The Social Construction of the Criminalization of Marijuana On August 2nd, 1937, United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. The law was passed only 83 days after being introduced in the House of Representatives as House Resolution 6906. This law sought to place prohibitive regulations requiring medical professionals to obtain a one dollar tax stamp in order to continue prescribing cannabis sativa as medicine. However, physicians who wished purchase the tax stamp were also required to divulge an abnormal amount of detail regarding the patient, the condition being treated, the amount prescribed and the date of the prescription. Failure to follow these strict rules while prescribing marijuana resulted in harsh penalties to both the medical professional and the patient. According to the text of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, “Any person who is convicted of a violation of any provision of this Act shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both, in the discretion of the court.” Before any federal law regarding marijuana was ever proposed, some of the States took it upon themselves to regulate the possession, distribution and consumption of marijuana based on racial prejudice against Chinese immigrants. Referencing law passed by the state of California in 1913 one physician observes that, “The 1913 law received no attention from the press or the public. Instead, it was promulgated as an obscure amendment to the state Poison Law by the California Board of Pharmacy, which was then pioneering one of the nation's earliest, most aggressive anti-narcotics campaigns. Inspired by anti-Chinese sentiment, California was a nationally recognized leader in ... ... middle of paper ... ...filiated with DuPont, he would have certainly been at an advantage to fulfill two roles at once, that of a public defender, and that of the defender of his own interests as well. Works Cited U.S. Treasury Department, Bureau of Narcotics, The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, 1937. Retrieved from: http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/mjtaxact.htm Gieringer, Dale H. PhD, The Origins of Cannabis Prohibition in California, Contemporary Drug Problems, Volume 26 #2, Summer 1999. Retrieved from: http://www.canorml.org/background/caloriginsmjproh.pdf Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Transcripts of House Hearings on the Marijuana Tax Act, 1937. Retrieved from: http://webstation19.8k.com/archives/37HEAR.HTM The Herb Museum, Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 Stamp, 2013. Retrieved from: http://www.herbmuseum.ca/content/marijuana-tax-act-1937-stamp
Also known as California Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 made headlines around the country as the first law ever to change the legality of medical marijuana for public consumption statewide. Originating in San Francisco, it was passed by 55.6% of California voters on November 5, 1996 (Human Rights and the Drug War). The ideology behind passing Prop. 215 is that marijuana contains a number of legitimate medical uses and should be made available to those who would benefit from it. The text of the proposed law states that “seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes where that medical use is deemed appropriate” (NORML, 2009). All patients possessing a reasonable amount of marijuana are protected and may use it at any time as long as it is done privately. However, before patients can begin using marijuana they must seek approval from a physician who are also protected under the law and cannot be persecuted for issuing a recommendation. The authors also realized there would need to be a safe and reliable source to obtain marijuana and intended Prop. 215 to encourage both “the federal and state governments to implement a plan to provide for the safe and affordable distribution of marijuana” (NORML). In addition to purchasing it, Prop. 215 also allows patients to cultivate their own plants but strictly for personal use only. Any evidence of distributing marijuana or growing more plants than needed for personal use carries a high risk of prosecution.
William Brooke O’Shaughnessy was introduced to Cannabis indica, “Indian hemp”, on his travels to Calcutta, India, he decided to share it with the Western world and suggested it to be used as a muscle relaxant and analgesia (2015). In 1840’s London, soon after, Dr. Clendinng became one of the first Western physicians to use cannabis as a treatment for migraines (Baron 2015). Not long afterwards, more doctors and physicians began to do the same. This soon leads to legislators developing the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which put a heavy tax on those who associated themselves with the product (2015). This act eventually started the push for the banning of cannabis, which brought research to a halt. Eventually, researchers could start experimenting and testing cannabis again later down the
Works Cited "The California Marijuana Vote." New Yorker 23 Dec 1996: 62+. Brookhiser, Richard. "Pot Luck." National Review 11 Nov 1996: 27+ Simmons, Michael. "Give Pot a Chance." Rolling Stone 26 Dec 1996: 111+. Rist, Curtis and Harrison, Laird. "Weed the People." People 21 Oct. 1996: 75+. Funk and Wagnall's Volume 23 "Marijuana" 1996 Baum, Dan. "California's Separate Peace." Rolling Stone 30 Oct. 1997: 43+ Brookhiser, Richard. "Lost in the Weed." U.S. News & World Report 3 Jan. 1997: 9 Buckley, William "Legalization of Marijuana Long Overdue" The Albuquerque Journal. Online. 8 June 1993.
