as criminals all who use drugs."   As a documentary, "the film objects to the use of the term `dope fiend' in describing addicts, most of whom are presented as sick and bewildered people."
NOTE – The whole article can be found on numerous websites and thus is not reproduced here.


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Who was the Dr. Eugene E. Voltaire
As Elvira the Mistress of Darkness, would say, “Tell me and we’ll both know.” --- and unfortunately Elvira seems to know more about this guy then we do.

As author of a lurid booklet entitled, “Marihuana and Sex” ; --- Just how this unsung hero (or villain) slipped below everyone’s radar screen is beyond us.   I mean with a name like Dr. Voltaire (his real name), one would think that he would stick out like a sore thumb, but apparently not.

We first learned about this guy from a letter written from the Canadian Drug Czar (Chief Sharman) to Harry Anslinger.   Asking him for his help in censoring an American motion picture entitled “The Assassin of Youth”, in which he states:
“ I also enclose the publication “Marihuana and Sex” sold by the “Dr.” N.R. Voltaire during the show, incidentally at a cost of $1.00.   You will note that the material consists of 5 ½ pages of more or less innocuous material relating to Marihuana, followed by 48 ½ pages of pretty prurient material in relation to sex.   It is possible that the latter portion is old material, and that the Marihuana pages have been added in an endeavour to increase sales.
According to the Kinsey Institute, they list his booklet as:
Eugene E. Voltaire
Love Life: The Truth and Secrets of Human Sex Relations, 1920s
Self published --- 616.9 V93
Which we assume is his booklet “Marihuana and Sex” before being modified to (ah) “increase sales”.   But again this tells us nothing about the author.   Who, was he, what kind of doctor was he, etc., etc., or was he a quack?

Via ancestry .com we were able to obtain the following:
Name: Eugene E Voltaire
Date of Death: Aug 8, 1943
Place of Death: Seattle
Age: 52
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1891
Gender: Male
Certificate: 3872
Which would indicate that Voltaire was his actual name, not a fabrication.   In addition a basic search via Internet newspaper historical archives shows that he made his living by appearing in Movie house (in between movie showings) talking about the subject, answering questions and hocking his books.

Voltaire
The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Jan. 4, 1934

Another one from The Paris News, Jan. 22, 1934, reads as follows:
Admission 35c * Monday Tuesday Wednesday Women Only P M Men Only P M YOU WILL BE Shocked Stunned Thrilled By The Truth of Dr Eugene E Voltaire And His Discussion of LOVE LIFE the Truth and Secrets of SEX AND MARRIAGE illustrated with BEAUTIFUL MODELS On the MISS. CALIFORNIA -- The Perfect Woman.
* Note, 35 cents was a lot of money back in those days.

[Humm!, we really should try figure out who this guy was, but this is all that we know about him.


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FOOTNOTES:
[1]--
Lindesmith v. Anslinger: An early government victory in the failed war on drugs -- Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology; Chicago; Winter 1998; John F Galliher; David P Keys; Michael Elsner; -- Vol 88 - Issue: 2 - Pages: 661-682 - ISSN: 00914169


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