Harry J Anslinger. The man who began the campaign against marijuana. There are many rumors about the campaign against marijuana, and Anslinger’s reasons for being a part of the campaign, but we cannot know the truth for sure. The things we do know are that it is unlikely that the campaign was actually spear-headed by William Randolph Hearst because Hemp was in line to replace paper. The truth of the matter is – even at its best hemp production was never on the same level as paper. Reports dating back to 1931 which stated that the mechanical ways in which they were harvesting the Hemp were unsuccessful for the most part and that unlike paper they had to harvest the materials by hand for at least two thirds of the crop in total. Making Hemp an easy target, but not even close to being a competitor.

It was in 1936 that Anslinger began to receive more and more reports about the use of Marijuana – from his point of view this was an alarming increase from previous year reports. And the following year the numbers of reports also increased a substantial amount. Before this time marijuana use and the reports filed concerning it, was mainly in the Southwest along the Mexican Border. It was at this time that the government got on board and began to prepare legislature to put marijuana distribution and use directly under federal control as opposed to state. It was also at this time that Anslinger began the campaign against marijuana using newspapers, radio and other major art forums. He did receive substantial help from William Randolph Hearst with the use of his radio stations and newspapers, but unlike rumor would have you believe it was not Hearst who actually began the campaign, he simply was the vehicle through which the campaign became national. Through these forums Anslinger was able to spear head the operation against marijuana as well as other illegal drugs.