Pubdate: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 Source: New Haven Register (CT) Copyright: 1999, New Haven Register Contact: http://www.ctcentral.com/cgi-bin/w3com/start?ctcentral+FrontPage Forum: http://www.ctcentral.com/ Author: Billy Stevens Note: 2nd of 3 PUB LTEs in the Register today CITING ANSLINGER WAS BAD IDEA You recently printed a letter by Anthony Dirienzo, who argued Harry Anslinger's speeches should be studied for reasons to jail pot smokers. Anslinger was the "reefer madness" king of the 1930s campaign to make marijuana illegal, using racist arguments. In 1937, he told Congress there were 50,000 to 100,00 marijuana smokers in the United States, mostly "Negroes and Mexicans, and entertainers," and their "satanic" music (jazz and swing) combined with marijuana to cause white women "to seek sexual relations with Negroes." Well, like many black people, I like jazz and swing, I like marijuana, I study and work very hard, and I object to the revival of Anslinger nastiness in the guise of "protecting" us from "evil." Too bad Dirienzo doesn't instead attack the grossly racist enforcement of Anslinger's laws to this day. Billy Stevens, Branford - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D