August 2, 2014

NYT reports: "A widow and her four children have been driven insane by eating the Marihuana plant..."

"... according to doctors, who say that there is no hope of saving the children’s lives and that the mother will be insane for the rest of her life."

From a 1927 NYT article — "Mexican Family Go Insane" — quoted a Forbes article titled "A Century Later, The New York Times Rejects The Anti-Marijuana Propaganda It Peddled."

17 comments:

The Crack Emcee said...

I was just saying, on the other thread, the stuff whites have been peddling - as an education - is criminal. It's the main reason race in this country is such a sham:

Whites believe the lies they're told, and let others wrestle with reality and the truth.

Then whites deny it and wonder why nobody likes them and the ugly charade - organized by their white forefathers - can never end.

Good catch by Forbes, BTW,...

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Wonder when NYT will get around to rejecting it's pro-Stalin propaganda?

Phil 314 said...

If only they had Doritos back then, they would've been fine.

Fernandinande said...

"They" still automatically say "bath salts" or "LSD" at headline time when some crazy guy acts crazy, then weeks later when they're wrong it's no longer headline material.

John henry said...

Is this a corollary to the Gell-mann effect?

Briefly, we read something in the paper that we have personal knowledge about, find it to be completely wrong, Then we accept the next article, having no personal knowledge as being gospel true.

NY Times prints stuff like this 90 years ago, or like Duranty's stuff on Stalin and yet today we read about global warming, Obama or other stuff in the Times and nod our heads as if they are telling us the truth.

John Henry

John henry said...

Perhaps off topic, but related to MJ. (Or MH?)

Terry Southern (Magic Christian, Blue Movie, Dr Strangelove etc) wrote a great book back in the 60's called "Red Dirt Marijuana and other Tastes" A collection of short stories, many of which have to do with MJ.

I just noticed that my copy is right in mid-shelf within arm's reach of my desk. Been a few years since I read it, perhaps this is a hint.

Buy it through Ann's Amazon portal. It is pretty good.

Carol said...

Just like politicians, the NYT can't afford to get too far out in front of popular opinion.

Anyway, I demand equal time for codeine and benzedrine.

Anonymous said...

We just don't call crazy, crazy anymore. Smoking dope, living in your parents basement, putting your penis in another mans ass, living off the government dole.... These are considered normal now.

Once upon a time we called crazy people insane.

n.n said...

They were trying to dissuade people from escaping reality through consumption of psychotropic drugs, including alcohol. It was a noble effort. Unfortunately, many, perhaps most, people will only ever learn through experiencing the consequences of a dysfunctional convergence first-hand.

Religion (i.e. morality) or moderate behavior is difficult and must be voluntarily accepted. Men and women are corrupted by dreams of instant or immediate gratification. Dissociation of risk is the opiate of the masses, which is why Marxist (i.e. left-wing) philosophy in its many forms is a cause for hope and change, and means for exploitation.

That said, an individual's rights end where the rights (e.g. right to life) of another human life begin.

buwaya said...

Reminiscences of my late Mexican father in law - back in the 1920's in Mexico, smoking marijuana was considered an Indian thing as opposed to a Mestizo thing, and was definitely looked down on. Which is why La Cucaracha (the dictator Huerta) was said to smoke it. Calling him a (brown) cucaracha and marijuana smoking were putdowns of his Indian origins. Much of the professional Mexican army, Huertas power base, was Indian like Huerta.
Marijuana racism is not a US thing.

Writ Small said...

From the Forbes headline, you would assume that in the 1927 piece the Times either editorialized for the prohibition of Marijuana using that story as an example or in a news story concluded that Marijuana caused the insanity. Instead, you find that it is a news story in which Mexico City doctors believed and asserted that false connection. The Times reported the doctors' conclusions. Meh. The worst the newspaper could be accused of was a sensationalist headline - exactly the crime Forbes here commits.

Moneyrunner said...

The science is settled. You don't want to be a science denier, do you?

jameswhy said...

Most of what you think is true about cannabis is government propaganda circa 1930 from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and it's J Edgar Hoover wanna-be director, Harry Anslinger.

Much of his BS was anti-Hispanic and anti-black in nature and the tales he spread to the newspapers of all the crime and immorality cased by cannabis use were totally fictional.

He is the reason why cannabis, an ancient and quite useful flower, is considered a dangerous drug.

Anonymous said...

Jameswhy,

There's also the reason, because it is.

That and what you said.

Fernandinande said...

"Tales Of The Texas Rangers*.
November 18, 1951.
"Wild Crop". "After a cowboy is found beaten to death, the smell of marijuana gives Jace Pearson the clue needed to track down the killer."

*Good show if you like OTR.

lonetown said...

The NYT participated in the dissemination of propaganda??

What else is new?

Achilles said...

And in the decades since the prohibitionists haven't really learned anything new. Prohibition is just an excuse to kick in any citizens door anytime they want.
The prohibitionists are ignorant tools just like poor people or black people that vote for Democrats and are surprised when their policies make them worse off.