Required Reading: The Hunting of Billie Holiday

The 1930s were a good time for Art Deco. They were a bad time for weed. The tl;dr is this:  In 1930, Harry Anslinger, a white, racist bureaucrat, was appointed head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. In an attempt to legitimize his position, he launched a “war on drugs,” simultaneously targeting black and brown people and criminalizing the use of marijuana and other substances. Anslinger had a special distaste for Jazz musicians, and Billie Holiday in particular. In his racist “war on drugs,” he made Billie an example. She was arrested three times for narcotics possession. The final time on her deathbed.

In 2015, Politico published an excerpt of Johann Hari’s upcoming book Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, where he details Anslinger’s fixation on Billie Holiday. We have a copy en route to Grass HQ but it’s one of those stories we couldn’t wait to share. So roll up a fatty, throw on some Billie, and dig in. This one is a real fucking trip. 

Trim: Golden Goddes Botanicals
Photo and Styling: The Grass Agency