Musical Dope 1909

We think that everything in our time is new.  We think that in our lifetimes we witness a fresh presentation of society's possibilities, never before experienced by humanity.  We think weird religious sects, financial collapses, and political gridlock are all new developments in civilization.  But, boy, are we wrong.Recently, a number of states have relaxed marijuana laws after many years of trying, and still many in pubic and private have decried these changes.  These voices come from a place that does not know the history of the plant's use, both in North America and around the world.  They come from a place that does not want to know of the medicinal properties that for centuries were key to many cures.  And they come from a place that does not want to know that the plant was never a legal issue until just after Prohibition was repealed in 1933.  In this graphic piece of sheet music, published by Joseph Flanner of Milwaukee in 1909, we have a somewhat critical image of the smoker, but not one completely pejorative, as in films like "Reefer Madness."  As change is our only constant, round and round we will always go, approving, disapproving, allowing, outlawing, setting ourselves free and holding ourselves back.