Nov 09
17

Utah is responsible for the first statewide cannabis prohibition

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Police Harassment in Utah

Police Harassment in Utah

I have been researching the beginning of cannabis prohibition in the USA.  I have found several sources that show that the first prohibition of cannabis in the USA started with Mormons in Utah, without any science or logical reasoning.

Mormons which outlaw coffee, tea, alcohol, and tobacco for dogmatic religious reasons, banned cannabis when a group of Mormon missionaries returned from Mexico with cannabis.

This movie “High – A true tale of American Marijuana”  is a great show with truthful history of cannabis prohibition in the USA.
I HIGHLY recommend it!


“HIGH The True Tale of American Marijuana”

Also see a post that I made about this on xCannabis.com.

Also reference drugwarrant.com which has a great article on the subject.

The Short URL of this blog posting is http://slu2.com/cRE
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16 Responses to “Utah is responsible for the first statewide cannabis prohibition”

  1. Burt_LDS says:
    December 5, 2009 at 12:53 am

    Ryan

    In short order after reading your post about Utah being first State to outlaw Marijuana, I found that many sources Use Information a Charles Whitebread delivered to the California Judges association. he claims it is his own research! Ardis E Parshall discusses this claim in http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2009/01/09/the-grea… in his article he points out that the speaker claims to have talked with people associated with the Mormon National Tabernacle in Washington DC, he points out there is no such place! Not wanting to take his word for it even though what he said was what I wanted to hear I googled Mormon National Tabernacle. The results were all something to the effect of the Mormon Tabernacle Chior to sing the National Anthem, or recieved a national award or the Tabernacle was declared a national landmark. Not wanting to take a chance I googled Mormon Tabernacle washington dc, I found one reference to a Mormon Tabernacle by a Rachel Cooper, who blogs about Washington DC events on About.com The article was talking about the festival of Lights at the LDS Temple in Washington DC and said the Temple was also Known as the Tabernacle! As a former member you know that a Temple and A Tabernacle are two different kinds of Buildings! I can assure you that the History of Canabis in the LDS Church is not a subject a person working the Temple would have an official access to!

    Another point he talks about is the LDS Church had major settlements in Mexico in 1870, and non of the speakers claims of mass migrations of Mormons from Mexico took place like he claimed!

    The biggest error was his claim that Utah was the first to pass an Anti Canibis law in 1915 California passed its anti Hemp law in 1913! Again not wanting to trust a Mormon just because he is saying what I want to hear I googled it and found in in California Penal Code under Poison in section 8 I wa not able to verify which ammendment included it but the choices were 1913 and May of 1915 so either way it was before august or 1915!

    With that little bit of errors in the claim do you still want to trust the claim that Utah was first and the Mormon Church was behind it?

    Burt

    Reply
  2. Reverend Ryan says:
    December 5, 2009 at 1:52 am

    Burt, I would say that your problem is that you do too much talky talky and not enough listen.

    Listen to my video again, I gave California the credit for Hemp.

    However there are a few differences between industrial hemp, and marijuana.

    I mean why outlaw industrial hemp? It doesn't even get you high?

    It's because of greed. Big corporations misusing the government to further their own interests.

    As for there not ever being a "mass migration". There was nothing said about that at all.

    The claim was that Mormon missionaries returned from Mexico with marijuana.

    At what point do you hear anything about a "mass migration" of anyone?

    Burt, go ahead and listen to the video again. I think you might have missed a few things.

    Reply
  3. Burt_LDS says:
    December 9, 2009 at 5:20 am

    Ryan

    instead of makeing stupid comments about me not paying attention maybe you should have spent that time checking my information a little better then you did! Industrial Hemp was not banned until the 1930's Indian Hemp also known as loco weed in 1913, posible may of 1915, in a bill addressing medicinal poisons' The law made it illegal to use any marijuana in any form if it contained more then 4 grains per ounce of product! That is a very small amount!

