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. . . Tales of The
THE LOUSY DRIVER AND THE HONKY
Ever wonder where the myth of the reckless (marihuana intoxicated) driver came from? Well it certainly didn’t come from the science, which says no way. But instead, “Believe It Or Not” from late 19th and early 20th Century, Fictional novelists. That’s right from writers of fictional novels. Mostly of the “true detective” and the “young romance” genres. A subject matter, that of-and-by-itself, might need a bit of explaining.
Recalling that the Internet (meaning face-book, craig's list, etc.) is a very recent invention (era 1990’s), and for that matter so is television (era 1940’s), and for that matter so is radio (era 1920’s), and for that matter motion pictures (era 1910’s), and for that matter so is the telephone, . . . . etc. . . . However, leaving all that aside, I for one can assure you that humans have always been a very social and communicative species. The technological means of social media may have changed over the years, but not the concept. . . .
Back then, local newspapers served not only to disseminate news, but also as sources of entertainment (remember comic books got their start here), as well as served as/and were the face-book plus craig's-list of their day. In some ways they resembled more of a public bulletin board for the whole community, one to which the locals could use to announce upcoming events. Community bake sales, barn dances, etc.
Not surprising then (after all newspapers were supposed to provide entertainment as part of their venue) that by the late 19th century, various newspapers started carrying short novelettes in serialized format. And while it was clearly understood that these romanticized novelettes were fictional in nature. Still (now looking back with 20/20 hindsight) there seems to have been a common theme running through many of these stories. One where Marihuana (aka Loco Weed at first), was allowed to creep into many of the story lines. Sometimes it was the Mexican Bandito, who offers the sweet young American girl a strange looking Mexican cigarette. And in yet other story lines, it was the evil Arab Muslim enticing his unknowing foreign guests with a bowl of Hashish, etc. And while the story plot changed from serialized novelette to novelette, still the mention of Marihuana was always in the negative. Something used only by devilish criminal types with violent reckless personalities. People who (let’s face it), no one would want to see behind the driver seat of a modern day automobile.
HOW READERS WERE BEING ENTERTAINED BACK IN 1936
And unfortunately it wasn’t just fictional writers who were going around writing the stuff. Just see what Ms. Mary Hungerford had to say as per the Popular Science Magazine:
An Overdose of Hasheesh, The Popular Science Monthly (V24; 1884 p509) by Mary HungerfordAnd remember, the above quotation comes out of the pages of “Popular Science”, NOT from a fictional novel. However, in Ms. Hungerfords, defense one should note that writing about overdoses (in this case, about the equivalent of 200 Medical Cannabis cigarettes), was all the rage back then. Especially about a medicine to which no deaths had every been attributed; ---thus guaranteeing one’s ability to write the article the next day. However, be that as it may, let’s flash-forward now, to the early days of the Reefer Madness campaign. Little wonder that the Narc’s, the Klan, the prohibitionists, etc., were quick to seize on what was already well established in the public's mind at the time. Especially as only Negro’s and Mexicans were said to be using it anyway.
[After having taken a large amount of Marihuana] “I died, as I believed, although by a strange double consciousness I knew that I should again reanimate the body I had left. In leaving it I did not soar away, as one delights to think of the freed spirits soaring. Neither did I linger around dear, familiar scenes. I sank, an intangible, impalpable shape, through the bed, the floors, the cellar, the earth, down, down, down! As if I had been a fragment of glass dropping through the ocean, I dropped uninterruptedly through the earth and its atmosphere, and then fell on and on forever. . . . "Where, I thought," is the Savior, who has called his own to his side? Has he forsaken me now?"
