Legal history of marijuana in the United States
Encyclopedia
The legal history of cannabis in the United States relates to the regulation of marijuana use for medical or recreational purposes in the United States
. Regulations and restrictions on the sale of Cannabis sativa
as a drug began as early as 1860. Increased restrictions and labeling of cannabis as a poison began in many states from 1906 onward, and outright prohibitions began in the 1920s. By the mid-1930s Cannabis was regulated as a drug in every state, including 35 states that adopted the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act
.
In the 1970s, many places in the United States started to abolish state laws and other local regulations that banned possession or sale of cannabis. The same thing happened with cannabis sold as medical cannabis
in the 1990s. All this is in conflicts with federal laws; cannabis is a Schedule I drug according to the Controlled Substances Act
of 1970, which classified cannabis as having high potential for abuse, no medical use, and not safe to use under medical supervision. Multiple efforts to reschedule cannabis
under the Act have failed, and the United States Supreme Court has ruled in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Coop and Gonzales v. Raich
that the federal government has a right to regulate and criminalize cannabis, even for medical purposes.
colony law declared that all settlers were required to grow hemp
. George Washington
grew hemp at Mount Vernon
as one of his three primary crops. The use of hemp for rope and fabric was ubiquitous throughout the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States, and the Constitution of the United States of America was drafted on paper made from hemp.
a decade earlier in 1839.
Around the same time, efforts to regulate the sale of pharmaceuticals began, and laws were introduced on a state-to-state basis that created penalties for mislabeling drugs, adulterating
them with undisclosed narcotics, and improper sale of those considered "poison
s". Poison laws generally either required labels on the packaging indicating the harmful effects of the drugs or prohibited sale outside of licensed pharmacies and without a doctor's prescription. Those that required labeling often required the word "poison" if the drug was not issued by a pharmacy. Other regulations were prohibitions on the sale to minors, as well as restrictions on refills. Some pharmaceutical laws specifically enumerated the drugs that came under the effect of the regulations, while others didn't — leaving the matter to medical experts. Those that did generally included references to cannabis, either under the category of "cannabis and its preparations" or "hemp and its preparations", and some listed it under the category of "poisons". Prominent pharmaceutical societies at the time supported the listing of cannabis as a poison.
A 1905 Bulletin from the US Department of Agriculture lists twenty-nine states with laws mentioning cannabis. Eight are listed with "sale of poisons" laws that specifically mention cannabis: North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Vermont, Maine, Montana, and the District of Columbia. Among those that required a prescription for sale were Wisconsin and Louisiana. Several "sale of poison" laws did not specify restricted drugs, including in Indiana, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Nebraska, Kentucky, Mississippi, and New York. Many states that did not require cannabis a "poison" nonetheless required it be labeled.
In New York
, the original law did enumerate cannabis, and was passed in 1860 following a string of suicides involving the substances later categorized as poisons. The first draft of the bill 'An act to regulate the sale of poisons' prohibited the sale of cannabis — as with the other substances — without the written order of a physician. The final bill as passed allowed the sale without a prescription so long as the purpose to which it was issued and name and address of the buyer was recorded, and in addition, all packaging of such substances — whether sold with a prescription or not — had to have the label "poison" on them in uppercase red letters. In 1862, the section which enumerated the substances was repealed with an amendatory act, though cannabis was still required to be labeled
In some states where poison laws excluded cannabis, there were nonetheless attempts to include it. A bill introduced in 1880 in the California
state legislature was titled 'An act to regulate the sale of opium and other narcotic poisons' and would have prohibited anyone to keep, sell, furnish, or give away any "preparations or mixtures made or prepared from opium, hemp, or other narcotic drugs" without a doctor's prescription at a licensed store. That bill was withdrawn in favor of one specifically aimed at opium, though further bills including hemp-based drugs were introduced in 1885 and in 1889.
An article in Harper’s Magazine (1883), attributed to Harry Hubbell Kane, describes a hashish-house in New York frequented by a large clientele, including males and females of "the better classes," and further talks about parlors in Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago. Hemp cigarettes were reported to be used by Mexican soldiers early as 1874. Complaints also existed about narcotics such as cannabis being used in drug remedies, it was argued that they caused the patient to be habituated without curing their disease. Similar use of cannabis in alcohol and tobacco adulteration caused it to be commonly listed with other narcotics by pharmaceutical boards and in new laws that came up. Common recreational use and abuse of pharmaceutical hemp later influenced it being a concern in anti-narcotic legislation following the turn of the century.
was then passed by the United States Congress in 1906 and required, nationwide, that all sales of non-prescription sale of cannabis be properly labeled.
Further regulation of cannabis followed in Massachusetts (1911), New York (1914), and Maine (1914). In New York, reform legislation began under the Towns-Boylan Act, which targeted all "habit-forming drugs", restricted their sale, prohibited refills in order to prevent habituation, prohibited sale to people with a habit, and prohibited doctors who were themselves habituated from selling them. Shortly after, several amendments were passed by the New York Board of Health, including adding cannabis to the list of habit-forming drugs.
A New York Times article noted on the cannabis amendment:
In the West, the first state to include cannabis as a poison was California. The Poison Act was passed in 1907 and amended in 1909 and 1911, and in 1913 an amendatory act (Stats. 1913, Ch. 342) was made to make possession of "extracts, tinctures, or other narcotic preparations of hemp, or loco-weed, their preparations and compounds" a misdemeanor. There's no evidence that the law was ever used or intended to restrict pharmaceutical cannabis; instead it was a legislative mistake, and in 1915 another revision placed cannabis under the same restriction as other poisons.
Other states followed with marijuana laws including: Wyoming (1915); Texas (1919); Iowa (1923); Nevada (1923); Oregon (1923); Washington (1923); Arkansas (1923); and Nebraska (1927).
One source of tensions in the western and southwestern states was the influx of Mexicans to America. Many Mexicans also smoked marijuana to relax after working in the fields. Later in that decade negative tensions grew between the small farms and the large farms that used cheaper Mexican labor. Shortly afterwards the Great Depression came which increased tensions as jobs and resources became more scarce. Because of that, the passage of the initial laws is often described as a product of racism, yet use of hashish by near eastern immigrants were also cited, as well as the misuse of pharmaceutical hemp, and the laws conformed with other legislation that was being passed around the country. Mexico itself had passed prohibition in 1925, following the International Opium Convention (see below).
supported regulation of Indian hemp, also known as hashish
, in the International Opium Convention
. The convention banned exportation of "Indian hemp", and the preparations derived therefrom, to countries that had prohibited its use and required importing countries to issue certificates approving the importation and stating that the shipment was required "exclusively for medical or scientific purposes". The convention did not ban trade in fibers and other similar products from European hemp, and traditionally grown in the United States, which are very tall with a low THC
content. According to the 1912 edition of a Swedish encyclopaedia the European hemp grown for its fibers lacks the THC content that characterizes Indian hemp.
