Drug Dependence Quotes
This quotation brought him much ridicule. See {585947}. Clinton was of the swing era where there were very negative public views about the morality of using illicit drugs and the character of those who might have used it. So Clinton felt constrained to emphasize that it was only marijuana, the most popular and benign of the illicit drugs, and to emphasize the fact that he did not enjoy it. His successor, however George W. Bush, had been an alcoholic and a heavy cocaine user, but learning from the Clinton error, would never comment about it other than to say that it was wrong and he urged all to avoid drugs.
At the time, few New Yorkers would believe that 40 years later, cocaine—in its new form of crack as well as its classic form—would be the biggest drug problem in the city.
Despite all the scientific knowledge, Anslinger and his bureau constantly lied about the dangers of marijuana—even to physicians most of whom knew better. It was so blatant that most of the American public discounted anything the Bureau said and even discounted what government health agencies told the public. So the actual problems associated with marijuana found a jaded, suspicious public. It took years to overcome the Anslinger hyperbole. See {593333} and {593334}.