Anslinger himself however must be credited with added yet another dimension to the Marihuana Intoxicated Driver myth. It appears that it was he who first thought of taking the Medical Literature and (let’s be blunt) greatly distorting it to his favor. Example, in his own words: [1]
“. . The effects of Marihuana on the human . . . . Errors in time and space . . . The mind loses all idea of space and extent, and tends to exaggeration in all things; the slightest impulse or suggestion carries it away.Which he claimed was information taken from the Medical Literature. And indeed it was, but only to the extent that someone took an enormous amount of (ah) selected liberties with literature. But what of it, Anslinger was not a man to be above a little censorship, especially if it was to his favor. In his mind, Marihuana (or being Black for that matter), made you into a lousy driver, and that was that. A good enough reason to outlaw it if ever there was one.
And where Anslinger led, others followed. According to California's own Chief of Narcotics, Joe O’Ferrall (aka O’Ferrall the Narc): [2]
“[Marihuana] . . shows upon the user in the form of hallucinations, which affect the eyesight as well as the hearing. He appears to have become taller, to be of great size, - - - distance is increased, and time lengthens. He may imagine himself as a great actor, or aviator, or race driver, and very vividly portray the person whom he believes himself to be, or what he is supposed to be doing. One can Freadily(sic) see the possible damage that may be caused while a person is in this state. He may be driving along the highway and think he is driving only fifteen or twenty miles per hour, while in reality he is going sixty or seventy miles per hour. Suddenly, an occasion arises calling for instant use of the brake, but the time taken to co-ordinate his thoughts and transfer that impulse to his feet is so long that a serious accident may occur, and oftentimes does. “At a later time (as Calif. Chief of Narcotics) he would give the following wondrous example:
An automobile tore across the Bay Bridge one night at 85 miles an hour. The driver, a potential killer, refused to stop for pursuing State patrolmen. At great risk to themselves, they overtook him, cornered the car, forced him out. His first words to them were: “Boys, I feel like flying!” … But law enforcement officials are not always lucky enough to apprehend a person under the influence of the drug before he has committed a crime, and some of the most ghastly on record have been committed by persons who are “high on the hay.” [3]
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WHAT THE SCIENCE SAYS:
Simply put, up until the late 1960’s, the above statements by the likes of Chief Joe O’Ferrall (the Narc), and others like him were simply taken at face value. They had the badge of authority, and as our government would never lie to us, that was that. However, during the Vietnam war, things began to change. It turned out our government wasn’t always as truthful as it appeared to be, and people in general began to question many things that were not questionable before. . . . one of them being the existence of the anti-Medical Marihuana laws. People were no longer taking the narc’s word for it and for the first time some real scientific investigations into the subject began to take place. [4] To the best of our knowledge, the first such study (published in a peer review journal), summarized its findings as follows: “The effects of marihuana, alcohol, . . . on simulated driving performance were determined for experienced marihuana smokers. Subjects experiencing a “social marihuana high” accumulated significantly more speedometer errors than when under control conditions, whereas there were no significant differences in accelerator, brake, signal, steering, and total errors. The same subjects intoxicated from alcohol accumulated significantly more accelerator, brake, signal, speedometer, and total errors than under normal conditions, whereas there was no significant difference in steering errors. Impairment in simulated driving performance does not seem to be a function of increased marihuana dosage or inexperience with the drug.” [5]In other words, the findings were that while Medical Marihuana does slightly impair ones ability to drive, it doesn't effect it enough to cause you to be an unsafe driver. Something which shocked the drug enforcement community to no end. Then came the British Vancouver Study, which showed the exact opposite, that Marihuana did indeed affect ones ability to safely drive a car. ????? And needless to say the narc’s quickly starting making great hay out of the situation. See here was proof of what we’ve been saying, etc. . . . And in all honesty, I myself examined the report in some detail and was unable to find any fault in it. The methodology was spotless. And NO, I’m not prepared to state that some sort of hanky-panky took place. But the long and the tall of it is that this very study has been repeated over and over again by others and with totally different results. One such study was even conducted by the U.S. Government