In the last few years there have been a few propositions to legalize Cannabis here in California. In 2009 the Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act was introduced to California legislators. The Act was to “remove penalties under state law for the cultivation, possession and use of marijuana for persons over the age of 21.”, although the proposition lost it was the first bill for the legalization of marijuana to be passed by a legislative committee, the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Since 1996 the Medical Marijuana program has allowed the use of Cannabis to patients that have Cancer, AIDS and other chronic illnesses. As of 2014 Cannabis is illegal to use or obtain without the consent from a doctor. The Cannabis Policy Reform Act of 2014 has not been approved. It is currently undergoing signatures to present it as a proposition during the November election.
Marijuana in America became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was openly sold in pharmacies in the late nineteenth century (“Busted-America’s War on Marijuana Timeline”). The National Institute of Drug Abuse defines marijuana as, “The dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, which contains the psychoactive (mind-altering) chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as well as other related compounds” (“DrugFacts: Marijuana”). It was not until the Food and Drug act of 19...
Regulatory laws were passed in 1937, and criminal penalties were instituted for possession and sale of the drug. "Marijuana" refers to the dried leaves and flowers of the cannabis plant, which contains the non-narcotic chemical THC at various potencies. It is smoked or eaten to produce the feeling of being "high." The different strains of this herb produce different sensual effects, ranging from a sedative to a stimulant.
$2,000 for drug possession and jail sentences for evasion of the tax. For this reason marijuana use in the United States appears to have gone into decline in the late 30's (Grolier Wellness Encyclopedia, pg. 54). Then marijuana was outlawed in 1937 as a repressive measure against Mexican workers who crossed the border seeking jobs during the Depression. The specific reason given for the outlawing of the hemp plant was it's supposed violent "effect on the degenerate races" (Schaffer, pg.
The history of marijuana in North America is integral in understanding the reasons it is now illegal and how to...
Marijuana used to be legal in the mid-1930s, “until the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed by Congress” (Drug Legalization) . Congress passed this to make it illegal to have sold marijuana to anyone without having tax on the product (Drug Legalization). From that point on, marijuana was made illegal because of the few tax stamps that were being sold. During the 1970’s and the 1984’s, Congress was revoking laws that involved drug offenses (Drug Legalization). At the same time, the federal government was toughening the drug sales and possession laws (Drug Legalization). This has been going on for the past 80 years (Drug Legalization). Doctors then started to recognize the medical uses of marijuana (Rich). That made marijuana become deliberately sold in pharmacies (Rich). “The origins of marijuana prohibition in the United States stem from fears of a criminal element sneaking into the country, in t...
“Chapter 2: The History of Marijuana.” Marijuana: Mind-Altering Weed (2008): 18-31. Book Collection: Nonfiction. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
loadings for the 50 years the Marijuana Tax Act was passed. It should also be
Marijuana has been illegal for less than 1% of the time that it’s been in use (Guither, 2014). Going back to 1619, the Virginia Assembly passed legislation requiring every farmer to grow hemp. Hemp was allowed to be exchanged as legal tender in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland (Block, 2014). It was actually a crime in some states to refuse to grow hemp in the 1700's. In the late 19th century, marijuana was a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was sold openly in public pharmacies (PBS, 2014). However, in the early 1900’s things changed, a prejudice and fear began to develop around marijuana because it was being used and associated with Mexican immigrants. In the 1930’s, the massive unemployment rates increased public resentment and disgust of Mexican immigrants, which escalated public and governmental concern (PBS, 2014). In 1930 a new federal law enforcement agency, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) was created. Harry J. Anslinger was appointed the first commissioner of the FBN in 1930 (...
be more consistent than the sometimes erratic effects of the hard-to-dose. potency of marijuana (Grinspoon). The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 made cannabis legal. so expensive to obtain that its usage as a medical remedy in the U.S. came to a halt. Then he halts.
The first law that regarded marijuana in America required farmers to grow hemp in the year 1619 for clothing, rope, and other materials, but “as early as 1840, doctors recognized the medical applications of marijuana, and the drug was freely sold in pharmacies for over a century.” (Rich and Stingl). In 1937, the use and possession of marijuana was made illegal, but “before 1937 marijuana was freely bought, sold, grown, and used. ”(Rich and Stingl). In 1970 the Congress decided to classify marijuana as a schedule one drug, which has made the legalization more difficult.
Boston: Bedford, 1997. http://www. The "Legalizing Drugs" Greenhaven Press. San Diego: 1996 -. Olson, William J. ".