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 synonymous with racial minorities, by exploiting the anxieties of
 whites. '_ Id. at 6. Anslinger fueled these anxieties by
 _'claiming that police officials estimate that half of the violent
 crimes committed in districts occupied by Mexicans, Spaniards,
 Latin-Americans_ Greeks, or Negroes may be traced to this weed°"
 ___ at 7. Race-based fear and prejudice, exaggerated and
 inaccurate descriptions of the effects and harm of marijuana, and
 media hype underlied Congress _ decision to criminalize marijuana.
 i. Marijuana Does Not Have a High_9__hi_l___qX
 Abu_e_ _
 The first criterion for placement in Schedule ! is that '_the
 drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse. '° 21
 UoS.C_ § Sl2(b) (1). The recent studies on marijuana demonstrate,
 however, that the reverse is true =- it has a low potential for
 abuse.
 Perhaps the best example of this is the definitive report
 issued by the White House Domestic Council Drug Abuse Task Force,
 White Paper on Druq_Abu_ (Sept. 1975). The Task Force, which
 consisted of the federal government's chief officials involved
 with drugs and drug abuser including the Department of Housing
 Education and Welfare ("HEW '_) and DEA_ made a number of
 significant recommendations. The report urged that marijuana
 possession offenses by '_deemphasized '_ because they posed the
 least risk of harm to the individuals and to society of the drugs
 commonly used in the United States. _, at 33. The report
 called for a "better targeting of limited resources . _ o on the
 basis of priorities which reflect current conditions and current
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