1931: DRUG BUST IN NEW YORK CITY

It will remain forever a mystery in my personal life why I had so little knowledge of the drug culture in America. To my generation, drugs were I n a drug store, and Coke was Coca Cola. I remember reading about Chinese "Opium Dens," but I honestly cannot recall any incident of drug use during my young years. The first time I was exposed to the culture was when I saw the motion picture, "The Man With the Golden Arm" back in the 1950's. I had no idea that there was a pervasive societal drug problem. You talk about an innocent childhood! The only illegal drug I recall was in my junior when a number of seniors were called on the carpet for stowing a six pack of Ballantine beer under a hedge in front of the school.

1938: MARIJUANA IN 1930'S SOCIETY

Maybe you saw that campy move, "Reefer Magic," wherein a clean cut young man goes absolutely bananas while under the influence of the weed. Strangely, there is little mention of drug use in the newspapers of the past. Perhaps an occasional article on Opium, and another here and there, but certainly nowhere near the plague that drugs have become in the latter part of the 20'th century into the present.

MARIJUANA: WEED OF CRIME PAGE 1

This is a very large graphic. I tried to reduce it in size so that the
average LCD monitor would find it to be legible.
Many folks have been under the impression that marijuana was a remnant of the 1960's when America experienced an irreversible tear in the fabric of society which has brought us to the current culture war which is raging in 21st century America. As you can see by this full page feature in the Trenton Times from 1938, Granny and Grandpop may well have been indulged in partaking of the weed. The campy movie "Reefer Madness" tells the story of how a man became addicted to marijuana and ended up where all addicts go. Note that the continuation of this feature article will be found in the next post.

MARIJUANA: WEED OF CRIME PAGE 2

1894: DRUGS DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA

TRENTON’S NARCOTIC CARE COMPANY

WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1894

GAZETTE

The Trenton Narcotics Company has been successful in effecting permanent cures in persons addicted to the liquor and opium and morphine habits at its intstitute, which was established last September. It is fitted with every comfort for the convenience and enjoyment of patients. This company owns the rights for Southern New Jersey, and expects to establish several other institutes in the near future.

At the annual meeting of the stockholders of of the Trenton Houston Narcotic Care Company held at the company's institute, 318 Chestnut Avenue on Tuesday morning, the following Board of Directors was elected:

Colonel Thomas S. Chambers

Dr. N.B. Oliphant

Hon. Barton B. Hutchinson

Robert C. Belville

John Guild Muirhead

Benjamin L. Disbrow

Dr. William A Clark