    Therefore Smoking Marijuana became useless because you would have to mix 4 grains with one ounce of tabbacco or other substance to allow you to smoke it!

    I will say it again California was the first state to outlaw Marijuana then Utah then others followed!

    I was also surprised to learn that Washington D.C. outlawed marijuana in 1906!

    You said As for there not ever being a “mass migration”. There was nothing said about that at all.

    The claim was that Mormon missionaries returned from Mexico with marijuana.

    At what point do you hear anything about a “mass migration” of anyone?

    The information about a mass migration came from Charles Whitehead, the person that so many potheads are quoting claiming the Mormons are responcible for marijuana being outlawed! If your going to try to convince people that your right at least pay attention to what is being said!

    Burt

    Reply
  4. Reverend Ryan says:
    December 9, 2009 at 8:21 am

    Burt, I guess you're point is that Utah is not the first state to make cannabis illegal. Which makes me believe that you didn't even watch the video.

    Here are a few things that reveal to me that you are just talking out of your ass.

    1. You attempt to debate me saying "Utah isn't the first state to make cannabis illegal".

    My reply. Watch the video again, I certainly already addressed that point.

    2. You rebut a point that no one in this conversation made.

    "Another point he talks about is the LDS Church had major settlements in Mexico in 1870, and non of the speakers claims of mass migrations of Mormons from Mexico took place like he claimed!"

    My reply. I didn't make the claim that there was a mass migration, and if you watch that entire video, you will see that no one else did anyway.

    What the???!

    My last statement. Is what is your point?

    Can't the LDS work on something other than trying to take rights away from others? That is my question. You still haven't answered.

    Reply
  5. Reverend Ryan says:
    December 9, 2009 at 8:28 am

    I mean, whats so righteous about trying to make others less free? What is so Christlike about taking freewill away via law?

    Reply
  6. Burt_LDS says:
    December 14, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    First off I read your written words, if I can't trust your written words to say what you meant then what is the point of typing them?

    Second your statement that California may have been the first state to outlaw Marijuana, but you do not sound like you believe it! Then you throw out another claim that the Mormons have a lot of influence in California Politics!

    Do you realize that there are more Jews in Los Angeles then there are LDS members in the whole state?

    I have not been able to find the Demographic numbers for California religions in 1910 but I doubt the LDS Church had more then 5% of the population back then, because most converts moved to Utah during that time!

    My whole point in this discussion is since I first encountered you around 8 years ago, you have always latched onto anything you can find that makes the Mormons look bad and you do not care if it is true or not! And when someone points out that what you posted is not true, you attempt to ignore the facts and still claim it proves the LDS are bad!

    You want to look good in your arguments to legalize Marijuana, Point out that Marijuana was banned because some were worried that users of bad drugs that were being outlawed like opium and morphine users would turn to Marijuana when there drugs were outlawed! others banned Marijuana because mexicans used it! Some banned it because Jazz musicians used it! Others had other reasons for banning it! I can not find one article in any Utah newspapers were the LDS Church said a word about Marijuana between 1900 and 1915! (I use http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov to search for old news paper articles)

    The LDS Church is not taking freewill away via laws or Utah would have had smoking banned many years before it did, Utah would be a dry state (No alchohol) Coffee would be illegal or taxed at a high rate! Utah would not have any stripper bars!

    Burt

    Reply
  7. Reverend Ryan says:
    December 14, 2009 at 9:31 pm

    My words are exactly as I spoke them, and I spoke them on camera so that they couldn't be misrepresented. There is a certain transparency with spoken words.

    I fully admitted that I had found sources that said Utah was the first source of cannabis prohibition, and I found sources that California was the first source of prohibition of cannabis.

    If you want to try to twist my words, that will only make you look like a fool.

    I am just reporting a story here. I am giving all of the sources that I know of. I didn't claim either source was a 100% correct. And I would presume that you don't credit your sources as being 100% correct either. Why would I say that about your sources? Because first you said it was California that offered the first prohibition of Marijuana, and then changed the story again to say that you found it was Washington DC that outlawed cannabis first.