. It was argued that the traffic in narcotic drugs should have the same safeguards and the same regulation in all of the states. The committee took into consideration the fact that the federal government had already passed The Harrison Act in 1914 and The Federal Import and Export Act in 1922. Many people assumed that the Harrison Act was all that was necessary. The Harrison Act, however, was a revenue-producing act and, while it provided penalties for violation, it did not give the states themselves authority to exercise police power in regard to seizure of drugs used in illicit trade, or in regard to punishment of those responsible. The act was recommended to the states for that purpose. As a result of the Uniform State Narcotic Act, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics
encouraged state governments to adopt the act. By the middle of the 1930s all member states had some regulation of cannabis.
The use of cannabis and other drugs came under increasing scrutiny after the formation of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics
(FBN) in 1930, headed by Harry J. Anslinger
as part of the government's broader push to outlaw all recreational drugs.
Anslinger claimed cannabis caused people to commit violent crimes and act irrationally and overly sexual. The FBN produced propaganda films promoting Anslinger's views and Anslinger often commented to the press regarding his views on marijuana.
(1936 Trafficking Convention) was concluded in Geneva. The US, led by Anslinger, had attempted to include the criminalization of all activities in the treaty – cultivation, production, manufacture and distribution – related to the use of opium, coca (and its derivatives) and cannabis for non-medical and non-scientific purposes. Many countries opposed this and the focus remained on illicit trafficking. Article 2 of the Convention called upon signatory countries to use their national criminal law systems to "severely" punish, "particularly by imprisonment or other penalties of deprivation of liberty" acts directly related to drug trafficking. The US refused to sign the final version because it considered the convention too weak, especially in relation to extradition, extraterritoriality and the confiscation of trafficking profits.
The American Medical Association
(AMA) opposed the act because the tax was imposed on physicians prescribing cannabis, retail pharmacists selling cannabis, and medical cannabis cultivation
and manufacturing; instead of enacting the Marihuana Tax Act the AMA proposed cannabis be added to the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act
. After the Philippines fell to Japanese forces in 1942, the Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Army urged farmers to grow hemp fiber and tax stamps for cultivation were issued to farmers. Without any change in the Marihuana Tax Act, over 400,000 acres of hemp were cultivated between 1942 and 1945. The last commercial hemp fields were planted in Wisconsin in 1957. New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who was a strong opponent of the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, started the LaGuardia Commission
that in 1944 contradicted the earlier reports of addiction, madness, and overt sexuality. In its 1969 Leary v. United States
decision the Supreme Court
held the Marihuana Tax Act to be unconstitutional, since it violated the Fifth Amendment
privilege against self-incrimination. In response, Congress
repealed the Marihuana Tax Act and passed the Controlled Substances Act
as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970
, which repealed the Marihuana Tax Act.
The decision of the United States Congress
to pass the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was based on hearings and reports. In 1936 the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) noticed an increase of reports of people smoking marijuana, which further increased in 1937. The Bureau drafted a legislative plan for Congress, seeking a new law and the head of the FBN, Harry J. Anslinger
, ran a campaign against marijuana. Newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst
's empire of newspapers began publishing what is known as "Yellow journalism
", demonizing the cannabis plant and putting emphasis on connections between cannabis and violent crime. Several scholars argue that the goal was to destroy the hemp industry, largely as an effort of Hearst, Andrew Mellon and the Du Pont family
. They argue that with the invention of the decorticator
hemp became a very cheap substitute for the paper pulp that was used in the newspaper industry. They also believe that Hearst felt that this was a threat to his extensive timber
holdings. Mellon was Secretary of the Treasury and the wealthiest man in America and had invested heavily in nylon
, DuPont
's new synthetic fiber, and considered its success to depend on its replacement of the traditional resource, hemp. According to other researchers there were other things than hemp more important for DuPont in the mid-1930s: to finish the product (nylon) before its German competitors, to start plants for nylon with much larger capacity, etc.
In 1916 United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) chief scientists Jason L. Merrill and Lyster H. Dewey
created a paper, USDA Bulletin No. 404 "Hemp Hurds as Paper-Making Material", in which they concluded that paper from the woody inner portion of the hemp stem broken into pieces, so called hemp hurds, was "favorable in comparison with those used with pulp wood". Dewey and Merrill believed that hemp hurds were a suitable source for paper production. In 2003 95% of the hemp hurds in EU were used for animal bedding, almost 5% were used as building material. In addition 70–80% of hemp fiber produced was used in specialty pulp for cigarette papers and technical applications; hemp is not reported as source for mass production of newsprint.
In 1916 the United States Department of Agriculture assumed, partly based on the incorrect finding about hemp hurds of USDA Bulletin No. 404, that the production of hemp would rise in the US. In reality production fell until 1933, due to competition with other fibers and imports. In 1933 production was only around 500 tons of hemp fiber per year. 1934–1935 the cultivation of hemp began to increase, but still with a very low volume compared with other types of fibers and with no significant increase in production of paper from hemp.
There was also a misconception about the intoxicating effects of hemp because it has the same active substance, THC
, which is in all cannabis strains. Hemp normally has a minimal amount of THC when compared to recreational cannabis strains but, in the 1930s, THC
was not yet fully identified. The methods FBN used for predicting the psychoactive effect of different samples of cannabis and hemp therefore gave confusing results.
and increased punishment were enacted when the United States Congress
passed the Boggs Act of 1952 and the Narcotics Control Act of 1956. The acts made a first-time cannabis possession offence a minimum of two to ten years with a fine up to $20,000; however in 1970 the United States Congress repealed mandatory penalties for cannabis offences.
subsidiary the Bureau of Narcotics and the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare subsidiary the Bureau of Drug Abuse Control
merged to create the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
as a United States Department of Justice
subsidiary.
In 1973 President Richard Nixon
's "Reorganization Plan Number Two" proposed the creation of a single federal agency to enforce federal drug laws and Congress
accepted the proposal, as there was concern regarding the growing availability of drugs. As a result, on July 1, 1973, the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
(BNDD) and the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE) merged together to create the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA). On December 1, 1975, the Supreme Court ruled that it was "not cruel or unusual for Ohio to sentence someone to 20 years for having or selling cannabis."
the Sentencing Reform Act provisions of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 created the Sentencing Commission, which established mandatory sentencing guidelines. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 reinstated mandatory prison sentences, including large scale cannabis distribution. Later an amendment created a three-strikes law, which created mandatory 25-years imprisonment for repeated serious crimes - serious drug offenses is in on that list - and allowed the death penalty
to be used against "drug kingpins."
voters passed Proposition 215
, which legalized medical cannabis
. The Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative
was created to "provide seriously ill patients with a safe and reliable source of medical cannabis, information and patient support" in accordance with Proposition 215.
In January 1998 the U.S. Government sued Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative for violating federal
laws created as a result of Controlled Substances Act of 1970. On May 14, 2001, the United States Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Coop that federal anti-drug laws do not permit an exception for medical cannabis
and rejected the common-law medical necessity defense to crimes enacted under the Controlled Substances Act because Congress
concluded cannabis has "no currently accepted medical use" when the act was passed in 1970.
