To the Editor:Thank you for publishing Robert Sharpe’s outstanding letter (Feb. 25). I’d like to add that in any open discussion of this subject, we should review how and why marijuana was first made a prohibited substance. In 1937 the then Commissioner of the U. S. Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger, testified before the U. S. Congress urging the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. Mr. Anslinger testified: “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U. S. and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.” Mr. Anslinger’s testimony is the main reason the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed by Congress, which subsequently resulted in the prohibition of marijuana. Before marijuana was prohibited, less than 1/10th of 1 percent of the U. S. population used marijuana. Today the U. S. Government estimates that 94 million Americans have used it. From a marketing standpoint, Madison Avenue must envy the success of marijuana prohibition.
Kirk Muse
Mesa, AZ
To the Editor:
As we all know, West Chester parking is an ongoing problem for students. According to the West Chester Borough, over one million dollars a year is made from parking tickets alone. Parking is even more of an issue for commuter students. The meters outside the classrooms charge one dollar for an hour and twenty minutes. If you total that up for one semester for a student who is taking a full course load, that’s equivalent to two hundred twenty-four dollars a semester, and that’s not including parking tickets you might receive. Most college students struggle with money and the West Chester Borough is not making it any easier. Paying to park around the local bars at night would make up for the loss of money and not interfere with our education.
Christina Palumbo
Fourth-Year Student