ition people did not want to swear off alcohol just to accept another intoxicant into society. Furthermore, marijuana was thought much worse than alcohol because it was general (but false) knowledge at the time that cannabis was highly addictive.
             In the Southern and Southwestern States there was a racial bias, which strongly influenced the making of anti-marijuana laws. Much of the rapidly growing population of Mexican immigrants used marijuana heavily. These early laws do not try to hide the racial bias on which they were formed and made pointed references to the Mexican population.
             It was also government policy at the time to portray marijuana as a highly addictive drug, which frequently caused psychotic episodes, violence, and sex crimes. Anti- marijuana adds at the movie theaters and in the newspaper gave the public a horrible opinion of it. Although there was no scientific evidence to back these statements the public soon grew more wary of the drug than ever. In 1936 the documentary "Reefer Madness" was released by the government as part of their media campaign against the "killer weed".
             The Boggs, and Narcotics Control Acts (1952, 1956) established mandatory sentences for use and possession of drugs; the first offence resulted in two to ten years in prison with fines up to $20,000. Marijuana offenders were usually given the minimum sentence.
             In the 1960's and 70's the drug was used very heavily in the "hippie" culture, and lead to increased usage in the upper middle class. This led to the passing of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act and the creation of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) in 1970. The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act eliminated the federal penalties for small amounts of marijuana, and classified it differently than other drugs.
             President Nixon appointed the Schaeffer commission in 1972, whi...