545 U.S. 1 (2005) was a decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (6-3) that even where persons are cultivating, possessing, or distributing medical cannabis in accordance with state-approved medical cannabis programs, such persons are violating federal marijuana laws and can therefore be prosecuted by federal authorities because the Commerce Clause
of the United States Constitution
permits federal authorities (pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act) to prosecute any and all offenses of federal marijuana laws. The respondents argued that because the cannabis in question had been grown, transported, and consumed entirely within the state of California, pursuant to California medical cannabis laws, their activity did not implicate interstate commerce and as such, could not be legitimately regulated by the federal government through the Commerce Clause. The Supreme Court disagreed, reasoning that cannabis grown for medical purposes is indistinguishable from illicit marijuana and that, because the intrastate medical cannabis market contributes to the interstate illicit marijuana market, the Commerce Clause applies. Even where persons are using medical cannabis in full compliance with state law, those persons can still be punished by federal authorities for violating federal law.
To combat state-approved medical cannabis legislation, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) routinely targets and arrests medical cannabis patients as well as seizing medical cannabis and the business assets of growers and medical dispensaries. However, the Obama administration has indicated that this practice may potentially be curtailed.
. The judge ruled Randall needed cannabis for medical purposes and required the Food and Drug Administration
set up a program to grow cannabis on a farm at the University of Mississippi
and to distribute 300 cannabis cigarettes a month to Randall. In 1992 George H. W. Bush
discontinued the program after Randall tried to make AIDS
patients eligible for the program. Thirteen people were already enrolled and were allowed to continue receiving cannabis cigarettes; today the government still ships cannabis cigarettes to seven people. Irvin Rosenfeld, who became eligible to receive cannabis from the program in 1982 to treat rare bone tumors, urged the George W. Bush administration
to reopen the program; however, he was unsuccessful.
Alaska is the only state where possession of up to one ounce is legal."Citing the dangers of marijuana and the lack of clinical research supporting its medicinal value" the American Society of Addiction Medicine
in March 2011 issued a white paper recommending a halt to using marijuana as a medicine in US states where it has been declared legal.
to decriminalize cannabis. These groups include Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
, Students for Sensible Drug Policy
, The Drug Policy Alliance
, the Marijuana Policy Project
, NORML, Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis
, and Americans for Safe Access
. In June 2005, libertarian
economist Jeffrey Alan Miron and over 530 other economists, including Nobel Prize
winner Milton Friedman
, called for the legalization of cannabis in an open letter to President George W. Bush
, the United States Congress
, Governors, and State Legislatures of the United States. The open letter contained Miron's "Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States" report (view report). In 1997, the Connecticut Law Revision Commission recommended Connecticut
reduce cannabis possession of one ounce or less for adults age 21 and over to a civil fine. In 2001, the New Mexico
state-commissioned Drug Policy Advisory Group stated that decriminalizing cannabis "will result in greater availability of resources to respond to more serious crimes without any increased risks to public safety." A few places in California
have been advocating cannabis decriminalization.
On November 3, 2004, Oakland
passed Proposition Z, which makes "adult recreational marijuana use, cultivation and sales the lowest [city] law enforcement priority." Ron Paul
, a Texas Congressman and 2008 and 2012 Presidential Candidate, stated at a rally in response to a question by a medical cannabis patient that he would "never use the federal government to force the law against anybody using marijuana."
In 1970 the United States Congress
repealed mandatory penalties for cannabis offenses and The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act separated cannabis from other illicit narcotics and removed mandatory sentences for possession of small amounts of cannabis. In 1972 President Richard Nixon commissioned a comprehensive study from the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. The Commission found that the constitutionality of cannabis prohibition was suspect and that the executive and legislative branches had a responsibility to obey the Constitution, even in the absence of a court ruling to do so. The Richard Nixon
administration did not implement the study's recommendations.
In 1973 Oregon
decriminalized cannabis. Laws changed again in 1995 that reduced penalties. Possession of one ounce or less became legally defined as a "violation" (a crime that is considered a lesser offence than a misdemeanor) and now is punishable by a $500 to $1,000 fine that can be, in some jurisdictions, paid off by means of community service. Possession of multiple containers of any weight, or possession of more than one ounce can sometimes add the additional crime "Intent to Sell". In some cases people who have no marijuana, but are caught at the scene of a drug bust, are charged with "Frequenting". Stricter punishments exist for sale, cultivation, and proximity to schools.
Colorado
, Alaska
, Ohio
, and California
followed suit in 1975. By 1978 Mississippi
, North Carolina
, New York
, and Nebraska
had some form of cannabis decriminalization. In 2001 Nevada
reduced cannabis possession from a felony
offense to a misdemeanor
, but only for adults age 21 and older, with other restrictions. Starting in the 1970s multiple states, counties, and cities decriminalized cannabis for non-medical
purposes. While many states, counties, and cities have partially decriminalized cannabis on November 3, 2004, Oakland
passed Proposition Z, and became the first place to fully decriminalize cannabis to allow the licensing, taxing, and regulation of cannabis sales if California
law is amended to allow so. In 2008 Massachusetts
passed a voter initiative
that decriminalized simple possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, instead making it a civil infraction punishable by a $100 fine. Criminal penalties for cultivation and distribution remain in place.
A vote in 2005 of 54% to 46% in Denver, Colorado, made the possession of up to an ounce of cannabis legal, although it does not overrule state laws and one may still be arrested for it—it also only applies to people age 21 and older. In 2006 Denver City Council voted to make arrests and tickets for possession of marijuana the lowest priority for law enforcement. Today the fine for possession of up to two ounces is only one dollar (plus court costs and a $100 drug offender surcharge). Most recently the town of Breckenridge, Colorado, passed a similar law also allowing for the possession of up to one ounce of Marijuana. The American Medical Association and the California Medical Association have both separately called for more research on marijuana. Canorml.org said, "...CMA consider the criminalization of marijuana to be a failed public health policy; and be it further resolved that CMA encourage and participate in debate and education regarding the health aspects of changing current policy regarding cannabis use."
s first started in 1989 and have spread since. 2140 drug courts were in operation May 2008, with another 284 being planned or developed. They offer offenders charged with less-serious crimes of being under the influence, possession of a controlled substance, or even drug-using offenders charged with a non-drug related crime the option of entering the drug court system a conventional criminal court with the possibility of serving a jail sentence. To take advantage of this program, offenders have to plead guilty to the charge, agree to take part in treatment, regular drug screenings, and regular reporting to the drug court judge for a minimum of one year. Should the offender fail to comply with one or more of the requirements they may be removed from the drug court and incarcerated at the judge's discretion. If they complete the drug court program the charges brought against them are dropped or reduced.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Regulations and restrictions on the sale of Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa is an annual herbaceous plant in the Cannabaceae family. Humans have cultivated this herb throughout recorded history as a source of industrial fibre, seed oil, food, recreation, spiritual enlightenment and medicine...
as a drug began as early as 1860. Increased restrictions and labeling of cannabis as a poison began in many states from 1906 onward, and outright prohibitions began in the 1920s. By the mid-1930s Cannabis was regulated as a drug in every state, including 35 states that adopted the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act
Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act
The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws developed the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act in 1934 due to the lack of restrictions in the Harrison Act of 1914...
