AN INQUIRY INTO THE LEGAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN MARIJUANA PROHIBITION
The most effective arguments advanced
by Commissioner Anslinger L AW may be rooted in fiction as well as fact. Indeed, a public policy conceived in ignorance may be continuously reaffirmed, ever more vehemently, so long as its origins remain obscure or its fallacy unexposed. The Chief Detective of the Los Angeles Police Department was quoted as saying:
In the past we have had officers of this department shot and killed by Marijuana addicts and have traced the act of murder directly to the influence of Marijuana, with no other motive. Numerous assaults have been made upon officers and citizens with intent to kill by Marijuana addicts which were directly traceable to the influence of Marijuana