    I think that you don't trust your own sources any more than you trust mine.

    However, regardless of whos sources are right or wrong. The point is that the points you brought against me by some Charles Whitehead are completely irrelevant, and I have no intention on defending his claims, nor have I referenced them.

    And as far as Mormon prohibition. Be it gay marriage, alcohol, or cannabis. Utah is certainly the most restrictive state that I know of on all three of those topics, especially the alcohol topic.

    I've not known of a place in the US to make bars "Private clubs". Or where wine is not sold in grocery stores. Add to that the statewide 3.2% beer laws… That makes Utah is a strange place. The Mormon influence is haunting, and the suicide statistics of teens is the absolute most troubling.

    Just FYI

    Reply
  8. Burt_LDS says:
    December 15, 2009 at 8:51 pm

    Ryan

    Lets see I said California was the first State!

    I also said Washington D.C. banned marijuana before California did! Both statements are true!

    Burt

    Reply
  9. Reverend Ryan says:
    December 16, 2009 at 5:26 am

    Cool. Thats not what you said at first, but thanks for making the correction.

    I can't say I trust your sources without proof though.

    Reply
  10. Reverend Ryan says:
    December 16, 2009 at 9:20 am

    BTW Good news about Washington DC this week, if you haven't heard yet, congress is FINALLY allowing D.C. to recognized their voter passed medical marijuana laws! This just happened! A true blessing!

    Reply
  11. Reverend Ryan says:
    December 16, 2009 at 11:06 am

    Ok, I went and researched this Charles Whitebread guy.

    http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/white…

    Who is Charles Whitebread? A Professor of Law, USC Law School.

    His credentials are:

    Princeton University (1965), where he was an honors graduate

    Yale Law School (1968), where he was an editor for the Yale Law Journal

    After briefly working at Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, he became a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he taught for 13 years, and then moved to the University of Southern California Law School.

    Whitebread was also a lecturer in criminal law and procedure for BarBri. He was very popular with BarBri students, who have started Facebook groups in appreciation of his unique humor style.

    Whitebread gave the keynote speech at the American Psychology and Law Society (APLS) Annual Conference in Jacksonville, Florida on March 6, 2008.

    Writings

    Whitebread was a prolific legal writer, who published a dozen books and over 30 law review articles, which includes Criminal Procedure, Children in the Legal System, and The Eight Secrets of Top Exam Performance in Law School.

    More about Professor Whitebread can be found in the links below.

    Professor Whitebread's wiki page:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitebread

    An archive of Professor Whitebread's homepage at USC

    <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/* /http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~cwhitebr/" rel="nofollow"&gt <a href="http://;http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~cwhitebr/” target=”_blank”>;http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~cwhitebr/

    Seems like a decent guy if you ask me.

    Reply
  12. Burt_LDS says:
    December 22, 2009 at 11:22 pm

    Ryan

    He went to College and Law School, Just like every other lawyer. He got out of school and tried being a Lawyer and decided he would be better at teaching then practicing Law, just like most other Law Professors! None of that proves anything when he claimed Utah was the first state to ban Marijuana, when California was clearly first! He also claimed the LDS Church was behind Utah banning Marijuana, when there is no record of any conversations from LDS Leaders at the time about Marijuana!

    Atticus is a Lawyer, he went to college and law School I am sure he has written Articles for legal Publications, it’s what Lawyers do! However you do not trust a thing he says! This proves that Schooling and achievements do not automatically make a person believable!

    Once again you prove that you are not worried about the truth, just the message!

    Reply
  13. Reverend Ryan says:
    December 23, 2009 at 5:46 am

    I am not defending Charles Whitebread, that is your bag. I never mentioned him before you did.

    I am just giving you his credentials. He seems like a pretty alright guy, with quite a reputation to risk.

