Reefer Madness (Sloman book)

Last updated
Reefer Madness: The History of Marijuana in America
Reefer Madness.jpg
First edition
Author Larry Sloman
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Bobbs-Merrill
Publication date
1979
Publication placeUnited States
Media typeHardcover
Pages404
ISBN 0-672-52423-6
LC Class HV5822.M3 S54

Reefer Madness: The History of Marijuana in America is a book by Larry "Ratso" Sloman, originally published in 1979. [1] The book is a history of social cannabis (also known as marijuana) use in the United States. The book was reissued in 1998 with an introduction by William S. Burroughs.

Contents

Reception

Writer Abe Peck gave Reefer Madness a mostly negative review, writing, "Sloman knows what he's talking about; the problem is that he presents his material as a multistyled hash of unsifted information. [...] [H]is reporting is so skeletal you can still see the ribs of a book outline poking through his prose." [2]

The Boston Globe 's Lee Grove criticized the book for its pro-cannabis bias and selection of interviewees, whom Grove describes as "[Sloman's] boring pothead friends", while also noting, "I would have expected Sloman to interview at least one major rock star smoking in the seventies – he alludes to so many of them in the book – but he doesn't." [3]

Larry King of Democrat and Chronicle referred to the book as an "exercise in futility", criticizing a lack of details and statistics: "Sloman consistently fails to include any body of information that might lend some credibility to his subtitle, with its claim to be a 'history.' The book reeks of haste and sloppiness." [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

Reefer Madness is a 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry J. Anslinger</span> 1st Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (1892–1975)

Harry Jacob Anslinger was an American government official who served as the first commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics during the presidencies of Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy. He was a supporter of Prohibition, and of the criminalization of all drugs except for alcohol, and spearheaded anti-drug policy campaigns.

<i>High Times</i> American magazine

High Times is an American monthly magazine that advocates the legalization of cannabis as well as other counterculture ideas. The magazine was founded in 1974 by Tom Forcade. The magazine had its own book publishing division, High Times Books, and its own record label, High Times Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoner film</span> Subgenre of comedy films

Stoner film is a subgenre of comedy film based on marijuana themes, where recreational use often drives the plot, sometimes representing cannabis culture more broadly or intended for that audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dana Beal</span> American social and political activist

Irvin Dana Beal is an American social and political activist, best known for his efforts to legalize marijuana and to promote the benefits of Ibogaine as an addiction treatment. He is a founder and long-term activist in the Youth International Party (Yippies), and founded the Yipster Times newspaper in 1972. The Yipster Times was renamed Overthrow in 1978, and ended publication in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shafer Commission</span> United States commission

The Shafer Commission, formally known as the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, was appointed by U.S. President Richard Nixon in the early 1970s. Its chairman was former Pennsylvania Governor Raymond P. Shafer. The commission issued a report on its findings in 1972 that called for the decriminalization of marijuana possession in the United States. The report was ignored by the White House, but is an important document against prohibition.

<i>Reefer Madness</i> 1936 anti-cannabis film by Louis J. Gasnier

Reefer Madness is a 1936 American exploitation film about drugs, revolving around the melodramatic events that ensue when high school students are lured by pushers to try marijuana – upon trying it, they become addicted, eventually leading them to become involved in various crimes such as a hit and run accident, manslaughter, murder, conspiracy to murder and attempted rape. While all this is happening, they suffer hallucinations, descend into insanity, associate with organized crime and commit suicide. The film was directed by Louis J. Gasnier and featured a cast of mainly little-known actors.

<i>Reefer Madness</i> (Schlosser book) 2003 book by Eric Schlosser

Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market is a book written by Eric Schlosser and published in 2003. The book is a look at the three pillars of the underground economy of the United States, estimated by Schlosser to be ten percent of U.S. GDP: marijuana, migrant labor, and pornography.

The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) is a non-profit trade group representing hemp companies, researchers and supporters in the United States and Canada. The group petitions for fair and equal treatment of industrial hemp. Since 1994, the HIA has been dedicated to education, industry development, and the accelerated expansion of hemp world market supply and demand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Sloman</span> Journalist and author

Larry "Ratso" Sloman is a New York–based author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">If You're a Viper</span> Jazz song composed by Stuff Smith

"If You're a Viper" is a jazz song composed by Stuff Smith. It was first recorded by Smith and his Onyx Club Boys in 1936 and released as the b-side to the song "After You've Gone".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Licata</span> American mass murderer (c. 1912–1950)

Victor Licata was an American mass murderer who used an axe to kill his family in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, on October 16, 1933. The killings, which were reported by the media as the work of an "axe-murdering marijuana addict", were adduced as prima facie evidence that there was a link between recreational drugs, such as cannabis, and crime. This led to the killings being used in 1930s anti-drug campaigns against marijuana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Conrad (author)</span> American author, activist, publisher, and court-recognized cannabis expert

Chris Conrad is an American author, activist, curator, publisher and court-recognized expert in cannabis cultivation and use. He has played a key role in the shaping of the modern industrial and medical cannabis reform movements as the author of such seminal books as Hemp: Lifeline to the Future (1993) and Hemp for Health (1997), as well as through his activist work as the co-founder and first President of the Hemp Industries Association (HIA), founder of the Business Alliance in Commerce and Hemp (BACH), and a signature gathering coordinator for the Proposition 215 volunteer effort which made California the first US state to legalize the medical use of cannabis. The December, 1999 issue of High Times ranked Conrad #10 on its list of top 25 "living legends in the battle for legal cannabis."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis in Florida</span> Overview of the use and culture of cannabis in Florida, U.S.

Cannabis in Florida is illegal for recreational use. Possession of up to 20 grams is a misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $1000, and the suspension of one's driver's license. Several cities and counties have enacted reforms to apply lesser penalties, however.

E-Z Wider is a brand of rolling papers introduced in 1972 by Bob Stiller and Burton Rubin, the name is derived from the 1969 film Easy Rider. The rolling papers were initially designed to be used for smoking marijuana.

<i>Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence</i> 2019 book by Alex Berenson

Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence is a 2019 book by Alex Berenson. In it, Berenson makes claims that cannabis use directly causes psychosis and violence, claims denounced as alarmist and inaccurate by many in the scientific and medical communities. The scientists state that Berenson is drawing inappropriate conclusions from the research he cites, primarily by inferring causation from correlation, as well as cherry picking data that fits his narrative, and falling victim to selection bias via his use of anecdotes to back up his assertions.

Mary Elaine Gennoy was an American activist for LGBT rights, disability rights, and marijuana legalization, based in San Francisco.

References

  1. "High Times Greats: Larry "Ratso" Sloman". High Times . July 9, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  2. Peck, Abe (April 29, 1979). "Some publishers try to score with drug scene". The Lincoln Star . Lincoln, Nebraska. p. 15TV. Retrieved July 3, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  3. Grove, Lee (February 11, 1979). "Marijuana history one toke over the line". The Boston Globe . Boston, Massachusetts. p. A11. Retrieved July 3, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  4. King, Larry (February 25, 1979). "Getting low on pot history". Democrat and Chronicle . Rochester, New York. p. 2G. Retrieved July 3, 2024 via Newspapers.com.