DOT-HS-808-078 [6] ; which summarizes its findings as follows: “IN SUMMARY, this program of research has shown that marijuana, when taken alone, produces a moderate degree of driving impairment which is related to the consumed THC dose. The impairment manifests itself mainly in the ability to maintain a steady lateral position on the road, but its magnitude is not exceptional in comparison with changes produced by many medicinal drugs and alcohol. Drivers under the influence of marijuana retain insight in their performance and will compensate where they can, for example, by slowing down or increasing effort. As a consequence, THC's adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small. Still we can easily imagine situations where the influence of marijuana smoking might have an exceedingly dangerous effect; i.e., emergency situations which put high demands on the driver's information processing capacity, prolonged monotonous driving, and after THC has been taken with other drugs, especially alcohol. We therefore agree with Moskowitz' conclusion that "any situation in which safety both for self and others depends upon alertness and capability of control of man-machine interaction precludes the use of marijuana". However, the magnitude of marijuana's, relative to many other drugs', effects also justify Gieringer's (1988) conclusion that "marijuana impairment presents a real, but secondary, safety risk; and that alcohol is the leading drug-related accident risk factor". Of the many psychotropic drugs, licit and illicit, that are available and used by people who subsequently drive, marijuana may well be among the least harmful. Campaigns to discourage the use of marijuana by drivers are certainly warranted. But concentrating a campaign on marijuana alone may not be in proportion to the safety problem it causes.” [7]The Federal study even goes on to translate the effects of Marihuana into equivalent Blood alcohol equivalent levels that never exceeded a .08. And it should be repeated that this study has been repeated more than once, with the same results. But again, (referring to the B.C. study) no one is claiming any Hanky-Panky, maybe it was just a bad day for science, etc. And while the above studies involved physically giving Marihuana to actual drivers under test conditions. Other studies, such as DOT-HS-808-065; also show that Cannabis drivers (taking all other factors such as age, driving experience, etc. into account), were no more likely to be involved in vehicle accidents than . . .anyone else. Some refer to them as the ghoulish ones because they involved examining dead bodies from automobile accident scenes and testing them for Marihuana residuals. And, yes, yes, there are numerous other types of studies that say the opposite, but not many science based ones. I myself will not go over all the “Junk Science” Studies performed on the subject ---usually paid for and conducted under the auspices of the narcotics police. In general they all (on purpose I feel) take individuals who have never used Marihuana before thus guaranteeing they will be driving in a totally unfamiliar environment. And in addition to that given unusually high dosages of Cannabis (way beyond what a normal person would use). And then last of all, (the ultimate insult), the studies would have them driving a vehicle they are totally unfamiliar with. Thus guaranteeing the desired results; -- and believe me there are plenty of such junk studies out there. TRANSLATION: Yes, Marihuana does indeed impair somewhat your ability to drive an automobile, and the more you use it out of moderation, the more impaired you will become. However, the science says that as long as you ONLY use it in moderation (and assuming that there's nothing else wrong), it wouldn’t impair your ability to safely drive. |
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Which now brings us to Earle Albert Rowell’s book; “On the Trail of Marihuana, The Weed of Madness” and his opening lines (also known here as); "The Tale of the Lousy Driver":
“A SIREN, shrill and foreboding, pierced the air. Pedestrians scampered to the sidewalks and automobiles shied to the curbings as two ambulances, paced by two motorcycle officers, hurtled past, headed for the emergency hospital.And while obviously, with a title such as; “On the Trail of Marihuana, the Weed of Madness”, we should not expect an objective discourse on the subject. Still it is of interest to note that for quite some time, the above story was accepted (solely on its face value) by most individuals as being a factual story. Mr. Rowell wrote it down, therefore it must really have happened. However, after some research into the matter, I for one now have my doubts.
Soon the traffic resumed its dizzy pace, and the pedestrians, though momentarily startled, quickly regained their poise. Such occurrences were common in this large city; too common, in fact, to arouse comment beyond a casual cynical query, "Wonder who'll be next?" The people were hardened to such accidents, considered them a necessary evil - part of the warp and woof of city life, the price we pay for civilization.