    You, have no reputation. I don't even know what your face looks like. =)

    As for Steve. That is an ENTIRELY different subject. You are asking me if I trust him? No. But as far as Im concerned, Steve Sanderson doesn't have a reputation that could possibly even shine a light on Charles Whitebread. Steve Sanderson the "Dallas Attorney", claims that I am breaking the law by using medical marijuana in the state of WA where I reside. Despite that medical marijuana is LEGAL (WA I-692). So I can't possibly lend Steve any credibility.

    Maybe you can compare Mr. Whitebread to Mr. Steve Sanderson, but I don't know much about Steve Sanderson. I don't know where he works, where he went to school, what legal papers he wrote, and what events he was a keynote speaker. I just hear often from him "I was a big time prosecutor, and marijuana users are evil".

    Just because he SAYS he was some big shot attorney, doesn't mean that he REALLY is. He lies about a bunch of other things, who's to believe him about his self proclaimed career? He doesn't even seem to know anything about marijuana law. Sorry, I don't really think he is an attorney. Or at least, not the attorney that he claims to be.

    I would DEFINITELY need some evidence for that claim!

    As for Mormons banning marijuana. Like I said, many of my sources point to Utah being the first state to ban marijuana. I listed a few of my sources, and then you also provided a source that I hadn't used, by introducing Charles Whitebread. I have a lot more sources that say Utah was the first state to ban marijuana than not.

    Here is some more information on Utah being the first state to offer statewide prohibition of Marihuana:

    THE MARIHUANA PAPERs at xiv (D. Solomon ed. 1966). 13 Id. at xv.

    At its 1915 session, the Utah legislature passed an omnibus narcotics and pharmacy bill which included under it the cannabis drugs. Ch. 66, §§ 7, 8, [1915] Utah Laws 77. The law forbade sale and possession of the named drugs, and provided for medical use under a system of prescriptions and order blanks. Interestingly, clinical treatment of addicts was allowed. Id. at 77-80. The law also prohibited possession of opium and marijuana pipes. Id. at 80. Violations were misdemeanors punishable by fines and/or imprisonment for terms up to six months, but third offenders faced prison terms from one to five years. The statute made no distinction between sale and possession, nor among the various drugs. The law was revised in 1927. Ch. 65, [1927]1 Utah Laws 107.

    As for Mormon leaders discussing marijuana. Marijuana in it's time was a sort of "Mexican tobacco". And Mormon's had long since banned tobacco, when Brigham Young made Joseph Smith's "Word of Wisdom" doctrinal.

    See THE DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, CONTAINING THE REVELATIONS GIVEN TO JOSEPH SMITH, THE PROPHET § 89, at 154 (192 1) (PP, P 5, 7, wine or strong drink) (P 8, tobacco) (P 9, hot drinks) (revelations given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, February, 27, 1833, known as the Word of Wisdom).

    As for California being the first state to ban marijuana. I have no proof that they banned marijuana statewide before Utah. As I understand it, they banned hemp before marijuana. But it was Utah who had banned marijuana statewide first out of all other U.S. states.

    Reply
  14. Burt_LDS says:
    December 26, 2009 at 1:31 am

    Ryan

    Try to pay attention here for just a few minuets I will type slow so you can keep up!

    I first brought up Charles Whitebread because when I googled "utah was the first state to outlaw marijuana" I got many hits and when I would read them they all seemed to say the same thing. I was on one page that had wording identical to 5 others I had just read so I copied and pasted one paragraph into google and searched. the results showed Ardis Parshall, I knew who he is and so I skipped his article and opened the next one down It was referencing the speech by Whitebread and the pragraph I copied was word for word from his speech! I went back to my search about utah being first and opened several more and many quoted him, or copied his work and did not say where it came from!

    I read Chales whitebreads claims and found them factualy inaccurate about Many things that I can check on! If what I could check on is not accurate how can I trust what I can not check on?

