Marijuana by Karen T. Van Gundy & Michael S. Staunton

Author:Karen T. Van Gundy & Michael S. Staunton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ABC-CLIO

3 Policy Considerations

Q16. Was Marijuana Criminalized to Protect Public Health and Safety?

Answer: Yes, but the first marijuana prohibitions were enacted during a period when the dangers of the drug were misrepresented or misunderstood. Marijuana is not a harmless drug, and even modern-day marijuana protagonists generally acknowledge that heavy marijuana use can be risky. However, during the time when the first marijuana laws were passed, the dangers related to the drug were greatly exaggerated, and these exaggerations played an important role in the formation of early marijuana laws. In the early part of the twentieth century marijuana gained a reputation as a drug that caused violence, crime, escalation to other drug use, insanity, debauchery, depravity, and addiction. While many of these sensationalized claims have been debunked, enduring fears about marijuana continue to affect public opinion and public policy.

The Facts: The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was the first federal law restricting the possession of marijuana, and was passed amid exaggerated concerns over marijuana and the people who used it. In the first part of the twentieth century, the practice of smoking marijuana was not widespread, and the use of the drug was primarily associated with Spanish-speakers, African Americans, and lower-strata social groups. Marijuana (or “mar-ihuana”) also became associated with violence, crime, insanity, and debauchery, and was accordingly labeled the “marihuana menace,” the “killer weed,” the “assassin of youth,” and the “jazz weed.” The years surrounding the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act are sometimes referred to as the Reefer Madness era, because news reports, movies, law enforcement officials, and government testimonies made exaggerated claims about marijuana and marijuana users. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics and its first commissioner, Harry J. Anslinger, played a key role in the campaign against marijuana. However, fears over marijuana existed well before the Bureau was established in 1930. Marijuana’s image as the “killer weed” persisted until the 1960s when new fears emerged that marijuana was a “dropout drug” that destroyed ambition among America’s youth.

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