.
In the 1970s, many places in the United States started to abolish state laws and other local regulations that banned possession or sale of cannabis. The same thing happened with cannabis sold as medical cannabis
Medical cannabis
Medical cannabis refers to the use of parts of the herb cannabis as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy, or to synthetic forms of specific cannabinoids such as THC as a physician-recommended form of medicine...
in the 1990s. All this is in conflicts with federal laws; cannabis is a Schedule I drug according to the Controlled Substances Act
Controlled Substances Act
The Controlled Substances Act was enacted into law by the Congress of the United States as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. The CSA is the federal U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use and distribution of certain...
of 1970, which classified cannabis as having high potential for abuse, no medical use, and not safe to use under medical supervision. Multiple efforts to reschedule cannabis
Cannabis rescheduling in the United States
In the United States, all preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes are currently classified under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the most tightly restricted category reserved for drugs which have "no currently accepted...
under the Act have failed, and the United States Supreme Court has ruled in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Coop and Gonzales v. Raich
Gonzales v. Raich
Gonzales v. Raich , 545 U.S. 1 , was a decision by the United States Supreme Court ruling that under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, the United States Congress may criminalize the production and use of home-grown cannabis even where states approve its use for medicinal...
that the federal government has a right to regulate and criminalize cannabis, even for medical purposes.
Early history (pre-1850's)
In 1619 JamestownJamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
colony law declared that all settlers were required to grow hemp
Hemp
Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...
. George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
grew hemp at Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon
The name Mount Vernon is a dedication to the English Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon. It was first applied to Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, the first President of the United States...
as one of his three primary crops. The use of hemp for rope and fabric was ubiquitous throughout the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States, and the Constitution of the United States of America was drafted on paper made from hemp.
Pharmaceutical regulations and "sale of poisons" laws
Medicinal preparations of cannabis became available in American pharmacies in the 1850s following an introduction to its use in Western medicine by William O'ShaughnessyWilliam Brooke O'Shaughnessy
William Brooke O'Shaughnessy MD FRS was an Irish physician famous for his work in pharmacology and inventions related to telegraphy...
a decade earlier in 1839.
Adulterant
An adulterant is a chemical substance which should not be contained within other substances for legal or other reasons. Adulterants may be intentionally added to more expensive substances to increase visible quantities and reduce manufacturing costs or for some other deceptive or malicious purpose...
them with undisclosed narcotics, and improper sale of those considered "poison
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
s". Poison laws generally either required labels on the packaging indicating the harmful effects of the drugs or prohibited sale outside of licensed pharmacies and without a doctor's prescription. Those that required labeling often required the word "poison" if the drug was not issued by a pharmacy. Other regulations were prohibitions on the sale to minors, as well as restrictions on refills. Some pharmaceutical laws specifically enumerated the drugs that came under the effect of the regulations, while others didn't — leaving the matter to medical experts. Those that did generally included references to cannabis, either under the category of "cannabis and its preparations" or "hemp and its preparations", and some listed it under the category of "poisons". Prominent pharmaceutical societies at the time supported the listing of cannabis as a poison.
A 1905 Bulletin from the US Department of Agriculture lists twenty-nine states with laws mentioning cannabis. Eight are listed with "sale of poisons" laws that specifically mention cannabis: North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Vermont, Maine, Montana, and the District of Columbia. Among those that required a prescription for sale were Wisconsin and Louisiana. Several "sale of poison" laws did not specify restricted drugs, including in Indiana, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Nebraska, Kentucky, Mississippi, and New York. Many states that did not require cannabis a "poison" nonetheless required it be labeled.
In New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, the original law did enumerate cannabis, and was passed in 1860 following a string of suicides involving the substances later categorized as poisons. The first draft of the bill 'An act to regulate the sale of poisons' prohibited the sale of cannabis — as with the other substances — without the written order of a physician. The final bill as passed allowed the sale without a prescription so long as the purpose to which it was issued and name and address of the buyer was recorded, and in addition, all packaging of such substances — whether sold with a prescription or not — had to have the label "poison" on them in uppercase red letters. In 1862, the section which enumerated the substances was repealed with an amendatory act, though cannabis was still required to be labeled
In some states where poison laws excluded cannabis, there were nonetheless attempts to include it. A bill introduced in 1880 in the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
state legislature was titled 'An act to regulate the sale of opium and other narcotic poisons' and would have prohibited anyone to keep, sell, furnish, or give away any "preparations or mixtures made or prepared from opium, hemp, or other narcotic drugs" without a doctor's prescription at a licensed store. That bill was withdrawn in favor of one specifically aimed at opium, though further bills including hemp-based drugs were introduced in 1885 and in 1889.
Adulteration laws
Many states also had laws prohibiting the adulterating of tobacco and alcohol products with harmful substances or narcotics, including cannabis.Background to later restrictions
As early as 1853, recreational cannabis was listed as a "fashionable narcotic". By the 1880s, oriental-style hashish parlors were flourishing alongside opium dens, to the point that one could be found in every major city on the east coast. It was estimated there were around 500 such establishments in New York City alone.An article in Harper’s Magazine (1883), attributed to Harry Hubbell Kane, describes a hashish-house in New York frequented by a large clientele, including males and females of "the better classes," and further talks about parlors in Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago. Hemp cigarettes were reported to be used by Mexican soldiers early as 1874. Complaints also existed about narcotics such as cannabis being used in drug remedies, it was argued that they caused the patient to be habituated without curing their disease. Similar use of cannabis in alcohol and tobacco adulteration caused it to be commonly listed with other narcotics by pharmaceutical boards and in new laws that came up. Common recreational use and abuse of pharmaceutical hemp later influenced it being a concern in anti-narcotic legislation following the turn of the century.
Strengthening of poison laws (1906-1923)
Even after the passage of regulations, there continued to be criticisms about the availability of narcotics and around 1910 there was a wave of legislation aimed to strengthen requirements for their sale and remove what were commonly referred to as "loopholes" in poison laws. The new revisions aimed to restrict all narcotics, including cannabis, as poisons, limit their sale to pharmacies, and require doctor's prescriptions. The first instance was in the District of Columbia in 1906, under 'An act to regulate the practice of pharmacy and the sale of poisons in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes'. The Pure Food and Drug ActPure Food and Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act of June 30, 1906, is a United States federal law that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products and poisonous patent medicines...
was then passed by the United States Congress in 1906 and required, nationwide, that all sales of non-prescription sale of cannabis be properly labeled.
