First cultivated more than 5,000 years ago, marijuana is one
of the oldest agricultural commodities not grown for food,
as its stalks contain fibers that can be used for industrial
purposes. The psychoactive effects of cannabis were
first recorded by the Emperor of China Shennong in the 28th
century BC. The first American law concerning cannabis
was passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 1619, which
required every household to grow hemp since it was viewed as
a "strategic necessity". Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania,
and other colonies later allowed hemp to be used as legal
tender, increasing production by farmers. Founding Fathers,
including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, grew hemp,
though there is no evidence that they knew of the plant's
psychoactive properties.
Domestic production of hemp continued until the Civil War,
when Russia began importing hemp products. Hinting at
recreational use of cannabis, Abraham Lincoln admitted in a
letter written during his presidency that one of his
"favorite things" was "sitting on [his] front porch smoking
a pipe of sweet hemp". Marijuana became a common
ingredient in medicine during the second half of the 19th
century, sold openly in pharmacies as cures for migraines,
rheumatism and insomnia. It was not until the Mexican
Revolution, when waves of Mexican immigrants reached the
American Southwest, that marijuana was viewed in a negative
manner. Prejudices towards the immigrants were extended to
their "traditional source of intoxication: smoking
marijuana." Once marijuana reached New Orleans, newspapers
associated the drug with "African Americans, jazz musicians,
prostitutes, and under world whites." El Paso enacted
a local ordinance banning the sale or possession of
marijuana in 1914, and by 1931 the drug was illegal in 29
U.S. states.
Prior to prohibition, U.S. politicians known for growing
cannabis include some of the nation's Founding Fathers and
Presidents.
In the U.S., cannabis was initially grown for industrial
reasons, though recreational use spread quickly during the
20th century. Harry J. Anslinger, Commissioner of the
Federal Bureau of Narcotics, responded to political pressure
to ban marijuana at a nationwide level. The Marihuana Tax
Act of 1937 created an expensive excise tax, and included
penalty provisions and elaborate rules of enforcement to
which marijuana, cannabis, or hemp handlers were subject.
Mandatory sentencing and increased punishment were enacted
when the United States Congress passed the Boggs Act of 1952
and the Narcotics Control Act of 1956.
During the counterculture of the 1960s, attitudes towards
marijuana and drug abuse policy changed as use became
widespread among "white middle-class college students".
In Leary v. United States (1969), the Supreme Court held the
Marihuana Tax Act to be unconstitutional since it violated
the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
privilege against self-incrimination. In response, Congress
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. In 1972, the
National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse concluded
that marijuana should be decriminalized, but that public use
and driving while intoxicated should remain illegal. By the
end of the decade, several states had decriminalized the
drug, while many others weakened their laws against cannabis
use.
However, a wave of conservatism during the 1980s allowed
President Ronald Reagan to accelerate the War on Drugs
during his presidency, prompting anti-drug campaigns such as
the "Just Say No" campaign of First Lady Nancy Reagan.
Federal penalties for cultivation, possession, or transfer
of marijuana were increased by the Comprehensive Crime
Control Act (1984), the Anti-Drug Abuse Act (1986), and the
Anti-Drug Abuse Amendment Act (1988). Since California
voters passed the Proposition 215 in 1996, which legalized
medical cannabis, several states have followed suit.
However, United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative (2001) rejected the common-law medical necessity
defense to crimes enacted under the Controlled Substances
Act because Congress concluded that cannabis has "no
currently accepted medical use", and Gonzales v. Raich
(2005) concluded that the Commerce Clause of the
Constitution allowed the federal government to ban the use
of cannabis, including medical use. Today, cannabis remains
classified as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled
Substances Act, and possession is punishable by up to one
year in jail and a minimum fine of $1,000 for a first
conviction.
Politicians that have admitted to recreational use following
prohibition include mayors, Governors, members of the House
of Representatives, Senators, and Presidents.
Medical marijuana has strong support from voters and health
organizations. The federal government, however, has resisted
any change to marijuana's illegal status at the federal
level. The Supreme Court ruled in 2005 in Raich v. Gonzales
that the federal government can prosecute medical marijuana
patients, even in states with compassionate use laws, and
several medical marijuana dispensaries in California have
since been subject to Drug Enforcement Administration raids.
