THE ROLE OF BOOKS THAT SHAPED THE REEFER MADNESS CAMPAIGN

	THE REEFER MADNESS ERA BOOKS OF DIS-INFORMATION

THE ROLE OF BOOKS THAT SHAPED THE REEFER MADNESS CAMPAIGN

The main objective of any dis-information campaign is to shape and then control public opinion. In the case of the Reefer Madness campaign, this would mean imprinting the impression that only criminals, sex trade workers and people of the lowest classes (meaning blacks and Mexicans) would ever make use of Medical Marihuana etc. And given how well orchestrated the dis-information campaign was conducted. It is obvious that any useful medium of dissemination would NOT have been ignored by them.

Remembering that the Internet (nor television for that matter) existed back in the 1930’s, it also becomes obvious that books played a much greater role in peoples lives back then.

The same (successfully used) tactics used by them to control other forms of media were also applied to the pulp novels.

Technical and logistical support was provided only to pro-Reefer Madness authors and publishers.
Every action was taken to create the image that there was only one side to the issue.
Never debate the subject; work only with those that fully support the anti-Medical Marihuana laws.

And the tactics worked and worked very well. To this very day, many still believe that "one puff of a Medical Marihuana cigarette will automatically lead to a life of degradation, addiction and depravity. However, we would be fooling ourselves if we thought the evil hand of the drug police was everywhere. Unlike magazine editors (with the exception of encyclopedias), no evidence exists of government coercion of any pulp fiction writers or their publishers. But as these covers show, none was needed, many a publisher was in it solely for the money. And soon they had writers jumping over each other to see who could write the most outrageous story lines. As for the truth, it was boring and probably wouldn't have sold anyway. Reefer Madness simply made for more fun and money.

Historically speaking, no doubt some of the authors actually believed their own works, but many others were simply in it for the money -- and so, let the truth be damned. Of such was the stuff of the Reefer Madness campaign.

Here we have separated the general term “BOOKS” by their three (Reefer Madness based) sub-categories:

HARDCOVER BOOKS:
These (for the most part) were considered at the time to have been non-fictional works, written by professions in their fields. And even when these hardbacks were acknowledged as being works of fiction, they were still seen as authoritative works. As an example would the New York Times have written this kind of a book review on (let us say), a pulp fiction novel:

MARIJUANA MYSTERY By Mary Stimson
"A murder at a previously peaceful seaside resort in California engages the attention of a young man who decides to do a little amateur sleuthing, since the authorities seem to have given the case up as hopeless. He is soon joined by three other amateurs, and while these four discover nothing of any consequence concerning the murder, they learn something of other goings-on that seem to call for investigation. Since the title of the book is a giveaway, we violate no confidence in saying that the story deals in part with the marijuana traffic. Besides the four amateurs, there is a Federal agent on the spot who does not, at first, welcome the fumbling efforts of the volunteers. The time comes, however, when he is grateful for their assistance. “Marijuana Mystery” has a few exciting moments, but not much bafflement." -- New York Times – June 30, 1940 p76 (book reviews)

PULP-FICTION (aka Dime Store) NOVELS:
For the most part, these provide us with the greatest of greatest art work known to the Reefer Madness Era. However, for the most part they were considered works of junk (even during their time) which slipped under the radar screens of the censors. Again, the conspirators were not under every rock and some people were in it simply for the money. Today we can at least enjoy the art work.

PAMPHLETS, (Booklets and leaflets):
Almost totally forgotten today is the role-played by these ominous but ever present little booklets. Cheap and simple to produce, these were the favorite of numerous (ah, how shall we say it), less than scrupulous individuals who thought to make their living off the Reefer Madness Campaign. Hey, anyone can tell you not to steal, the Narc’s hate the competition.

Something typical of these pamphlets – This one put out by the Western Missionary Army.

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THE HARDCOVERS

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