    I find it interesting that Charles Whitebread gives many reasons for other states to outlaw marijuana such as its adictivness, the growing awareness of the drug problems, people lumping Marijuana in with other drugs when discribing the drug problem. international movement towards cracking down on drugs including marijuana! discriptians by socalled experts of the effects marijuana has on the user and many other reasons for the prohibition! But he blames Utahs laws simply on "the traditional aversion of the Mormons to euphoriants of any kind16"

    That is why I feel that bringing up Charles whitebread is important!

    Also click on the link drugwarrant.com from your initial post in this thread. it takes you to this link http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/why-is-mariju… Now scroll down to the section titled The Mexican Connection! Now read the third paragraph in that section! that Paragraph shows the Whitebread links and the Parshal rebutal!

    Many people are claiming Utah was the first and it was the Mormons fault! Some claim it because the Mormons were so strict! Some because the Mormons were the only ones in Utah or mostly so! Some do not give any reasons just say it was the Mormons! None of those have given any evidence for this claim!

    Now there are a number of sources just simply claiming Utah was the first, that are not crediting the Mormons, those I can accept because utah was the first to come right out and ban Marijuana for smoking!

    "As for California being the first state to ban marijuana. I have no proof that they banned marijuana statewide before Utah. As I understand it, they banned hemp before marijuana. But it was Utah who had banned marijuana statewide first out of all other U.S. states."

    Read the language around the words "indian Hemp in the law and you should be able to understand it was in a section labled poison! It was also targeting medical use of Poisons! Now if you want to further destroy your credibility by claiming to understand that to mean hemp for cloth, rope or paper, or the other uses hemp has, that is your choice!

    Now if are really interested to find out why Marijuana was prohibited I would recommend this link http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studi…

    another link that will help is http://books.google.com/books?id=13MaAAAAYAAJ&amp… especially read the California section.

    If you want to sound like a rational, knowlegeable person while trying to get people to understand Marijuana, educate yourself on why marijuana was really made illegal! Learn about Harry J. Anslinger and rant about his abuse of his power and fanatical attack on marijuana! talk about some of the experts who made wild claims about marijuana causing people to be violent or made blacks look at white women etc.

    Burt

    Reply
    • Reverend Ryan says:
      December 26, 2009 at 9:22 am

      You say Burt:

      "Also click on the link drugwarrant.com from your initial post in this thread. it takes you to this link http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/why-is-mariju… Now scroll down to the section titled The Mexican Connection! Now read the third paragraph in that section! that Paragraph shows the Whitebread links and the Parshal rebutal!"

      Isn't it great to read a balanced article. I did leave that article as an after thought, about 3 months after I made the video.

      Here is the video, and I offer all of my sources for my opinion in the video:

      http://www.blogtv.com/Shows/1051182/Ze_vZe3DZOFvZ…

      I never used Charles Whitebread as a source, and neither did anyone in the video.

      You also say:

      If you want to sound like a rational, knowlegeable person while trying to get people to understand Marijuana, educate yourself on why marijuana was really made illegal! Learn about Harry J. Anslinger and rant about his abuse of his power and fanatical attack on marijuana! talk about some of the experts who made wild claims about marijuana causing people to be violent or made blacks look at white women etc.

      You mentioned Harry Anslinger. I have wrote him in about a dozen or so articles at http://xcannabis.com, but he was from a later time. We are talking about 1914/1915 when Utah outlaws marijuana statewide. Anslinger, and William Randolf Hurst, and all of the others entered the scene about 10 years later.

      When I am talking about the 1915 ban on marijuana in Utah, it has nothing to do with Anslinger.

