The harm attributed to marijuana in the 1930s included which of the following?

• A. Develop the amotivational syndrome
• B. Progress to more dangerous drugs
• C. Become insane and violent, and commit rape and murder
• D. Drop dead of a drug overdose

Answer: (C)

Public fear and moral panic about marijuana in the 1930s framed its use as a trigger for insanity, violent behavior, and even sexual crimes. This portrayal was a tool used in anti-marijuana campaigns that helped push for criminalization, such as the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act, and was popularized by sensational media and rhetoric of the time. The option describing becoming insane and violent, and committing rape and murder matches that era’s most infamous claim about marijuana. Other ideas—that it causes an amotivational syndrome, acts as a gateway to harder drugs, or that it would cause death from overdose—are concerns that emerged later or are not supported by the era’s sensational claims or current evidence.