This, however, was no ordinary accident; but they didn't know that. Neither did the orderlies who perfunctorily removed five mangled bodies from the ambulances upon their arrival at the hospital, and rolled them swiftly up the ramp into the building. It was some time before anyone knew what was happening behind the closed doors of the emergency room. The two motorcycle police were in the corridor anxiously waiting for some word. Though calloused by witnessing frequent accidents, there were strange angles to this tragic wreck that aroused their suspicion.
Presently a doctor, young and alert, opened the door of the emergency room, stepped into the corridor, and in a crisp professional tone addressed the two waiting officers: "Four are dead. The fifth, a girl, is still unconscious; but there is a good chance for her recovery despite broken arm, ribs, and internal injuries."
He paused, and then asked, "Do you know how it occurred?"
"I saw the whole thing in the making," said Officer McFarland, tall and sun-browned; "but I can't quite figure it out. Lee and I were watching the intersection of Broad and Highway 30. About 3:15 P. M. a car with four high-school youngsters in it flashed by us, ignoring the stop sign. They didn't even slow or shift.
"We took after them, but couldn't seem to catch up. The faster we went the faster they went, till we were going eighty. We thought they were trying to get away from us. Suddenly the right front door of their car opened, and a girl was pushed out or she jumped out. She rolled over and over, and then lay still. The car, however, didn't even slow up.
"'You follow the car!' Lee shouted. 'I'll pick up the girl.' Seeing she was in a very bad condition, he hailed a passing car, and asked them to take her to the hospital. The girl, as you know, was dead when they got her here.
"In the meantime I stepped on it, and, at 85, I was barely creeping up on the speeding car. Suddenly it swerved into the left lane to pass a car ahead at the very moment that another car containing two persons was approaching. The road was straight for almost a mile, no fog, perfect visibility, but I saw that a head-on collision was inevitable if he didn't pull back instantly.
"I turned on my siren, but it did no good. As if bent on suicide and murder, the car ahead barged straight on at eighty. "The two cars came together with a terrific impact. They telescoped. The people in both cars didn't have a chance. It looked as if the kids deliberately steered into the other car."
"H'm," exclaimed the doctor as he pondered the puzzling story. "Did you look for liquor?"
"That is the first thing we always do," replied the officer. "I searched both cars and occupants thoroughly, but could find no liquor, broken bottles, not even a smell of liquor anywhere."
"Accidents are tragically common these days, officer," observed the doctor; "but usually a cause can be found. Here, however, are two unexpected mysteries: Why did that girl jump from a car going eighty? Was it suicide, or murder, or an accident? And was the head-on collision deliberate or accidental?"
The door opened again, and a nurse beckoned the three men nearer.
"I think the girl is regaining consciousness, doctor," she announced.
"Come with me," the surgeon invited the two officers as he stepped into the room.
The doctor leaned over the girl. She was mumbling excitedly, incoherently, evidently trying to give a message. Her eyes rolled, terrified. He bent closer.
"Don't jump! Don't jump, Louise! Louise, don't jump! Jack, you are high! You are high! Stop the car!" For several minutes she mumbled these words over and over with slight variation. Then she came to with a start, and asked almost hysterically, "Where am I, any way?"
"Calm yourself," said the doctor, with reassurance in his manner and voice. "You are in the hospital, my dear. There was an accident. You were riding in an automobile out on Highway 30 - remember?" As memory crowded its scenes on her, she smothered a scream, and, turning frightened brown eyes on the doctor, asked, "The others? - and - and Russell, where is he?"
The doctors pressed her hand tenderly, and with steady eyes said, "They are in the other room." And then quickly to obviate further questioning, he asked, "Can you tell us about it - the wreck?" As the whole fantastic ride came back to her, the weird story was unfolded, sobbingly, in broken sentences. The suffering girl strove to attain a measure of calm.
