The more you know

Why is marijuana federally illegal? One man is responsible for the demonization and subsequent illegalization of this harmless herb. That man’s name? Henry Anslinger.

Anslinger served as the first commissioner of the United States treasury department’s bureau of narcotics. He supported alcohol prohibition, which lasted from 1920 to 1943.

Perhaps more troubling than his opposition to alcohol consumption is the fact that he was a strong supporter of the criminalization of marijuana. Anslinger held a fundamental misunderstanding of the harmless herb. He led multiple anti-drug policy campaigns and is quoted as saying,

“I consider marihuana the worst of all narcotics – far worse than the use of morphine or cocaine. Under its influences men becomes beasts…Marihuana destroys life itself” (1937).

Let “Anslinger” be a rallying cry for marijuana activists! Remind the public just who is responsible for the decades of brutal arrests, incarceration, and overall criminalization of marijuana nationwide. As a nation, we’ve come a long way in terms of marijuana reform, but there is still much work to be done.