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Archive Gallery: PopSci on Drugs

Posted 1.7.11 at 11:07 am 1 Comments

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Dope Sandwiches and Heroin Apples: December 1919

In 1918, the Secretary of Treasury appointed a special committee to study nationwide drug trafficking. They reported dope-smuggling cost the United States $61 million per year, while an increased number of minors were struggling with addiction. Although everyone from housewives, to actresses, to businessmen, to farmers were susceptible to the problem, we reported that prisoners used particularly clever means to procure a steady supply of drugs. Visitors could slip them a "dope sandwich," or two dollar bills with a thin film of cocaine hidden between them. If you couldn't afford to give away two dollars, you could also sneak some powder between torn corners of a postcard. Even more smugglers sewed cocaine into the hemlines of their coats, injected fruit with heroin, or baked opiates into bars of soap. Apparently, not much has changed in the last 100 years.

Read the full story in "The Death That Lurks in Dope"

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Read the article: Archive Gallery: This Is PopSci On Drugs

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jxluna

01/17/11 at 4:01 pm

Wow. What a profound misinformation campaign has been carried out against cannabis! The PopSci May 1936 article was particularly amusing, as it contained NO science whatsoever, only wild speculation, hearsay, and ridiculous assumptions. I can only hope that PopSci today is much more thorough in their research and exploration.

Articles such as these, which classified cannabis as a narcotic, and grouped it in with genuinely dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine, contriubted to the misinformation and false assumptions about marijuana which many people still cling to today.

It is stunning that the DEA has not realized the folly of their enforcement policies. One need only look at Prohibition to understand that restricting the sale of a product which presents no immediate danger to the consumer or his surroundings, is both counterproductive and regressive. In fact, alcohol is indisputably much more destructive and dangerous than any possible manisfestation of marijuana.

This falls under the category of trying to "protect people from themselves", which should never be the role of government. When government replaces the role of personal individual responsibility, it is no wonder that careless juvenile behaviour, addiction and irresponsibility run rampant. Additionally, the cost of the "War on Drugs" increases exponentially with no sign of real progress.

As in any War, we cannot possibly hope for victory until we identify the genuine threats and our real enemies. Cannabis is neither.