Further regulation of cannabis followed in Massachusetts (1911), New York (1914), and Maine (1914). In New York, reform legislation began under the Towns-Boylan Act, which targeted all "habit-forming drugs", restricted their sale, prohibited refills in order to prevent habituation, prohibited sale to people with a habit, and prohibited doctors who were themselves habituated from selling them. Shortly after, several amendments were passed by the New York Board of Health, including adding cannabis to the list of habit-forming drugs.
A New York Times article noted on the cannabis amendment:
In the West, the first state to include cannabis as a poison was California. The Poison Act was passed in 1907 and amended in 1909 and 1911, and in 1913 an amendatory act (Stats. 1913, Ch. 342) was made to make possession of "extracts, tinctures, or other narcotic preparations of hemp, or loco-weed, their preparations and compounds" a misdemeanor. There's no evidence that the law was ever used or intended to restrict pharmaceutical cannabis; instead it was a legislative mistake, and in 1915 another revision placed cannabis under the same restriction as other poisons.
Other states followed with marijuana laws including: Wyoming (1915); Texas (1919); Iowa (1923); Nevada (1923); Oregon (1923); Washington (1923); Arkansas (1923); and Nebraska (1927).
One source of tensions in the western and southwestern states was the influx of Mexicans to America. Many Mexicans also smoked marijuana to relax after working in the fields. Later in that decade negative tensions grew between the small farms and the large farms that used cheaper Mexican labor. Shortly afterwards the Great Depression came which increased tensions as jobs and resources became more scarce. Because of that, the passage of the initial laws is often described as a product of racism, yet use of hashish by near eastern immigrants were also cited, as well as the misuse of pharmaceutical hemp, and the laws conformed with other legislation that was being passed around the country. Mexico itself had passed prohibition in 1925, following the International Opium Convention (see below).
International Opium Convention (1925)
In 1925 the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
supported regulation of Indian hemp, also known as hashish
Hashish
Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...
, in the International Opium Convention
International Opium Convention
The International Opium Convention, signed at The Hague on January 23, 1912 during the First International Opium Conference, was the first international drug control treaty. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on January 23, 1922...
. The convention banned exportation of "Indian hemp", and the preparations derived therefrom, to countries that had prohibited its use and required importing countries to issue certificates approving the importation and stating that the shipment was required "exclusively for medical or scientific purposes". The convention did not ban trade in fibers and other similar products from European hemp, and traditionally grown in the United States, which are very tall with a low THC
THC
THC commonly refers to tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active chemical compound in Cannabis.THC may also refer to:* Tan Holdings Corporation...
content. According to the 1912 edition of a Swedish encyclopaedia the European hemp grown for its fibers lacks the THC content that characterizes Indian hemp.
Uniform State Narcotic Act (1925–1932)
The Uniform State Narcotic Act, first tentative draft in 1925 and fifth final version in 1932, was a result of work by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State LawsNational Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws is a non-profit, unincorporated association commonly referred to as the U.S. Uniform Law Commission. It consists of commissioners appointed by each state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the United States...
. It was argued that the traffic in narcotic drugs should have the same safeguards and the same regulation in all of the states. The committee took into consideration the fact that the federal government had already passed The Harrison Act in 1914 and The Federal Import and Export Act in 1922. Many people assumed that the Harrison Act was all that was necessary. The Harrison Act, however, was a revenue-producing act and, while it provided penalties for violation, it did not give the states themselves authority to exercise police power in regard to seizure of drugs used in illicit trade, or in regard to punishment of those responsible. The act was recommended to the states for that purpose. As a result of the Uniform State Narcotic Act, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics
Federal Bureau of Narcotics
The Federal Bureau of Narcotics was an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury. Established in the Department of the Treasury by an act of June 14, 1930 consolidating the functions of the Federal Narcotics Control Board and the Narcotic Division...
encouraged state governments to adopt the act. By the middle of the 1930s all member states had some regulation of cannabis.
Federal Bureau of Narcotics (1930)
Federal Bureau of Narcotics
The Federal Bureau of Narcotics was an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury. Established in the Department of the Treasury by an act of June 14, 1930 consolidating the functions of the Federal Narcotics Control Board and the Narcotic Division...
(FBN) in 1930, headed by Harry J. Anslinger
Harry J. Anslinger
Harry Jacob Anslinger held office as the Assistant Prohibition Commissioner in the Bureau of Prohibition, before being appointed as the first Commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics on August 12, 1930.Anslinger held office an unprecedented 32 years in his role...
as part of the government's broader push to outlaw all recreational drugs.
Anslinger claimed cannabis caused people to commit violent crimes and act irrationally and overly sexual. The FBN produced propaganda films promoting Anslinger's views and Anslinger often commented to the press regarding his views on marijuana.
The 1936 Geneva Trafficking Conventions
In 1936 the Convention for the Suppression of the Illicit Traffic in Dangerous DrugsConvention for the Suppression of the Illicit Traffic in Dangerous Drugs
The Convention for the Suppression of the Illicit Traffic in Dangerous Drugs was a drug control treaty signed in 1936.Harry Anslinger representing the United States attempted to add provisions to criminalize all activities – cultivation, production, manufacture and distribution – related to the use...
(1936 Trafficking Convention) was concluded in Geneva. The US, led by Anslinger, had attempted to include the criminalization of all activities in the treaty – cultivation, production, manufacture and distribution – related to the use of opium, coca (and its derivatives) and cannabis for non-medical and non-scientific purposes. Many countries opposed this and the focus remained on illicit trafficking. Article 2 of the Convention called upon signatory countries to use their national criminal law systems to "severely" punish, "particularly by imprisonment or other penalties of deprivation of liberty" acts directly related to drug trafficking. The US refused to sign the final version because it considered the convention too weak, especially in relation to extradition, extraterritoriality and the confiscation of trafficking profits.
Marihuana Tax Act (1937)
| Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 |
|---|
| The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 made possession or transfer of cannabis illegal throughout the United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... under federal law Law of the United States The law of the United States consists of many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the United States Constitution, the foundation of the federal government of the United States... , excluding medical and industrial uses, in which an expensive excise tax Excise Excise tax in the United States is a indirect tax on listed items. Excise taxes can be and are made by federal, state and local governments and are far from uniform throughout the United States... was required. Annual fees for the tax were $24 ($337 adjusted for inflation) for importers, manufacturers, and cultivators of cannabis, $1 annually ($14 adjusted for inflation) for medical and research purposes, and $3 annually ($42 adjusted for inflation) for industrial uses. Detailed cannabis sale logs were required to keep record of cannabis sales. Selling cannabis to any person who has previously paid the tax is $1 per ounce or fraction thereof; however, it is $100 ($1,406 adjusted for inflation) per ounce or fraction thereof to sell any person who has not registered and paid the special tax. |
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association , founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of medical doctors and medical students in the United States.-Scope and operations:...
