Reefer Madness: A History of Marijuana

by Larry Sloman

Book Overview

Reefer Madness, a classic in the annals of hemp literature, is the popular social history of marijuana use in America. Beginning with the hemp farming if George Washington, author Larry "Ratso" Sloman traces the fascinating story of our nation's love-hate relationship with the resilient weed we know as marijuana.

Herein we find antiheroes such as Allen Ginsberg, Robert Mitchum (the first Hollywood actor busted for pot), Louis Armstrong...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312195230
• ISBN13: 9780312195236
• Release Date: November 1998
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 472 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Truly Madness

This is an entertaining but also truly enraging piece of American history. Sloman has been admirably thorough in detailing the recent history of this fascinating herb and the culture and law that has accrued to it. It cannot in all fairness be said that he has remained truly "objective" as he clearly has a position of his own. However, it can be said that he appears to present facts fairly and has researched the documentation and interviewed the survivors where possible. It is entertaining because Sloman is a fairly witty writer with a measured sense of self-deprecation. I found myself liking him. It will enrage many because of the sheer, obstinate, blood-minded nature of the establishment's determination not to see anything in cannabis that might shake its institutional prejudices and because of the catastrophic human costs to which this has led. The USA has a massively disproportionate number of the world's prison population, and most of them are in, often for shockingly long sentences, because their country chooses to criminalise their private use of psychoactive herbs. The word "fascist" has been heavily over-used, but in that fascism inheres in the suspension of freedoms justified by manufactured fear, US drug policy and Anslinger as an individual agent quite definitely qualify. The entire history of the establishment relationship with cannabis, not just in the USA but more widely in the Western world, has been one of creating inflated and selective accounts of harm associated with cannabis use in order to confabulate an agenda for criminalisation. It seems to come down to sociological prejudice against the Yippie and Hippie movements which Sloman describes, racial prejudice against black jazz culture and a simple unwillingness to let go of an unprofitable position in which so much has already been invested. Sloman's account of this will have libertarians spitting nails. Most infuriating is that these pious suits seem to regard the law as a mere tool to engineer society the way they want it; court rulings that endorse legitimate uses of cannabis are regarded as obstacles to be got around. The legalistic piety evaporates as soon as the law itself contradicts their true agenda. These are not people that hold the law to be supreme, these are people who regard the law as a stick with which to beat a lower class of people, and if it breaks in their hand they will grab another. Sloman drew to my attention one important detail of US Constitutional law of which I was only dimly aware. There is a hindrance to unilateral legalisation in that the USA is party to international treaties regulating traffic in certain substances. Very much to the contrary of the "we're independent and can do what we want" talk that was flying about prior to the Iraq war, Article 6 of the Constitution establishes that international treaties to which the USA is signatory are the Law of the Land, entrenched on a comparable footing to the Constitution itself. This is a ma

superb green

authoritative, elegant, informed, disturbing, enlightening and inspiring. Though I'm giving this work a 5, which is well-deserved, I will warn you. There is much in this work that will incite anger at the memory of Harry Anslinger, who evokes comparisons to all the freedom-haters (within and without America) currently destroying natural rights that should be beyond government's grasp. On this note, there is a "gore file" photo used by Anslinger in his marijuana-hate campaigns that is truly shocking and revolting. Just a warning as you're flipping through the photos that they are not all placid, green fields of scenery.The intro and afterword, not to mention the attractive cover design, enhance this superb book; also, the price is a bargain.

Tell your children, indeed

That is a pun based on the movie Reefer Madness which was originally called Tell your children. Now we have a book by Larry Sloman called Reefer Madness which documents the history of marijuana in the United States. Larry Sloman was once editor in chief at High Times magazine so it goes without say where he stands on the issue of the marijuana laws. There are points when his bias does show through a bit but overall he does mainly stick to the facts in the history of reefer. This is a very informative book with a lot of facts that many Americans do not know. I learned a lot about the origins of a lot of laws in this country. There are times he speculates on what various politicians are thinking when they meet or pass certain laws. This I do not like because he wasnt there and cant really know. I think the facts on their own speak loudly enough without this added feature. I do respect that he humanizes Harry Anslinger and discusses Anslingers dedication to an ailing wife and his fervent belief in his cause. I agree that Anslinger is responsible for one of the stupidest and most unconstitutional laws in this countrys history but he was still human. I also like that Sloman brings up the racial aspect of the dope laws which is still a major factor in the War on Some Drugs today. The ONDPC and DARE may not want you to read this book but it is probably closer to the truth than most of the propoganda they are shovelling.

EVERYONE Should Read This Book

Any person who believes that the U.S. government's official policy on marijuana is ridiculous and founded on myth rather than fact should read this book. It provides a meticulous review of the history of this drug in the USA, detailing in incredible detail the progression of the U.S. government's official position on the legal status of the drug. I found it to be very interesting, and easy to read. Any person who wants to know the true FACTS about this drug -- from initial movements by governmental officials to categorize it as a hazardous and illegal substance, to the examination of it's widespread use among a variety of subgroups in American society -- should read this book if they want to develop an effective, and accurate, argument on the subject.