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The Online Reefer Madness Teaching Museum
The American Journal of Police
Science
- Vol. 2 --1931 pp252
MARIHUANA AS A DEVELOPER OF CRIMINALS
By EUGENE STANLEY
District
Attorney, Parish of Orleans, New Orleans, La.
Many
prosecuting attorneys in the South and Southwest have been confronted with the
defense that, at the time of the commission of the Criminal act, the defendant
was irresponsible, because of being under the influence of Marihuana to such a
degree he was unable to appreciate the difference between right and wrong, and
was therefore legally insane. A
great deal of difficulty has been experienced in rebutting this defense with the
testimony of psychiatrists, for, while some of these experts are conversant with
the nature and effect of this drug, it has been the experience of the author
that many of them are without any information on the subject.
This is probably due to the fact that this drug has come into wide use in
certain parts of the South only within the last ten years.
It
is the purpose of this article to give a brief outline of the nature and origin
of Marihuana and the Legislation so far enacted concerning its sale and use; to
recommend that this drug be placed within the provisions of the Harrison
Anti-narcotic Act, and to give a list of some of the works which may be
consulted by any person interested in making a thorough study of the situation.
Marihuana
is the Mexican term for Cannabis lndica. The
plant or drug known as Cannabis Indica, or Marihuana has as its parent the plant
known as Cannabis Sativa. It is
popularly known in India as Cannabis Indica; in America, as Cannabis Americana;
in Mexico, as Mexicana, or Marihuana. It
is all the same drug, and is known in different countries by different names.
It is scientifically known as Cannabis Sativa, and is popularly called
Cannabis Americana, Cannabis Indica, or Cannabis Mexicana, in accordance with
the geographical origin of the particular plant. In the East, it is known as Charras, as Gunga, as Hasheesh,
as Bhang, or Siddi, and goes by a variety of names in the countries of
continental Europe.
Cannabis
Sativa is an annual herb from the "hemp" plant; it has angular, rough
stems and deeply lobed leaves. It
is derived from the flowering tops of the female plant of hemp grown in
semitropical and temperate countries. It
was once thought that only the plant grown in India was active, but it has been
scientifically determined that the American specimen termed
"marihuana" or "Muggles" is equal in potency to the best
weed of India. The plant is a
moraceous herb. In the South,
amongst the negroes, it is termed "mooter."
In India, where marihuana is scientifically cultivated on a wide scale
for the drug obtained from it, the plants, when small, are separated, the female
plant being used exclusively for the purpose of obtaining the drug.
In Mexico and in America, the plants are permitted to grow together
indiscriminately, without separating the male and female specimens, and as a
result the potency of the female is lessened by the admixture of the male
element. In semitropical climates,
because of the fertility of the soil and the ease with which hemp seed may be
procured, the plant can easily be cultivated, and prohibition of its cultivation
is rendered practically impossible. It
resembles a weed, and has been found growing in some of the back yards and lots
of cities. Traffic in it, and in the drug derived from it, has been
found to be considerable, particularly in the South and Southwestern States.
CULTIVATION
OF HEMP
Hemp
is cultivated all over the world; its culture probably originated in China, from
whence it spread. It is grown for
three purposes; for the fibre, out of which rope, twine, cloth and hats are
made; for the seed, from which a rapidly drying oil is obtained that is used in
the arts and as a commercial substitute for linseed oil; and for the narcotic
contained in the resin of the dried, flowering tops of the pistillate plant.
The seed is also sold as a constituent of commercial bird seed.
Hemp
was grown in the New England colonies for fibre to be used in the making of
homespun. It was also grown in the
Virginia and Pennsylvania colonies and cultivated at a very early date in the
settlements of Kentucky, whence the industry spread to Missouri.
It has been grown at various times in Illinois, near Champaign; in the
Kankakee river valley, in Indiana; in Southeastern Pennsylvania and in Nebraska,
Iowa and California. It is now
abundant as a wild plant in many localities in Western Missouri, Iowa, Southern
Minnesota and in the Southwestern and Western States, where it is often found as
a roadside weed. It is not known
when the plant was introduced into Mexico and the Southwest, but probably along
with the early Spanish settlements. It
was known in Chile in the 16th Century.
The
hemp first cultivated in the United States was of the small European variety,
but this has been replaced since 1857 by the larger Chinese hemp.