"There were four of us. My boy friend, Russell, Louis and her boy friend, Jack, and I skipped last period class, and went over to Joe's Barbecue, where we had some tamales. Then Joe took us into a back room and sold us some reefers [marihuana cigarettes]. Nearly every afternoon we go over there to get a little bite to eat, and to smoke some of those special cigarettes. They make you feel very different. I was green at it, and was afraid to smoke too much because it made me feel so strange."
She paused and flushed as if there were secrets she wasn't going to tell.
"This afternoon I took only two or three puffs on Russell's reefer after he kept coaxing and telling me it would help to make me a better pal, but the rest of the gang smoked several cigarettes apiece. Then someone suggested that we go for a ride to that tavern on the main highway. We got in Jack's car. Even before we were outside the city limits, he was going pretty fast, maybe fifty. He kept going faster and faster. I told him to slow down; but, instead, he stepped on the gas. I leaned over the front seat, and shouted: 'Jack, you are high on reefers! Stop the car! "But he paid no attention, and began to complain that something must be wrong with the car because he couldn't get up any speed.
"Louise complained about going too slow too; and, even though we were hitting 80, she told Jack to step on it. "'I can walk faster than this! I am going to get out and walk, and beat you there!' she hollered. Before I could grab her, she opened the front door and jumped out. It was terrible!
"When I looked back at Louise, I saw two cops following us. One stopped by Louise, but the other one kept right after us. I prayed that he would stop us before we had a wreck. Jack didn't even seem to notice that Louise had jumped out. I yelled to him to slow down because there was a cop right behind us.
"He only laughed, and said, 'You're crazy! Louise will beat us there if we don't hurry.' "Then I saw him start to pass the car in front, while a car was coming toward us. "'Jack, there's a car coming!' I screamed. 'Don't pass now!' But he went on like a madman, laughing: 'I can make it easy! That car is miles away,' he was saying just as we collided.
"That's all I remember," she said weakly. "Jack was always such a good driver, never reckless; I have ridden with him lots. But today he drove like a maniac. I guess he was high on refers.
"Will I live?" she asked, pathetic appeal in her voice and eyes.
"You'll be all right; what you need right now is some rest," the doctor assured her. "You'd better go to sleep now." A thorough search of the boy's clothes netted several hand-rolled marihuana cigarettes. The doctor fumbled them incredulously, looking at them quizzically as if unable to believe that such harmless-looking cigarettes could hold such tragedy.
Yes, in those cigarettes was the real story of the wreck, the story behind the story, - a story that for some strange reason seldom reaches the newspapers. If this were an isolated experience, it would not be told here. Actually it is typical of many that are occurring every month throughout the nation. The sorry experience of these youths is a tragic echo of numerous accidents in the past, and a grisly harbinger of more to come”.
Now, before going any further, I wish to make it clear that NO ONE is accusing Mr. Rowell of acting in a false manner of any kind. He was a highly respected theologian of his day, as well as head of California’s division of the “White Cross anti-Narcotics League”; --- One of the few groups with the courage to have stood up to Anslinger. In fact he himself personally would suffer much as a direct result of this opposition to Anslinger’s drug polices.
Instead it’s simply being pointed out that Mr. Rowell (like many other writers), embellishing his writings so as to make them a (ah) bit more exciting and a lot less boring. This other works dealing with the overtly fictional character of David Dare are full of such examples. Thus, like the famous (yet fictional) story about George Washington chopping down the cherry tree. We should see some of Rowell’s short stories as being placed there, not as factual material, but solely for emphases. And for the following reasons:
- First, (using a Modern Day Internet map, as well as a 1930’s Sandborn Map) and following the route of Highway 30, shows that there is really only one possible urban location for the accident (intersection of Broadway + Hy30), in San Bernadino. But there are no records of either an Officer Mc Farland or Officer Lee. This does not mean that they did not exist, but only that after a good faith effort we have not been able to locate either of them.
