In an apparent reversal (err, 'clarification') of the Oct. 2009 '
Ogden Memo' (
previously), the DEA has has
issued a new memo stating that "Persons who are in the business of cultivating, selling or distributing marijuana, and those who knowingly facilitate such activities, are in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, regardless of state law."
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posted by FatherDagon
on Jul 1, 2011 -
151 comments
The Flower contrasts a utopian society that freely farms and consumes a pleasure giving flower with a society where the same flower is illegal and its consumption is prohibited. The animation is a meditation on the social and economic costs of marijuana prohibition.
posted by Surfin' Bird
on Jul 31, 2010 -
56 comments
"Women and men drink together in a bar? Well, then, you have to have bathrooms for the women. That's the invention of the powder room. That's a phrase that actually comes from Prohibition. They could tuck a tiny little room with a toilet and a sink underneath a stairwell or in a corner. Table service in bars can also be traced to Prohibition, because men and women together, they're not bellying up the bar, but sitting at a table. And the dance band: if you have only men in a bar, you're never going to have a five-piece jazz band there; but you are going to if you have men and women who might dance together." Daniel Okrent and the history of Prohibition.
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posted by geoff.
on May 6, 2010 -
30 comments
He was elected at the nadir of the worst depression in history; 25% of the workforce was unemployed, two million were homeless. Yet in the face of this, he made us an optimistic and far-reaching New Deal, creating among other programs a federal minimum wage, social security, and the FDIC. He pulled us out of dire financial straits and, when our country was called upon to fight in World War II, he brought us to the cusp of victory. In his unprecedented thirteen years in office, he cemented his undisputed legacy as one of the greatest presidents in American history. But before he could achieve any of this, Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a promise to keep — a promise to the "wet vote," whose indispensable support he had
called upon in 1932 during his first presidential campaign when he promised to repeal the
18th Amendment and end
Prohibition. And thus, as legend has it, immediately after his
first fireside chat from the White House in March 1933, Roosevelt turned to his two top aides and said, "
I think it's time for a beer." And
yes, indeed,
it was.
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posted by churl
on Dec 5, 2009 -
32 comments
"An open society must be
prepared to listen to those who offer a critique of its conventional wisdom—and our conventional wisdom about drugs and addiction should be no exception."
posted by daksya
on Sep 22, 2007 -
50 comments
"A bad way to make a living." A series on the history and ecological impact of
strip mining in southeast Kansas during the early 20th century that includes articles, photo galleries with sound files, and video slideshows about the region. The area, known as the
"Little Balkans," because of the large Eastern European population that worked the mines, was a
large mining community that has given the US the
second largest electric shovel in the country, a home to
one of the largest socialist newspapers in the country (called
Appeal to Reason and
founded by Julius Wayland) as well as the
Little Blue Books series started by
Emanuel Haldeman-Julius in 1919. Oh yeah, it was
also --second paragraph-- the place that most of the
bootleg alcohol that fueled the
Kansas City Jazz Scene of
that time was from as well. Of course, if you should ever find yourself in SEKS, and you eat meat, go to either
Chicken Annie's or Chicken Mary's [transcript] since they're only a few miles apart in their modern incarnation.
The legends you hear growing up there aren't always true, but it doesn't matter because the onion rings are fantastic. And yes,
in some ways all Kansas has left is history.
posted by sleepy pete
on Mar 22, 2007 -
9 comments
"Somewhere in the Bible it is said: "If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off." I used to think the remedy somewhat radical. But to-day, being imbued with the wisdom of the prohibitionist, I have to acknowledge that, if the Bible in general, and that passage in it in particular, has a fault, it lies in its ultra-conservativeness. What? Merely cut off my own right hand if it offend me? What business have my neighbors to keep their right hands if I am not able to make mine behave itself ? Off with the lot of them! Let there be no right hands; then I am certain that mine won't land me in trouble."So wrote Percy Andreae in 1915 when arguing against
Prohibition. That excerpt is at the
OSU Prohibition History site, along with such delights as
Prohibition Party Cartoons (check out this
adorable camel:
"Vote as if your vote would be the last straw"). At the LOC, along
with this page of Prohibition information, and this panoramic shot of the
1915 Anti-Saloon League of America, there is also
this reminder of the link between temperance and women's suffrage. If you don't want to join
The Temperance Crusade in song, or admit that
(I Never Knew I Had A Wonderful Wife Until The Town Went Dry), you can listen to these mp3's at the LOC:
The Drunkard's dream,
The Drunkard's child, and, of course,
Goodbye, booze. Prohibition and
moonshining; the rise of
bootlegging gangs; more
primary sources at the National Archives. And no post on prohibition or temperance would be complete without
Carrie Nation's Hammer.
posted by OmieWise
on Sep 23, 2005 -
46 comments
Carry Nation: Extreme Temperance Advocate "A female figure dressed in black appeared on Topeka's streets on January 26, 1901. A dark veil shrouded the woman's face but couldn't disguise her from the city's populace, who immediately recognized her as one of the country's foremost temperance advocates. Carry Nation had arrived in Topeka.
For the next three weeks she and her followers smashed saloons in an effort to close all the city's illegal "joints." She was threatened by howling mobs, beaten by wives of saloon owners, and repeatedly arrested and jailed. The violence she initiated quickly spread all over the state, and had a lasting effect that endured for many years."
posted by owillis
on Mar 7, 2002 -
15 comments
