THE ANTIQUE CANNABIS BOOK
Chapter 4 - (2nd Edition)
North Carolina

Pre-1937 MEDICAL CANNABIS USE
IN NORTH CAROLINA

Section 2
About the BOONE NAME and the Drugstore:


The sir name Boone is supposed to be rather common here in this area of the country, ----aka, Daniel Boone (the frontiersman), Pat Boone (the actor/signer) etc, all come from this area.   Thus, no real significance should be placed on the fact that both the drugstore (filling the prescription), as well as the doctor (writing it), both had the same sir name.   It was strictly happenstance.   If one looks at the doctors' office and the location of the Boone Drugstore (about 2 blocks away), one can see how so many Dr. Boone prescriptions ended up at the Boone Drugstore, where (many years in the future) a woman pharmacist was able to collect them and put them in storage.   Where many years after that, this museum curator was able to sort through them.

ABOUT THE DR. BOONE’S:
It is easy to see Dr. Boone as being solely one individual, but he was actually two doctors.   One being Dr. H.H. Boone (the elder), who practiced medicine here in Durum N.C. from 1890 to 1945.   And his son, Dr. H.W. Boone, who practiced medicine with his father from 1925 to 1980.

The key thing for us to understand is that Dr. Boone (the elder), started practicing medicine at a time when compounding drugs was the norm, while Dr. Boone (the younger) started his practice when ‘Brand Name’ pre-formulated medicines were starting to become the common norm.   Example;

Holloseay1929
Example of a compound medical prescription:


Neurosine
Example of a prescription by brand name
(Cannabis has already been pre-mixed in):

Judging by the prescriptions, it seems that the son seemed to follow in the father’s footsteps, which is one of the reasons that we have been able to obtain as many Medical Cannabis prescriptions as we have.

However, there is one, even more important feature about the Boone collection; - They were mostly written during the height of the Reefer Madness era.   And here we must not forget that during the 1930’s, our government launched a massive dis-information campaign against the use of Medical Cannabis (now termed Marihuana).   Calling it the ‘Killer Drug”, “The Assassin of Youth” etc., etc.   Claiming that under its deadly influence, young boys were grabbing axes and chopping people's heads off, and that young scantly clad collage co-eds were jumping out of fifth windows, etc.   And of course, our narcotics police would never lie to us, so it had to be true.   Yet, here were a couple of doctors ACTUALLY prescribing the “Weed of Madness” to their patients!

I’ve always wondered what would happen if a humorous person were to write a letter to the North Carolina State Board of Licensing, asking that these doctors (posthumously) have their right to practice medicine revoked.
Dear State of North Carolina
Office of Medical Ethics
Mr/s
I demand that these two doctors have their medical licenses (posthumously) revoked.   Look at these prescriptions, ALL for the “Weed of Madness”.   For shame, oh for shame . . . . etc. ha, ha, ha. . . . !!!
Yours very anonymously
Antique Cannabis Museum
Of course they would laugh it off (or at least I hope they would), and simply write back with something about the statue of limitations having run out, etc. But the fundamental issues would still remain.   These doctors WERE writing these prescriptions during the very height of the Reefer Madness era.

Granted, most of their patients wouldn’t know that Medical Cannabis and Marihuana, were one and the same thing, but surely they (being doctors) would.   So what gives, were these doctors a couple of “Unwashed Hippies?”   Or were they sadists who wanted to see their patients go out and commit acts of violence while under their care?   Or were they stupid, and simply didn’t read what the Narc’s were saying about the affects of this “Killer Weed”?

A subject which forces us to look at the Boone’s, NOT just at their prescriptions for Medical Cannabis.

Here are the facts as this author sees them:
  • First of all, the Boone’s were not hung up on Cannabis.   Of the (approximately) 10,000 Boone prescriptions that I saw, I was only able to locate about 200 (a small fraction of the total) that made mentioned of Cannabis.

  • Whenever Cannabis was prescribed, (judging by related factors) it seemed to be for appropriate medical reasons.

  • Then there is the fact that the Boone’s were not above prescribing other (what we would now call) control substances.   [See next page]   However, they did so only in a very limited number of cases, and it appears that it was done in a professional manner.
Thus, after review of these conclusions, this author finds great difficulty in believing that they were acting in an inappropriate manner.

However, (you might ask), what about the Reefer Madness campaign, didn’t it affect their practice?   The answer had to be yes, but here again we must look at the various factors.

First, Dr. Boone (the elder) had been practicing medicine since long before the campaign got under way, and had been prescribing Medical Cannabis for years and years, with no ill effects.   Thus we can only assume that his views on the subject followed those of a druggist, who when queried about the subject from the narcotics police, wrote back --- “UTTER ROT!”

And young Dr. Boone would surely have queried his father about the matter, and must also have come to the same conclusion.

Next, we must understand that the Reefer Madness campaign DID not affect everyone equally.   Our sister museum [www.ReeferMadnessMuseum.org], has documented hundreds of Crimes, alleged by the narcotics police, that were committed as a direct result of the use of Medical Marihuana.   Yet NONE of them coming out of North Carolina.   Thus the campaign, while still in place, was not as active in North Carolina as it was in other parts of the country.

Boone Drugstore
Boone Drug store - era 1940's:


Boone Drugstore
Site of the Boone Drug store today:
(Courtesy Durham County Library)



PRIVACY ISSUES:
Why we’ve censored prescriptions names:

In the past this museum has used the standards set forth by the Russian prophet, Alexander Solzhenitsyn. In his book ‘The Gulag Archipelago’,he states that --Yes, while public airing of such matters, might cause embarrassment to some.   That our obligations to the living (i.e. those who need Medical Cannabis now) far outweigh our obligations to the dead.

And let’s face it; ---There are those out there, who are hurting (some quite badly), because of an ill-advised (some would say evil) public policy, that public viewing of some records can help change.   And legally, as the census bureau releases census data/names after only 70 years, and as no one from the 19th century has come to us and made complaint.   From a technical (legal) perspective, we are okay.

HOWEVER, as time has gone on, this museum has had to reevaluate this policy. --- Especially when dealing with its North Carolina collection.   And for the following reasons:
  • Due to some of the dates (some from the late 1930’s), there is a fair chance that some of the individuals (or immediate family members) mentioned might still be alive today AND still living in the same geographic area.   And believe me, North Carolina ISN’T the kind of place where you want it to be known that your mother/grand mother made use of medical cannabis, period.   And even if one were to play the role of the Devil's advocate, what good would it do (to cancer victims or anyone) by letting it be known that (let’s say) a present day school teacher had a grandmother who made use of Medical Cannabis?

  • Next, there is the race factor, - Due to the Jim Crow laws (something about racial zoning laws), it’s possible to tell your race, just by where you lived.   And yes many of these prescriptions detail addresses.

  • Then there is the courtesy factor that seems to come into play here. I myself once wrote a ‘Letter to the Editor’ to an African magazine complaining about an article that they had published dealing with Cannabis. They published the article, but deliberately misspelled my name as well as changed the city that I lived in.   This was not done in malice but, knowing that Medical Cannabis was illegal in our country, as a means to protect my identity from the police.   Thus it can be viewed as a very kind gesture on their part.

    NOTE: As of the time of this write-up, some butt-hole on WikiLeaks just posted the names of individuals, in effect, assuring their assassination.   He should go and work for the Narc’s, he’ll be a natural.
BOTTOM LINE, here is our new museum policy.   Patient names will be shown if the prescription was written before 1920, but will be censored if written after this date.   However, if you are involved in legitimate research, the museum will make full copies available - under the condition that the privacy of individuals mentioned be respected.





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.  
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