      You say:

      Now if are really interested to find out why Marijuana was prohibited I would recommend this link <a href="http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/vlr/vlr2.htm

      ” target=”_blank”>http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/vlr/vlr2.htm

      I've read that one, it has this excerpt also:

      1. Rationale in the West: Class Legislation

      Geometric increases in Mexican immigration after the turn of the century naturally resulted in the formation of sizeable Mexican-American minorities in each western state.10 It was thought then11 and is generally assumed now12 that use of marijuana west of the Mississippi was limited primarily to the Mexican segment of the population. We do not find it surprising, therefore, that sixteen of these states prohibited sale or possession of marijuana before 1930.13 Whether motivated by outright prejudice or simple discriminatory disinterest, the result was the same in each legislature-little if any public attention, no debate, pointed references to the drug's Mexican origins, and sometimes vociferous allusion to the criminal conduct inevitably generated when Mexicans ate "the killer weed."

      In Utah, for example, the nation's first statewide prohibition of marijuana 14 in 1915 was attended by little publicity. The combination of increasing Mexican immigration15 and the traditional aversion of the Mormons to euphoriants of any kind16 led inevitably to the inclusion of marijuana in the state's omnibus narcotics and pharmacy bill. Similarly, when the New Mexico and Texas legislatures passed marijuana legislation in 1923, the former by separate statute17 and the latter by inclusion,18 newspaper reference was minimal despite coverage in both states of legislative action.19 The longest of the Santa Fe New Mexican references noted:

      The Santa Fe representative, however, had better luck with his bill to prevent sale of marihuana, cannabis indica, Indian hemp or hashish as it is variously known. This bill was passed without any opposition. Marihuana was brought into local prominence at the penitentiary board's investigation last summer when a convict testified he could get marihuana cigarets anytime he had a dollar. The drug produces intoxication when chewed or smoked. Marihuana is the name commonly used in the Southwest and Mexico.

      RE: In Utah, for example, the nation's first statewide prohibition of marijuana 14 in 1915 was attended by little publicity.

      Thats what I've been saying BTW.

      I really don't understand why you are correcting me, unless it's just to try to assert that you know about this subject.

      It looks like you have been reading about this subject. Great. But you haven't don't anything but re-enforce what I have been saying all along. Utah was the first state to ban marijuana statewide. Thats the facts, and even a few of your sources have said the same thing.

      Reply
    • Reverend Ryan says:
      December 26, 2009 at 3:50 pm

      Here is more data. You disputed that there was a surge of Mexican immigrants. Which is something that your Mormon blogger source tried to use to discredit Mr. Whitehead.

      But according to Utah state historical websites, that is exactly what happened.

      This is from:
      http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/i/IMMIGRATION.html

      Despite significant immigration from southern and eastern Europe early in the twentieth century, immigrants from northern and western Europe remained most numerous in Utah, joined after World War II by Canadian immigrants. A resurgence of Mormon immigration followed that war–more than 24,000 had immigrated by 1959, many of them settling in Utah. To combat overcrowding in the Netherlands, the Dutch government offered financial assistance to emigrants, resulting in an unprecedented volume of Dutch immigration to Utah. In 1970 Utah was the only state in which the United Kingdom was the leading country of origin for immigrants and their children, accounting for 2.7 percent of the state's population, followed by 1.3 percent from Germany and 1.1 percent from Canada.

      Utah's Hispanic population grew between 1910 and 1930, primarily with immigration from Mexico, then dwindled during the Depression of the 1930s. Its ranks began to swell again beginning with World War II, but a higher proportion have come to Utah from Colorado and New Mexico than from Mexico.

      There were many Mormon missionary projects in Europe and Mexico at that time, and Utah's population surged significantly as a result.

      I guess what I see, is that you came here to basically tell me what I already knew.

      You said lately:

      Now there are a number of sources just simply claiming Utah was the first, that are not crediting the Mormons, those I can accept because utah was the first to come right out and ban Marijuana for smoking!

      So you're problem is now that I accredit the ban on cannabis with Mormons. First you disputed this "mass migration" to Utah during that time. Then you claimed it was California to ban marijuana first. NOW you are saying that you agree that it was Utah that banned cannabis first, but you don't agree with it being about Mormons.

      Ok. Gotcha Burt.

      BTW- Type as slow as you want. But don't blame me for you're typing slowly. LOL

      Reply

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