Practically all the seed for present day American hemp culture is grown
in tile Kentucky river valley,.
CANNABIS
INDICA OR SATIVA
Cannabis
Sativa is designated as a "narcotic" in a number of State laws.
It is sometimes mentioned in the law as "loco weed" because of
its inebriate effect upon men and cattle; in others as "marihuana,"
"hemp," or "hashish"; in fact the drug is known by a wide
variety of names. It is one of several drugs included under the anti-narcotic
laws of 17 states, namely: Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana. New Mexico, Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington,
Utah, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa.
It is also prohibited under the laws of Mexico and England. In a great
many of the States where this legislation was enacted, so widespread was the use
of marihuana, and so terrific the result, that grave emergencies were declared
to exist which justified the legislation taking effect immediately, and
restrictions respecting tile smoking of "hemp" are mentioned along
with those restricting opium smoking.
Although
the different forms of the plant have been described under various botanical
names, there are no essential differences in any of their specific
characteristics, and all cultivated or wild hemp is now recognized as belonging
to one species---Cannabis Sativa.
The
Origin of the Drug
The
origin of the drug is very ancient.
In
the year 1090, A. D., the religious and military order or Sect of the Assassins
was founded in Persia, and the numerous acts of cruelty of this sect was known
not only in Asia, but in Europe as well. This
branch of the Shiite sect, known as Ismalites, was called Hashishan, derived
from Hashish, or the confection of hemp leaves (Cannabis Indica).
In fact, from the Arabic "Hashishan" we have the English word
"Assassin." It is
mentioned in the Arabian Nights, and was known at the time of the crusades.
It was known to the Greeks as "Nepenthe," and was lauded in the
immortal Odyssey of Homer as a drug to lull all pain and anger, and to bring
forgetfulness of all sorrow.
It
was known in ancient times to the Egyptians, and its use in Egypt, at the
present time, is wide-spread. In
fact, it is presently as widely used amongst the Egyptians, and in the East, as
opium is used by the Chinese, and alcohol by the Americans and Europeans.
Its effect upon the Malays has been terrific, and the natives of the Malayan
Peninsula have been known, while under its influence, to rush out and
engage in violent or bloody deeds, with complete disregard for their personal
safety, or the odds arrayed against them. To
run "amok" in the Malay Peninsula is synonymous with saying one is
under the influence of this drug.
In
America, particularly in the South and Southwestern portions of the United
States, it is called marihuana. It
is popularly known amongst the criminal element as "muggles," or
"mooter" and addicts are commonly termed "muggle heads."
THE
EFFECT OF THE USE OF THE DRUG
The
flowering tops of the female plant are the source from which the drug is
obtained, and in America these flowering tops are gathered and rolled into
cigarettes and smoked, the smoke being inhaled. A favorite method of enjoying these cigarettes is for the
user to draw the smoke into the mouth and then blow it out against the cupped
hands, whence lie inhales it.
In
India, marihuana or "muggles" is mostly used in "ganja"
form, which is the Indian name for a mixture of the stems, leaves and flowering
tops of the cultivated female plant. It
is smoked, as in America, in the form of cigarettes, or in a pipe; its smell is
typically offensive, and is easily recognized by the initiated.
Bhang
or siddi, are the Indian names for the mixture of these dry leaves and capsules
without stems, whether male or female, cultivated, or in its wild state.
It is the cheapest and the weakest of all the preparations of hashish,
and is taken as "tea." In
that country, the resinous substance which exudes from the flowering head of the
female plant is called "charris," and is either smoked or taken in
pills or in confections, or mixed with sugar or honey, and is commonly sold
amongst the bazaars of Egypt and the far East.
In
many respects, the action of Cannabis Sativa is similar to that of alcohol and
morphine. Its toxic effects are
ecstasy, merriment, uncontrollable laughter, self-satisfaction, bizzare ideas
lacking in continuity, and its results are extreme hyperacidity, with occasional
attacks of nausea and vomiting. It
has also been described as producing, in moderate doses, anything from a mild
intoxication to a dead drunk, a drowsy and semi-comatose condition, lapsing into
a dreamy state, with a rapid flow of ideas of a sexual nature, ending in a deep
sleep, interrupted by dreams. On
awakening, there is a feeling of great dejection and prostration.
Large doses produce excitement, delusions, hallucinations, rapid flow of
ideas, a high ,state of ecstasy, psychomotor activity with a tendency to wilful
damage and violence, with a temporary amnesia of all that has transpired.
