National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding
Chapter III
Social Impact of marihuana use
Marihuana and Public Safety
The belief that marihuana is causally linked to crime and other antisocial conduct
first assumed prominence during the 1930's as the result of a concerted effort by
governmental agencies and the press to alert the American populace to the dangers of
marihuana use. Newspapers all over the country began to publish lurid accounts of
"marihuana atrocities." In the absence of adequate understanding of the effects
of the drug, these largely unsubstantiated stories profoundly influenced public opinion
and gave birth to the stereotype of the marihuana user as physically aggressive, lacking
in self-control, irresponsible, mentally ill and, perhaps most alarming, criminally
inclined and dangerous. The combination of the purported effects of the drug itself plus
the belief that it was used by unstable individuals seemed to constitute a significant
danger to public safety.
Now, more than 30 years later, many observers are skeptical about the existence of a
cause-effect relationship between marihuana use and antisocial conduct.
|