THE REEFER MADNESS ERA CHAPTER 10.2.1 WHAT WAS ANSLINGER'S GORE FILE

10.2.1 - WHAT WAS ANSLINGER'S GORE FILE It has now been well documented that starting in 1932 the Federal Government took part in (as well as helped orchestrate) a mass hysteria campaign against the Medical Marihuana plant. Calling it "The Assassin of Youth," and claiming that its use was turning normally sane young men into hideous criminal beasts, sex fiends; the worst kind of cold blooded murderers etc. As part of that campaign, Harry J. Anslinger (our nations' first Drug Czar) ordered his DEA (than known as The Bureau of Narcotics) field agents to start the computation of what has now become known as "The Gore File." Case after case, example after example, of the most hideous and depraved criminal and sex acts imaginable. ALL allegedly committed, while under the evil influence of Medical Marihuana: A man under the influence of the drug attempted to shoot his wife but killed her grandmother instead and then committed suicide." A man 25 years old, charged with criminally assaulting a 10-year-old girl, entered a plea of not guilty because of insanity. He was convicted and sentenced to death." A young boy who had become addicted to smoking marihuana cigarets killed his father, mother, two brothers and a sister, wiping out the entire family except himself." And on and on. Soon other such cases (real or imaginary) about the evil effects of medical marihuana were being repeated, over and over again in newspapers and magazine articles throughout the country. While many of them may seem comical to us today, one must keep in mind that in the 1930's they were completely believed. After all, would the drug police lie to us? And let's face it, a newspaper headline that reads: "While under the influence of Medical Marihuana, that individual grabbed a meat cleaver and chopped that poor man's head off," sure sells. 10.2.1.1 - WHY THIS WEBSITE Obviously some historians have done investigations into the background of (at least) some of these cases, and to no one's surprised, have found no merit to their supposed medical marihuana links. However, doing such research can be very frustrating. One of the main stumbling blocks seemed to be the total lack of reference points; the Who, What, Where and When of the each of these cases. As an example, take a look at the following: "In Alamosa, Colo., a degenerate brutally attacked a young girl while under the influence of the drug. - American Magazine; "Marijuana, Assassin of Youth" By H.J Anslinger - July 1937 If this was all you had to go on, it would be very hard to locate anything about the incident. Yes someone (under the influence of Marihuana) did rape a young girl, but Who was that person? Where did the incident take place, and What was the date, etc? You can bet your bottom dollar that the D.E.A. is not going to be forthcoming with much in the way of details. [One can only wonder, why?] Thus the reason for this index. The museum has collected so many Reefer Madness era articles, from newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, etc. It has been possible for us to pool together many bits and pieces, from various publications. Using the above example, here are two other write ups about the same incident: "Alamossa Daily Courier Colo. -- [The Editor] Describing an attack by a Mexican American allegedly under the influence of marihuana on a girl of his region. -- Two weeks ago a sex-mad degenerate, named Lee Fernandez, brutally attacked a young Alamosa girl. He was convicted of assault with intent to rape and sentenced to ten to fourteen in the state penitentiary. Police officers here know definitely that Fernandez was under the influence of marihuana. --The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs, Dec 1936 "It happened in Colorado. In August, 1936, in Colorado a sex-mad degenerate brutally attacked a young girl. He was convicted of assault with intent to rape, and was sentenced to ten to fourteen years in the state penitentiary. Police officers knew definitely that the man was under the influence of marihuana. It was stated by a resident at the time that this was one case in hundreds of murders, rapes, petty crimes, and insanity that have occurred in southern Colorado in recent years because of marijuana. --Heath Magazine, Oct 1938 Notice that one gives a date, another gives a name, and the third gives a geographic location. Individually they mean nothing, but pool together they can be used to identify an incident. But please note, the purpose of this index (a work in progress) is thus solely to provide a reference point, a means of helping the scholar to identify the incidents. It therefore serves only as a starting point or a way for future research into the subject of governmental dis-information. 10.2.1.2 - HISTORICAL NOTES Collectively all of these cases have become known as Anslinger's Gore File, named after Americans first Drug Czar Harry J. Anslinger (who served as head of the D.E.A. from 1930 until 1963) and recognized by many as a master of disinformation as well as the originator of the anti-medical marihuana laws. However it is of interest to note that some of the cases pre-date Anslinger, and that these horror stories continued to be collected by the bureau of narcotics (later called the DEA) long after Anslinger was out of power, well into the 1970's. BACK TO CHAPTER 10.2 INDEX PAGE