- Next, remembering that crude newsroom expression, “If it bleeds, it leads”, logic and reason would imply that such an accident (four dead, maybe five), would certainly make for front-page news. Yet for all our searching (and its been quite a lot), nothing. Now this does not mean that no such mention exists. For, in trying to prove the negative, it doesn’t matter how many articles show no such mention, it can always be said that “You just haven't looked hard enough, that it’s out there somewhere. But hey, with that said, there also comes a point, when you start thinking to yourself; ---Maybe there’s nothing there to find.
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Then the story contains some very subtle contradictions. For example, in one place it states: “the orderlies who perfunctorily removed five mangled bodies from the ambulances upon their arrival at the hospital” ---While in another it states: "'You follow the car!' Lee shouted. 'I'll pick up the girl.' Seeing she was in a very bad condition, he hailed a passing car, and asked them to take her to the hospital.”
- Next, while the chronological order of the story makes some sense: -- Four (probably High School students), decided to skip their last class and go out for a bit to eat. A place called, “Joe’s Barbecue” to eat some “Tamales”. Yes, tamales at a Barbecue place? - - - Now it’s not impossible for a place called “Joe’s Barbecue” to go around carrying and selling “Tamales,” but from a more logistical perspective, it does appear to be a bit of an odd combination.
Obviously not, or by now half the population of Colorado (which ended the prohibition some years ago), would have killed itself off by now. However, the story line does fit the facts, as they were perceived at the time, meaning that it draws its substance on the fictional but commonly believed notions of the day. Most if not all based on the works of fictional writers from the previous decades. It was all false and fictitious, but recalling what Hitler was alleged to have once said; “Tell a big enough lie and repeat it offen enough, and the people will believe. “
However, due to the popularity of Mr. Rowell’s book, (it was a hot seller), it did have an impact on the general public at the time about Marihuana and driving. Giving yet another example of why we had to outlaw the evil, THE WEED OF MADNESS.
Below is another take on the story, however, as can be seen, it seems to be solely a distortion of Rowell’s original version. In this version of the story, "Joe's Barbacue" has been moved down to below the Mexican border.
“Another physician, experimenting, said it seemed to take hours to walk to his desk, two steps away. A girl who had smoked a few reefers in Mexico became angry with her boyfriend as they were driving back. "If you're afraid to go any faster than this," she threatened, "I'm going to get out and walk." Pushing open the door she stepped out. The car was going 80 miles an hour, pursuing traffic officers reported.” -- Fortnight Newsmagazine Aug 20, 1951
OTHER DRIVING STORIES From the Reefer Madness Era
Surprisingly enough while the Marihuana intoxicated driver was given much talk during the campaign, there were very few actual examples given. in Anslinger’s Gore Files. In fact the following is all that we have been able to locate:
GORE FILE CASE #1:
THE HONKY -- “California - On June 22, 1958, about 2:30 A.M., two officers of the San Francisco Police Department noticed Joe Ross William Callegos, a Mexican, constantly blowing the horn of the automobile he was operating in downtown San Francisco. When the officers told Callegos that horn blowing at that hour was very annoying, Callegos sped away from them, on the wrong side of the street, completely disregarding traffic lights at two intersections. The officers pursued and finally overtook Callegos, who tried to throw away a marijuana cigarette. As one of the arresting officers picked up the cigarette, Callegos struck him and kicked the officer in the face and stomach as they handcuffed the defendant, who became so violent that the officers had to put cuffs on his feet to subdue him. During questioning Callegos appeared to be under the influence of a narcotic drug. Two marijuana seeds were found in one of his pockets.
How surprised and proud this Mexican Joe must have been if he ever learned that his horn-blowing and seed-carrying had been thus officially reported in such vivid detail by the U.S. Treasury department to Congress and by the U.S. Government to the United Nations. “ -- The Drug Hang Up, America's Fifty-Year Folly by Rufus King Quoting the TRAFFIC IN OPIUM AND OTHER DANGEROUS DRUGS
--- To which one must ask the question, why and how could a couple of hemp seeds, have caused all that horn blowing, etc? However, as an aside, This is a good example of a situation where (even when we have an exact name and exact date) we still have not been able to confirm whether this case actually happened or not. And granted, it isn’t very gory – So much so that one even wonders how and why it was even made mention of the Bureau of Narcotics. However, be that as it may, we have not (after a good faith effort) been able to confirm the incident. (We have contacted the city of S.F., the S.F.P.D., searched newspaper's, etc.)