(AMA) opposed the act because the tax was imposed on physicians prescribing cannabis, retail pharmacists selling cannabis, and medical cannabis cultivation
Cannabis cultivation
This article presents common techniques and facts regarding the cultivation of the flowering plant cannabis, primarily for the production and consumption of marijuana buds. Cultivation techniques for other purposes differ...
and manufacturing; instead of enacting the Marihuana Tax Act the AMA proposed cannabis be added to the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act
Harrison Narcotics Tax Act
The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was a United States federal law that regulated and taxed the production, importation, and distribution of opiates...
. After the Philippines fell to Japanese forces in 1942, the Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Army urged farmers to grow hemp fiber and tax stamps for cultivation were issued to farmers. Without any change in the Marihuana Tax Act, over 400,000 acres of hemp were cultivated between 1942 and 1945. The last commercial hemp fields were planted in Wisconsin in 1957. New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who was a strong opponent of the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, started the LaGuardia Commission
LaGuardia Commission
The La Guardia Committee was the first in depth study into the effects of smoking marijuana. It systematically contradicted claims made by the U.S...
that in 1944 contradicted the earlier reports of addiction, madness, and overt sexuality. In its 1969 Leary v. United States
Leary v. United States
Leary v. United States, , is a U.S. Supreme Court case dealing with the constitutionality of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. Timothy Leary, a professor and activist, was arrested for the possession of marijuana in violation of the Marihuana Tax Act. Leary challenged the act on the ground that the...
decision the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
held the Marihuana Tax Act to be unconstitutional, since it violated the Fifth Amendment
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
privilege against self-incrimination. In response, Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
repealed the Marihuana Tax Act and passed the Controlled Substances Act
Controlled Substances Act
The Controlled Substances Act was enacted into law by the Congress of the United States as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. The CSA is the federal U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use and distribution of certain...
as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970
Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970
The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, Pub. L. No. 91-513, 84 Stat. 1236 , is a United States federal law that, with subsequent modifications, requires the pharmaceutical industry to maintain physical security and strict record keeping for certain types of drugs...
, which repealed the Marihuana Tax Act.
The decision of the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to pass the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was based on hearings and reports. In 1936 the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) noticed an increase of reports of people smoking marijuana, which further increased in 1937. The Bureau drafted a legislative plan for Congress, seeking a new law and the head of the FBN, Harry J. Anslinger
Harry J. Anslinger
Harry Jacob Anslinger held office as the Assistant Prohibition Commissioner in the Bureau of Prohibition, before being appointed as the first Commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics on August 12, 1930.Anslinger held office an unprecedented 32 years in his role...
, ran a campaign against marijuana. Newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
's empire of newspapers began publishing what is known as "Yellow journalism
Yellow journalism
Yellow journalism or the yellow press is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism...
", demonizing the cannabis plant and putting emphasis on connections between cannabis and violent crime. Several scholars argue that the goal was to destroy the hemp industry, largely as an effort of Hearst, Andrew Mellon and the Du Pont family
Du Pont family
The Du Pont family is an American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours . The son of a Paris watchmaker and a member of a Burgundian noble family, he and his sons, Victor Marie du Pont and Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, emigrated to the United States in 1800 and used the resources of...
. They argue that with the invention of the decorticator
Decorticator
A decorticator is a machine for stripping the skin, bark, or rind off nuts, wood, plant stalks, grain, etc., in preparation for further processing....
hemp became a very cheap substitute for the paper pulp that was used in the newspaper industry. They also believe that Hearst felt that this was a threat to his extensive timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
holdings. Mellon was Secretary of the Treasury and the wealthiest man in America and had invested heavily in nylon
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...
, DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
's new synthetic fiber, and considered its success to depend on its replacement of the traditional resource, hemp. According to other researchers there were other things than hemp more important for DuPont in the mid-1930s: to finish the product (nylon) before its German competitors, to start plants for nylon with much larger capacity, etc.
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
(USDA) chief scientists Jason L. Merrill and Lyster H. Dewey
Lyster Hoxie Dewey
Lyster Hoxie Dewey was an American botanist, born in Cambridge, Michigan In 1888, he graduated from Michigan Agricultural College where, for the next two years, he taught botany. He was an assistant botanist of the United States Department of Agriculture from 1890 to 1902 and thereafter botanist...
created a paper, USDA Bulletin No. 404 "Hemp Hurds as Paper-Making Material", in which they concluded that paper from the woody inner portion of the hemp stem broken into pieces, so called hemp hurds, was "favorable in comparison with those used with pulp wood". Dewey and Merrill believed that hemp hurds were a suitable source for paper production. In 2003 95% of the hemp hurds in EU were used for animal bedding, almost 5% were used as building material. In addition 70–80% of hemp fiber produced was used in specialty pulp for cigarette papers and technical applications; hemp is not reported as source for mass production of newsprint.
In 1916 the United States Department of Agriculture assumed, partly based on the incorrect finding about hemp hurds of USDA Bulletin No. 404, that the production of hemp would rise in the US. In reality production fell until 1933, due to competition with other fibers and imports. In 1933 production was only around 500 tons of hemp fiber per year. 1934–1935 the cultivation of hemp began to increase, but still with a very low volume compared with other types of fibers and with no significant increase in production of paper from hemp.
There was also a misconception about the intoxicating effects of hemp because it has the same active substance, THC
Tetrahydrocannabinol
Tetrahydrocannabinol , also known as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol , Δ1-THC , or dronabinol, is the main chemical psychoactive substance found in the cannabis plant. It was first isolated in 1964. In pure form, it is a glassy solid when cold, and becomes viscous and sticky if warmed...
, which is in all cannabis strains. Hemp normally has a minimal amount of THC when compared to recreational cannabis strains but, in the 1930s, THC
THC
THC commonly refers to tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active chemical compound in Cannabis.THC may also refer to:* Tan Holdings Corporation...
was not yet fully identified. The methods FBN used for predicting the psychoactive effect of different samples of cannabis and hemp therefore gave confusing results.
Mandatory sentencing (1952, 1956)
Mandatory sentencingMandatory sentencing
A mandatory sentence is a court decision setting where judicial discretion is limited by law. Typically, people convicted of certain crimes must be punished with at least a minimum number of years in prison...
and increased punishment were enacted when the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
passed the Boggs Act of 1952 and the Narcotics Control Act of 1956. The acts made a first-time cannabis possession offence a minimum of two to ten years with a fine up to $20,000; however in 1970 the United States Congress repealed mandatory penalties for cannabis offences.
Reorganization (1968, 1973)
In 1968 the United States Department of the TreasuryUnited States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
subsidiary the Bureau of Narcotics and the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare subsidiary the Bureau of Drug Abuse Control
Bureau of Drug Abuse Control
The Bureau of Drug Abuse Control was formed as a part of the United States Food and Drug Administration in February 1966 and existed until 1968 when it was merged with the Federal Bureau of Narcotics to form the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs...
merged to create the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs was a predecessor agency of the Drug Enforcement Administration . It was formed as a subsidiary of the United States Department of Justice in 1968, combining the Bureau of Narcotics and Bureau of Drug Abuse Control The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous...
as a United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
subsidiary.