Federal Law
In the wake of the June 2005
Supreme Court decision, Congress had an opportunity to
protect patients by passing an amendment to a Justice
Department spending bill that would have prohibited the
department from spending any money to undermine state
medical marijuana laws. The amendment, offered for the third
year in a row by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-22nd/NY) and Rep.
Dana Rohrabacher (R-46th/CA), did not pass but got 161 votes
- more than it has ever received before. This is substantial
progress given that in 1998, the U.S. House of
Representatives voted 311-94 for a non-binding resolution
condemning medical marijuana.
Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I substance, defined
as having a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value.
Multiple petitions for rescheduling marijuana have been
submitted by reform advocates over the last 30 years. The
most recent, submitted in 2002 by the Coalition for
Rescheduling Cannabis, calls for a full review of the
scientific research and medical practice regarding
marijuana. The Food and Drug Administration has yet to
respond to this petition.
In 1978, the federal government was forced to allow some
patients access to medical marijuana after a "medical
necessity" defense was recognized in court, creating the
Investigational New Drug (IND) compassionate access program.
The IND, which allowed some patients to receive medical
marijuana from the government, was closed to new patients in
1992 after it was flooded by applications from AIDS
patients. Today, seven surviving patients still receive
medical marijuana from the federal government.
State Law
The 2005 Raich Supreme Court
decision did not overturn or affect state law, and 99% of
all marijuana arrests take place at the state or local
level. This means that state laws afford substantial
protection to medical marijuana patients. Currently, laws
that effectively remove state-level criminal penalties for
growing and/or possessing medical marijuana are in place in
Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan,
Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont
and Washington. Ten states, plus the District of Columbia,
have symbolic medical marijuana laws (laws that support
medical marijuana but do not provide patients with legal
protection under state law).
New Mexico passed its medical marijuana bill in early 2007.
In 1998, voters in the District of Columbia approved a
medical marijuana initiative by 69% but Congress was able to
nullify the vote results because D.C. is a federal district
and not a state.
Thirteen states have medical marijuana research laws, and
only fifteen states have never had a positive medical
marijuana law.
The Courts
In addition to changing state
laws, medical marijuana advocates have pursued reform
through the courts, most recently in the Raich v. Ashcroft
Supreme Court case. Angel Raich, a medical marijuana patient
in California, sued the federal government to stop federal
raids against patients. Though she did not win the case, the
ruling left state medical marijuana laws intact. She is now
back in court with an appeal based on a different set of
arguments. The new arguments assert that she should be
allowed to use medical marijuana because she has the
fundamental right to avoid death and severe pain under the
Fifth and Ninth Amendments.
In 1997, Conant v. McCaffrey, a class-action lawsuit, was
filed on behalf of physicians and seriously ill patients
against Drug Czar General Barry McCaffrey and other top
federal officials who threatened to revoke prescription
licenses or criminally prosecute physicians who recommend
medical marijuana. In 2002, a three-judge panel of the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously decided to uphold the
right of doctors to recommend marijuana to their patients
and of patients to receive that recommendation. Judge Mary
Schroeder wrote the majority opinion, which noted that the
federal government’s policy of revoking doctors' licenses
“leaves…no security for free discussion.” A concurring
opinion by Judge Alex Kozinski stepped even further, noting
the prevailing evidence on the medical usefulness of
marijuana.
Public Support
Medical marijuana is one of
the most widely supported issues in drug policy reform.
Numerous published studies suggest that marijuana has
medical value in treating patients with serious illnesses
such as AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, multiple sclerosis,
epilepsy, and chronic pain. In 1999, the Institute of
Medicine, in the most comprehensive study of medical
marijuana's efficacy to date, concluded, "Nausea, appetite
loss, pain and anxiety . . . all can be mitigated by
marijuana." Allowing patients legal access to medical
marijuana has been discussed by numerous organizations,
including the AIDS Action Council, American Bar Association,
American Public Health Association, California Medical
Association, National Association of Attorneys General, and
several state nurses associations.
Public opinion is also in favor of ending the prohibition of
medical marijuana.
According to a 1999 Gallup poll, 73% of Americans are in
favor of "making marijuana legally available for doctors to
prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering." In a 2004
poll commissioned by AARP, 72% of Americans ages 45 and
older thought marijuana should be legal for medicinal
purposes if recommended by a doctor. Also, since 1996,
voters in eight states plus the District of Columbia have
passed favorable medical marijuana ballot initiatives.
