Drug Policy Alliance: How does the Harrison Act of 1914 connect with the 1944 La Guardia Report?

Fiorello Henry LaGuardia, the hugely popular Mayor of New York City in the 1930’s and 1940’s, was known for his leadership on the New Deal and his many public works. Less widely known is that he was also a leader on progressive marijuana policy reform. Seventy years ago, The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) released a report commissioned by Mayor LaGuardia that was one of the first systematic reviews of the medical, psychological, and social impact of marijuana, investigating many of the same myths that persist about the drug today. In commissioning the report in 1939, LaGuardia was responding to Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, pushed by Harry Anslinger, Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, which effectively removed marijuana from the U.S. pharmacopeia and set our country down a disastrous road of marijuana prohibition. LaGuardia understood then that our drug policies should be driven by science -- not stigma, fear, and dogma. On May 1st and 2nd, the Drug Policy Alliance and the New York Academy of Medicine hosted a free conference marking the 70th Anniversary of the report and examining our current marijuana and drug policy reform efforts. This audio clip was recorded at the symposium on May 1st.