"alternarive cultures". Racism is evident among much 'expert" medical opinion. The Chairperson of the North East Committee on Drug Abuse, Dr. Maller, stated that formain cultures like West Indian smoked cannabis and always had. Reports from Birmingham said that the Weal Indians were none the worse for it, but that whities were." The saving grace for Sootland, he clammed, was alcohol. The traditionni mood acres 1s nicone and cois may insulate us a litle against druss. The drug coulde't ordinarily do, like ringing up their professor and telling him ""Go to Hell" Thas it is not the mood alteration that constates me ask, our te wan daton tarian attitudes.
DEBAUCHERY AND SEXUALITY' Reading tie 60's pross you'd be amazed what cannabis leads to. Anslinger, head of in detachery and serially: Take london in debauchery and sexualicy eveile pancis revelled In the prosecution of the Rolling Stones in 1967. The Evening News had an article entitled The Hippy Way of Life Catches On. "The hippies revolution aims at doing absolurels nothing. Their negative philosophy involves the rejection of everything, including work, war, paying rent, bome life and responsibility. Instead they indulge in drugs, made parties, drawing on wall...
The Evening Standard surpassed this with a series, Turn On, Tube In, Drop Our, whose flavaur is apparent from a quotation about the position of women in hippy California: - their extremism becomes comprehensible when one considers that this state sells the highest number of birth cubtrol pills per head of population than alty other society in the world... Nobody has yet serously appreciated the enormous peychological difference that total absence of fear of breznance trom tbe ace cl puberty coward might make to the female sex. The only extraordinary resull so tar is that the Califonia girls have by their growth of the hippy mosement.. can be described as a combination nihilism, socialiam and bedonism? In this unbelievably misogynist article women are seen as leading poor bays astray into the evil world of drugs In February 1967 The Times reported a speech of the Secretary of the National Asociabon on Drug Addiction, woo sand he had information about young lads being enticed into homosexualicy after alleoding drug parties where the reeler cigarette was used. There was also evidence chat the side effeas from smoking marijuana produce criminal tendencies. people to smoke marijuana encouraged the people bad contracted senereal diseases witle une is lores a mood ala correspondent to The Times wrote: "I know while at a marijuana party. As a result of this crisis she moved on to heroin. (Not aocelerated the Hippyism conjectured.
was connected with the use liberated' totalitarian propaganda'!
Cannabis, hard work can Permitting Some young Cannahis again! However, only does cannabis lead to heroin, pree- the nancy does too!) Finally, Anslinger again 'How many murders, suicides, robberie especially among the young, can only he So each and every threat to our way of life of carnatis Donald Johnson in Indian Hemp: A Social Menace: "It woukd be easy for the Sovie Union to add cannabis to its export of grain and four and as aid the success of then, threatens white men herd wor What other central ear o Western Civilisation does it threaten? war. And in 1968 for the Americans chat was important 80 percent of conscripted soldiers in Vietnam were reported to be lon slaughtered over 100 South Vietnamese al my Las meir excesseve deal was pur down W the fact that they used marijuana. Cannabis possession, 250 for supplying: in 1970, 9,350 Jor possession. 400 for supplying: 1971, 12,300 against 500 and 1972, 15.400 against 500. The succes rate of recorded police stop scarches for drugs nationally has never coceeded 30 percent and in some areas is as low as 8 per cent.
RACIST BIAS Cannabis use is now something which spans all sections of society, but searches and prosecutions are selective, whilst people Convicted are drag afters e people convicled drug offences were born outside the UK. The rich, maddie class and employed are relatively safe. The drug laws rogether with the notprious sus laws are an ideal cover for police barassment in streets of certain sections of the community As with other laws, judges show a racist bias in their sentencing Although, of course, there are no official scaristies to peave this point, take rwo court decisions in March and April this year. 23-year-old West African Ibisolo Salim, who had no drugs convictions, was sent to prison for 12 months for possessing t6 worth of canna bis. A month later. 26 year-old Gerald Fruewith, also with no drugs convictions and otherwise a respectable wisite man. got a suspended sentenoe of 6 monchs uprisonment for possessing E200 worth of cannabis.
Overall, from 1965 to 1975 the annual number of people sent to prison has increased fourfold, State repression of cannabis users has come full circle. Juse as the introduction of cannahis prohibition was seen, above all, as a hulwark of white capialist ideology, now police implementa tien of the drug laws is a potent instrumen for the repression of black people and others - hippies, squatters and so on who are perceived an a threar to the "values of our Western sciety
SOCIALIST CHALLENGE 4 August 1977 Page 14