Thus the Myth that Marijuana Will Fry Your Brain Was Born in the 30's

In 1936 the American film 'Reefer Madness' told the story of several young people who became crazy as a consequence of consuming cannabis. A project funded by the Church and the government that served as prohibitionist propaganda. In 1937, "Assassin of Youth" had the same goal. However, it was not the only thing that helped fuel the belief that the herb caused brain damage. James Munch a pharmacologist at Temple University (Pennsylvania, USA) with quite prestige, also contributed to make predictions that forecast catastrophic damage to the consumers of the plant.

Munch gave his opinion about cannabis in the US Congress in April 1937, a committee studying the Marijuana Taxation Act approved that year which, although it did not directly criminalized grass, it did impose harsh penalties to deter consumption.

Among other things, Munch said that cannabis affected the cerebellum, causing balance disturbance in the same way that alcohol did. He also said that it could "depress the heart" and that its continued use led to the degeneration of a part of the brain, useful for reasoning and memory. He also assured that it caused violent irritability in some cases and the disintegration of the personality of those who consumed it. Finally, he argued that its therapeutic benefits were dubious.

He based his claims on small experiments whose duration was no longer than three months and that were performed on animals. However, he acknowledged that understanding the real effects of this product would take more than a year of treatment. He even recognised that, up to that moment, marijuana had not been consumed for such a long period, since its consumption was relatively recent.

That is, the supposed dramatic effects that, according to Munch, the plant caused in people could not be known at that time because they had never been tested on humans; they were only predictions that had not been demonstrated. Nevertheless, his opinion was taken into account. Fortunately, many current researches are beginning to deny the usual alarmist arguments that those who are against cannabis often use to justify the ban.