GORE FILE CASE #2:
1939 - C. Dirschel - So. Milwaukee, Wisconsin - M - Drank brandy and smoked 2 marihuana cigarettes; arrested for reckless driving, speeding, injuring 4 persons before driving into a ditch. Mind blank at time arrest. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
--- At least Anslinger was honest enough in this case to mention the fact that alcohol was involved in the case. What he fails to mention was the extraordinary large amount of alcohol involved, as well as the fact that this particular driver had quite a history of drunk driving
[see http://reefermadnessmuseum.org/chap04/Wisconsin/TempWisconsin.htm for more details
GORE FILE CASE #3:
1936 - T. Goodwin - Philadelphia, Pa. - M - Arrested for driving auto in reckless fashion; also possession marihuana. Arrested Mind blank at time arrest. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
--- We’ve not been able to locate this particular gore file case, but given Anslinger’s track record, it’ll probably turn out to be yet another ha, ha case.
GORE FILE CASE #4:
Washington - 1945 -- Marihuana Found in Death Car - Thirty-four grains of marihuana were found in an automobile driven by John B. Payne, 19, when it collided with another car in northeast Washington on Sept. 23, 1945, resulting in the death of one woman and the injury of eight other persons. Evidence was presented to the coroner's jury that Payne had been associated with known marihuana traffickers and users. Under cross examination he admitted telling doctors at an Army induction examination that he had used as many as three marihuana cigarettes a day. Payne and the driver of the other car were fined $250 after pleading guilty in municipal court to charges of reckless driving. Mind blank at time arrest. - Arrested -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1945)
--- Once more we’ve not been able to locate this particular incident, but again given Anslinger’s track record, etc., etc.
OTHER DRIVING INCIDENTS:
In Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sheriff Blacklock, an ardent crusader against the weed, told us of a boy who, after school hours, drove a truck as a part-time job. One afternoon, while intoxicated with marihuana, he started after a group of his high-school friends, trying to run them down with his truck. They ran frantically for the sidewalks; he followed them, jumping the truck over the curb. As they ran through the gate and up on the porch of a house, he followed just behind and crashed through the fence into the porch, narrowly missing them. --- On the Trail of Marihuana the Weed of Madness (1939) By Earle Rowell
A young Boy in Nashville, after smoking a few of these cigarettes, developed an urge to kill just for the sake of killing. He jumped into the first automobile he could find and started down the street to run people down. He went viciously after anyone in sight, and succeeded in running over an old man, braking both his legs, before the police could stop him. --- Marihuana – the Weed of Madness, the killer weed 1938
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FOOTNOTES:
[1]- “Science Speaks to Young Men on Liquor, Tobacco, Narcotics, and Marijuana” by George Thomason, MD (1939)
[2]- Ibid.
[3]- S.F. Chronicle – March 5, 1945 p11 - “Of Hayheads And “Green Dragons”; An interview with F. J. Ferrall, chief of the State division of Narcotics.
[4]- It should be noted that (probably due to the transitional chaos between the old Bureau of Narcotics and today’s DEA), that federal permits to do scientific research into Marihuana were being issued in the late 1960’s, early 1970’s. However, once Richard Nixon’s “Control Substances Act” came into being, all permits for independent research into Marihuana research were STOPPED.
[5]- Comparison of the Effects of Marihuana and Alcohol on Simulated Driving Performance; Science Magazine: May 16, 1969.
[6]- By the way the D.O.T. stands for Department of Transportation.
[7]- U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - DOT HS 808 078 November 1993 - Marijuana and Actual Driving Performance Effects of THC on the Driving Performance.
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