INDUSTRIAL HEMP DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR EVEN THE BOY SCOUTS WERE EXPECTED TO GET INVOLVED A BIT OF IRONY In the greatest flip-flop that's ever occurred, Marihuana went from being, "The Killer Drug," to becoming one of growing "Hemp for Victory.”   Although the subject is a serious one, still one can’t help but look back on it and laugh a bit over what happened.   Almost over night, Hemp (the Marihuana plant) went from being “the weed of madness,” a thing to be loathed and destroyed, into a very vital necessity, one that only traitors to America’s war effort did not want to grow. The irony of it all here it that the whole War Against the Weed (with slogans such as, “The Assassin of Youth”) had allegedly been fought in the name of the children.   Hemp (renamed to the more Mexican sounding MariJuana), was supposedly a dangerous substance, so dangerous that it had to be outlawed in order to protect our young people.   After all, weren’t young girls jumping out of fifth story windows, and weren’t young boys grabbing axes and killing people under its deadly influence?   Yet now (again almost over night) we were asking, no begging those same young people to actively grow the plant. "Food Will Win The War" The bottom of this letter says "Food Will Win The War", and in the early months of the war, with so many man joining the armed services, that wasn't very far from the truth. Note the date, just a few weeks into the war.   The irony was that within just a few short weeks they will be begging farmers to grow Hemp for the war effort. Note the date, just a few weeks into the war.   Within months they will be begging farmers to grow Hemp for the war effort. Note the date, just a few weeks into the war.   Within months they will be bagging farmers to grow Hemp for the war effort. WANT TO KNOW MORE: ===================== Due to space / download time considerations, only selected materials are displayed.   If you would like to obtain more information, feel free to contact the museum.   All our material is available (at cost) on CD-Rom format. CONTACT PAGE BACK TO SECTION IV