In cases of prolonged addiction, especially in the Malays, the somnolent
action of Cannabis Indica is replaced with complete loss of judgment and of
restraint-the effect so frequently observed in alcoholic intoxication.
It
is commonly used as an aphrodisiac, and its continued use leads to impotency.
This has been observed amongst the natives of India.
It
is an ideal drug to cut off inhibitions quickly.
At
the time of the founding of the religious sect or order of
"Assassins," in Persia, by Hassan Ben Sabbat, young men whom the Shiek
desired to subjugate were given this drug, and when under its influence, were
taken, blindfolded, into the garden of the Shiek, where every pleasure which
appealed to the senses awaited them.
When
complete indulgence in these pleasures had been had, they were taken from this
garden, arid so eager were they for a further opportunity to use the drug and
for a repetition of the attendant pleasures, that they were under the complete
domination of the Shiek, who alone knew its secret, and gladly followed his
will, even to the extent of sacrificing their lives if so commanded, in order
further to experience the pleasures to which they had been initiated.
At
the present time, the underworld has been quick to realize the value of this
drug in subjugating the will of human derelicts to that of a master mind.
Its use sweeps away all restraint, and to its influence may be attributed
many of our present day crimes. It
has been the experience of the Police and Prosecuting Officials in the South
that immediately before the commission of many crimes the use of marihuana
cigarettes has been indulged in by criminals, so as to relieve themselves from
the natural restraint which might deter them from the commission of criminal
acts, and to give them the false courage necessary to commit the contemplated
crime.
THE
GOVERNMENT'S ATTITUDE TOWARDS MARIHUANA
Indian
hemp (marihuana) addicts were made eligible for treatment in recent legislation
enacted by the 70th Congress, approved January 19th, 1929, establishing narcotic
farms for the confinement arid treatment of persons addicted to the use of
habit-forming narcotic drugs. This
legislation is somewhat unique in Congressional legislation, since Indian hemp
is not classified as a habit-forming drug or narcotic in other Federal narcotic
laws.
Inasmuch
as the harmful effects of the use of marihuana are daily becoming more widely
known, and since it has been classed as a narcotic by the statutory laws of
seventeen American States, England and Mexico, and since persons addicted to its
use have been made eligible for treatment in the United States Narcotic Farms,
the United States Government, will unquestionably be compelled to adopt a
consistent attitude towards it, and include it in the Harrison Anti-narcotic
Law, so as to give Federal aid to the States in their effort to suppress a
traffic as deadly and as destructive to society as that in the other forms of
narcotics now prohibited by this Act.
REFERENCES
See
American Illustrated Medical Dictionary (Dorland, 1927) "Marihuana."
ARNY,
HENRY V., Principles of Pharmacy, 3d ed. Philadelphia
and London, W. B. Saunders Company, 1926, 1078 pages.
"Cannabis": pp. 767-708. References:
p. 779. (BETHEA)---Materia Medica and _Prescription Writing, 1926, pp. 114-16.
Boyce,
Sidney S., Hemp (Cannabis Sativa) a practical treatise on the culture of hemp
for seed and fibre, with a sketch of the history and nature of the hemp plant.
New York, Orange Judd Company, 1900, 112 pp.
Briosi,
GIOVANNI, Intorno alla anatomia canapa (Cannabis Sativa)
Milano,
Tip. Beriiardoni di C. Rebeschini c
c., 1894-96. 2 v.
"Bibliografia":
v. 1, pp. 2-28; v. 2, pp. 14-38.
Century
Dictionary & Encyclopedia (Vol. 12, p. 771, 19W).
Daggett,
Charles H., Theory of Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Philadelphia and New York, Lea & Febiger, 1910, 539
pages. "Cannaibs Indica";
p. 480
Edmunds
C.W., and J.A. Gunn. A text-book of
pharmacology and therapeutics. 9th
ed. Philadelphia, Lea &
Febiger, 1928. 743 pages. "Cannabis";
pp. 280-282
Encyclopedia-Brittanica
(14th Ed. & 1929) --- Vo..II---p. 420---Hemp.
Evers,
Norman and G.D. Elsdon. The
analysis of drugs and chemicals. London,
C. Griffin and Comp[any (1929), 372 pages.
"Cannabis Indica" p. 190
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