Erin teaches undergraduate and graduate classes in Political Science, Public Policy, and Public Administration and has a PhD in Political Science.
Before the 1900s, most of what we think of as illegal drugs were legal in the United States. Marijuana was recommended as a medical treatment for a variety of ailments, and hemp fiber was used to make rope for ships. It was a common crop in the colonies and fairly widespread. In fact, at one point in the early 1600s, all settlers in the Jamestown colony were required to grow marijuana!
In the late 1800s, however, the public became aware of morphine additives in some medicines and a backlash against drug use began. Although marijuana was not initially regulated, with the anger over morphine addiction caused by additives, the public's attitudes began to shift. Morphine was soon after made illegal. A few decades later, marijuana followed.
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The Federal Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner, Harry Anslinger, took on the case of making marijuana illegal. The reasoning seemed to be that addicts would move from one drug, like heroin, to others, like marijuana, in search of a legal and accessible high. To curb drug use, then, the government must make all addictive substances illegal in order to reduce abuses. Some experts opposed to this weighed in, explaining that marijuana has a lower likelihood of becoming an addictive habit, and that there are some medical benefits. Despite their protests, the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed by Congress. It had several parts:
Technically, the Act did not make medical marijuana illegal. However, the extensive paperwork surrounding the use of it for medical research made the process basically impossible. In the administrative rules attached to the Act, you will find a very complicated process of reporting which doctors must follow, telling the federal government the names and addresses of patients who will be prescribed marijuana, as well as all relevant medical information. This and the tax must be provided immediately or the doctor and patient both face the hefty fine or imprisonment.
Another casualty of the act was industrial hemp: where once this had a lot of uses, the Act made it less economically viable to produce, import and export.
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In 1969, the Supreme Court decided that the Act was unconstitutional because it forced people to incriminate themselves. Congress created the Controlled Substances Act within the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 to replace it. This law put marijuana in the same category as other narcotics, with more serious penalties attached to it.
In 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder, on behalf of President Obama, told federal prosecutors not to bring charges against individuals who were using medicinal marijuana in the states where it was legal, even though it is still illegal at the federal level. It remains to be seen whether the federal government will prosecute states that have made or will make recreational marijuana legal.
The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was imposed after growing public concerns about drug abuse, beginning with morphine abuse in the late 1800s. It made recreational marijuana illegal and set a heavy fine on medical marijuana with extensive paperwork. The paperwork requirement and potential punishment of $2,000 and/or 5 years in prison essentially stopped all sale for medicinal reasons, out of fear of punishment. It was overturned by the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, which actually provided higher penalties.
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