In 1973 President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's "Reorganization Plan Number Two" proposed the creation of a single federal agency to enforce federal drug laws and Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
accepted the proposal, as there was concern regarding the growing availability of drugs. As a result, on July 1, 1973, the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs was a predecessor agency of the Drug Enforcement Administration . It was formed as a subsidiary of the United States Department of Justice in 1968, combining the Bureau of Narcotics and Bureau of Drug Abuse Control The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous...
(BNDD) and the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE) merged together to create the Drug Enforcement Administration
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
(DEA). On December 1, 1975, the Supreme Court ruled that it was "not cruel or unusual for Ohio to sentence someone to 20 years for having or selling cannabis."
State Office of Narcotics and Drug Abuse (1977)
In January 1976, California's careful study of the economic impact of its law repealing prohibitions of use went into effect. The law reduced the penalty for personal possession of an ounce or less of marijuana from a felony to a citable misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $100. Possession of more than an ounce was made a misdemeanor, making the maximum fine $500 and/or six months in jail. After the law went into effect, the states annual spending towards marijuana laws went down 74%. Prior to the law, the state had been spending from $35 million to $100 million.Mandatory sentencing and three-strikes (1984, 1986)
During the Reagan AdministrationReagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
the Sentencing Reform Act provisions of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 created the Sentencing Commission, which established mandatory sentencing guidelines. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 reinstated mandatory prison sentences, including large scale cannabis distribution. Later an amendment created a three-strikes law, which created mandatory 25-years imprisonment for repeated serious crimes - serious drug offenses is in on that list - and allowed the death penalty
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
to be used against "drug kingpins."
United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative (2001)
In 1996 CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
voters passed Proposition 215
California Proposition 215 (1996)
Proposition 215, or the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, is a California law concerning the use of medical cannabis. It was enacted, on November 5, 1996, by means of the initiative process, and passed with 5,382,915 votes in favor and 4,301,960 against.The proposition was a state-wide voter...
, which legalized medical cannabis
Medical cannabis
Medical cannabis refers to the use of parts of the herb cannabis as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy, or to synthetic forms of specific cannabinoids such as THC as a physician-recommended form of medicine...
. The Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative
Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative
The Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, or OCBC, is a California organization whose mission is to "provide seriously ill patients with a safe and reliable source of medical cannabis information and patient support." In order to become a member, a person must provide a note from a treating...
was created to "provide seriously ill patients with a safe and reliable source of medical cannabis, information and patient support" in accordance with Proposition 215.
In January 1998 the U.S. Government sued Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative for violating federal
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
laws created as a result of Controlled Substances Act of 1970. On May 14, 2001, the United States Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Coop that federal anti-drug laws do not permit an exception for medical cannabis
Medical cannabis
Medical cannabis refers to the use of parts of the herb cannabis as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy, or to synthetic forms of specific cannabinoids such as THC as a physician-recommended form of medicine...
and rejected the common-law medical necessity defense to crimes enacted under the Controlled Substances Act because Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
concluded cannabis has "no currently accepted medical use" when the act was passed in 1970.
Gonzales v. Raich (2005)
Gonzales v. RaichGonzales v. Raich
Gonzales v. Raich , 545 U.S. 1 , was a decision by the United States Supreme Court ruling that under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, the United States Congress may criminalize the production and use of home-grown cannabis even where states approve its use for medicinal...
545 U.S. 1 (2005) was a decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (6-3) that even where persons are cultivating, possessing, or distributing medical cannabis in accordance with state-approved medical cannabis programs, such persons are violating federal marijuana laws and can therefore be prosecuted by federal authorities because the Commerce Clause
Commerce Clause
The Commerce Clause is an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution . The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes." Courts and commentators have tended to...
of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
permits federal authorities (pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act) to prosecute any and all offenses of federal marijuana laws. The respondents argued that because the cannabis in question had been grown, transported, and consumed entirely within the state of California, pursuant to California medical cannabis laws, their activity did not implicate interstate commerce and as such, could not be legitimately regulated by the federal government through the Commerce Clause. The Supreme Court disagreed, reasoning that cannabis grown for medical purposes is indistinguishable from illicit marijuana and that, because the intrastate medical cannabis market contributes to the interstate illicit marijuana market, the Commerce Clause applies. Even where persons are using medical cannabis in full compliance with state law, those persons can still be punished by federal authorities for violating federal law.
To combat state-approved medical cannabis legislation, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) routinely targets and arrests medical cannabis patients as well as seizing medical cannabis and the business assets of growers and medical dispensaries. However, the Obama administration has indicated that this practice may potentially be curtailed.
Attempts to decriminalize (1970s–2000s)
Medical use
In 1978 Robert Randall sued the federal government for arresting him for using cannabis to treat his glaucomaGlaucoma
Glaucoma is an eye disorder in which the optic nerve suffers damage, permanently damaging vision in the affected eye and progressing to complete blindness if untreated. It is often, but not always, associated with increased pressure of the fluid in the eye...
. The judge ruled Randall needed cannabis for medical purposes and required the Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
set up a program to grow cannabis on a farm at the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
and to distribute 300 cannabis cigarettes a month to Randall. In 1992 George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
discontinued the program after Randall tried to make AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
patients eligible for the program. Thirteen people were already enrolled and were allowed to continue receiving cannabis cigarettes; today the government still ships cannabis cigarettes to seven people. Irvin Rosenfeld, who became eligible to receive cannabis from the program in 1982 to treat rare bone tumors, urged the George W. Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
to reopen the program; however, he was unsuccessful.
Alaska is the only state where possession of up to one ounce is legal."Citing the dangers of marijuana and the lack of clinical research supporting its medicinal value" the American Society of Addiction Medicine
American Society of Addiction Medicine
The American Society of Addiction Medicine is a physician society with a focus on addiction and its treatment.- History :ASAM has its roots in research and clinical traditions that pre-date its founding in the early 1950s, when Ruth Fox, M.D. began regular meetings with other physicians interested...
in March 2011 issued a white paper recommending a halt to using marijuana as a medicine in US states where it has been declared legal.
Advocacy
Several U.S.-based advocate groups seek to modify the drug policy of the United StatesDrug policy of the United States
Drug use has increased in all categories since prohibition except that opium use is at a fraction of its peak level. The big decline in use of opium started already after the Harrison Act of 1914. Use of heroin peaked between 1969 and 1971, cocaine, between 1987 and 1989 and marijuana between 1978...
to decriminalize cannabis. These groups include Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is a non-profit, international, educational organization comprising former and current police officers, government agents and other law enforcement agents who oppose the current War on Drugs. LEAP was founded on March 16, 2002...
, Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Students for Sensible Drug Policy is an international non-profit advocacy and education organization based in Washington D.C., with offices in both Washington D.C. and San Francisco, CA...
, The Drug Policy Alliance
Drug Policy Alliance
The Drug Policy Alliance is a New York City-based non-profit organization, led by executive director Ethan Nadelmann, with the principal goal of ending the American "War on Drugs"...
