In the late 1930s, “reefer madness” tales became common in the Canadian media – often reprinted from American sources. The Winnipeg Tribune published the over-the-top account below in 1937, even though RCMP confirmed in the addendum that “it is not used in Manitoba. We do not find any smokers.” G-Men Seek Green Goddess For Every Horrible Crime WinnipegRead more
The following is an excerpt from Frederick Peterson, M.D.’s 1893 book In Egypt. Accounts like the one below, linking hasheesh use with insanity, spurred the British government to create the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission the same year Peterson’s book was published. The commission concluded that cannabis is relatively harmless and should not be prohibited. “There is much that is interesting in theRead more
Although Canada banned cannabis in 1923, it didn’t really appear on anyone’s radar until the late 1930s. This Daily Colonist editorial, from Victoria, BC, reveals the ‘reefer madness’ that was taking hold. Ottawa has decreed, at long last, that the cultivation of marijuana can only be carried on with a licence from the Department of Health… TheRead more
In July 1938, influential medical journalist and JAMA editor Dr. Morris Fishbein devoted two issues of his syndicated column, The Family Doctor, to cannabis. The articles contain a fascinating mix of insights (“no two human beings are affected in exactly the same way”; “not believed to be habit forming in the same manner that opium andRead more
Ottawa RCMP had their first encounter with “Indian hemp” in 1932 when they seized a “large quantity” of the “deadly drug.” They boasted that they had “nipped in the bud the scheme of a syndicate to peddle the stuff.” Large Quantity Of Indian Hemp Seized by Police R.C.M.P. Detectives Arrest Two Men Charged With PossessionRead more
