Lindesmith v. Anslinger: An Early Government Victory in the Failed War on Drugs

Director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics Harry Anslinger banned the 1946 Canadian film "Drug Addict" against the arguments of sociologist Alfred Lindesmith, a move which changed the course of American drug policy. Anslinger's dislike of the film probably was not related to the unsophisticated portrayal drug addicts but to its criticism of drug enforcement laws that he championed to maintain his political power. In 1998, US drug policy continued its war on drug use and continued to ignore expert opinion and received weak support from the academic community.