, the Marijuana Policy Project
Marijuana Policy Project
The Marijuana Policy Project, or MPP, is the largest organization working solely on marijuana policy reform in the United States in terms of its budget, number of members, and staff...
, NORML, Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis
Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis
The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis is a U.S. organization founded circa 2002 to support removal of marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. The group was organized immediately after the U.S...
, and Americans for Safe Access
Americans for Safe Access
Americans for Safe Access is based in Oakland, California and is the largest member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens working to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic uses and research...
. In June 2005, libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
economist Jeffrey Alan Miron and over 530 other economists, including Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winner Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman was an American economist, statistician, academic, and author who taught at the University of Chicago for more than three decades...
, called for the legalization of cannabis in an open letter to President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, Governors, and State Legislatures of the United States. The open letter contained Miron's "Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States" report (view report). In 1997, the Connecticut Law Revision Commission recommended Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
reduce cannabis possession of one ounce or less for adults age 21 and over to a civil fine. In 2001, the New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
state-commissioned Drug Policy Advisory Group stated that decriminalizing cannabis "will result in greater availability of resources to respond to more serious crimes without any increased risks to public safety." A few places in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
have been advocating cannabis decriminalization.
On November 3, 2004, Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
passed Proposition Z, which makes "adult recreational marijuana use, cultivation and sales the lowest [city] law enforcement priority." Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
, a Texas Congressman and 2008 and 2012 Presidential Candidate, stated at a rally in response to a question by a medical cannabis patient that he would "never use the federal government to force the law against anybody using marijuana."
Non-medical use
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
repealed mandatory penalties for cannabis offenses and The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act separated cannabis from other illicit narcotics and removed mandatory sentences for possession of small amounts of cannabis. In 1972 President Richard Nixon commissioned a comprehensive study from the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. The Commission found that the constitutionality of cannabis prohibition was suspect and that the executive and legislative branches had a responsibility to obey the Constitution, even in the absence of a court ruling to do so. The Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
administration did not implement the study's recommendations.
In 1973 Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
decriminalized cannabis. Laws changed again in 1995 that reduced penalties. Possession of one ounce or less became legally defined as a "violation" (a crime that is considered a lesser offence than a misdemeanor) and now is punishable by a $500 to $1,000 fine that can be, in some jurisdictions, paid off by means of community service. Possession of multiple containers of any weight, or possession of more than one ounce can sometimes add the additional crime "Intent to Sell". In some cases people who have no marijuana, but are caught at the scene of a drug bust, are charged with "Frequenting". Stricter punishments exist for sale, cultivation, and proximity to schools.
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
followed suit in 1975. By 1978 Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
had some form of cannabis decriminalization. In 2001 Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
reduced cannabis possession from a felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
offense to a misdemeanor
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
, but only for adults age 21 and older, with other restrictions. Starting in the 1970s multiple states, counties, and cities decriminalized cannabis for non-medical
Medical cannabis
Medical cannabis refers to the use of parts of the herb cannabis as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy, or to synthetic forms of specific cannabinoids such as THC as a physician-recommended form of medicine...
purposes. While many states, counties, and cities have partially decriminalized cannabis on November 3, 2004, Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
passed Proposition Z, and became the first place to fully decriminalize cannabis to allow the licensing, taxing, and regulation of cannabis sales if California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
law is amended to allow so. In 2008 Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
passed a voter initiative
Massachusetts Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative
The Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative, also known as Massachusetts Ballot Question 2, was an initiated state statute that replaced prior criminal penalties with new civil penalties on adults possessing an ounce or less of marijuana. The initiative appeared on the November 4, 2008 ballot in...
that decriminalized simple possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, instead making it a civil infraction punishable by a $100 fine. Criminal penalties for cultivation and distribution remain in place.
A vote in 2005 of 54% to 46% in Denver, Colorado, made the possession of up to an ounce of cannabis legal, although it does not overrule state laws and one may still be arrested for it—it also only applies to people age 21 and older. In 2006 Denver City Council voted to make arrests and tickets for possession of marijuana the lowest priority for law enforcement. Today the fine for possession of up to two ounces is only one dollar (plus court costs and a $100 drug offender surcharge). Most recently the town of Breckenridge, Colorado, passed a similar law also allowing for the possession of up to one ounce of Marijuana. The American Medical Association and the California Medical Association have both separately called for more research on marijuana. Canorml.org said, "...CMA consider the criminalization of marijuana to be a failed public health policy; and be it further resolved that CMA encourage and participate in debate and education regarding the health aspects of changing current policy regarding cannabis use."
Drug courts
Drug courtDrug court
Drug Courts are judicially supervised court dockets that handle the cases of nonviolent substance abusing offenders under the adult, juvenile, family and tribal justice systems...
s first started in 1989 and have spread since. 2140 drug courts were in operation May 2008, with another 284 being planned or developed. They offer offenders charged with less-serious crimes of being under the influence, possession of a controlled substance, or even drug-using offenders charged with a non-drug related crime the option of entering the drug court system a conventional criminal court with the possibility of serving a jail sentence. To take advantage of this program, offenders have to plead guilty to the charge, agree to take part in treatment, regular drug screenings, and regular reporting to the drug court judge for a minimum of one year. Should the offender fail to comply with one or more of the requirements they may be removed from the drug court and incarcerated at the judge's discretion. If they complete the drug court program the charges brought against them are dropped or reduced.
See also
- Adult lifetime cannabis use by countryAdult lifetime cannabis use by countryAdult lifetime cannabis use by country refers to the lifetime prevalence of cannabis use among all adults in surveys among the general population. Lifetime prevalence means any use during a person’s life. Unless another reference is indicated all the data comes from the European Monitoring Centre...
- Annual cannabis use by countryAnnual cannabis use by countryThis is a list of countries by the annual prevalence of cannabis use as a percentage of the population aged 15–64...
- Cannabis in the United StatesCannabis in the United StatesThe use, sale and possession of cannabis in the United States is illegal under federal law. However, some states have created exemptions for medical cannabis use....
- Cannabis reform at the international levelCannabis reform at the international levelCannabis reform at the international level refers to efforts to ease restrictions on cannabis use under international treaties. Most cannabis reform organizations do not spend a great deal of resources on international cannabis reform, since success would require governmental assistance that has so...
- Health issues and the effects of cannabisHealth issues and the effects of cannabisThe effects of cannabis are caused by cannabinoids, most notably the chemical substance tetrahydrocannabinol . Cannabis has both psychological and physiological effects on the human body...
- Illegal drug tradeIllegal drug tradeThe illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
- Legal and medical status of cannabisLegal and medical status of cannabisCannabis is in Schedule IV of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, making it subject to special restrictions. Article 2 provides for the following, in reference to Schedule IV drugs:...
- Legality of cannabis by country
- Single Convention on Narcotic DrugsSingle Convention on Narcotic DrugsThe Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 is an international treaty to prohibit production and supply of specific drugs and of drugs with similar effects except under licence for specific purposes, such as medical treatment and research...