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From the handy, dandy etymology dictionary: 
assassin - 1531 (in Anglo-L. from c.1237), via Fr. and It., from Ar. hashishiyyin "hashish-users," pl. of hashishiyy, from hashish (q.v.). A fanatical Ismaili Muslim sect of the time of the Crusades, under leadership of the "Old Man of the Mountains" (translates Ar. shaik-al-jibal, name applied to Hasan ibu-al-Sabbah), with a reputation for murdering opposing leaders after intoxicating themselves by eating hashish. The pl. suffix -in was mistaken in Europe for part of the word (cf. Bedouin).
Not to disagree of course. I just wanted to point out the it's a lot older than the days of Reefer Madness. (And it's taken great effort on my part not to commence a diatribe on my own views of the evils of drug use.
"“My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me.” –Benjamin Disraeli"
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