Marijuana FAQ Part 1: History and Prohibition

"Prohibition...goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes... A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principals upon which our government was founded."
-Abraham Lincoln (December 1840)

Why indeed is marijuana illegal? What particular set of circumstances were set in motion that lead to today's dysfunctional status quo?

What is the general history of marijuana?

Marijuana cultivation in the United States can trace its lineage back nearly 400 years. For most of our nation's history, farmers grew marijuana - then known exclusively as hemp - for its fibre content. Colonialists planted the first American hemp crop in 1611 near Jamestown, Virginia. From 1631 until the early 1800s, cannabis hemp was valid legal tender in most of America, used even for tax payments. Soon after, King James I of Britain ordered settlers to engage in wide scale farming of the plant. Most of the sails and ropes on colonial ships were made from hemp as were many of the colonists' bibles, clothing, and maps. According to some historians, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson cultivated marijuana and advocated a hemp-based economy. Some colonies even made hemp cultivation compulsory and called its production necessary for the "wealth and protection of the country." Dr. Burke, president of the American Historical Reference Society and a consultant for the Smithsonian Institute, counted seven early presidents as cannabis smokers: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor and Franklin Pierce. Madison once remarked that hemp gave him insight to create a new and democratic nation. Cannabis was twice as popular among American soldiers in the Mexican War as in Vietnam: Pierce wrote to his family that it was "about the only good thing" about that war. Marijuana cultivation for fibre continued as an agricultural staple in America through the turn of the 20th century. Marijuana first earned recognition as an intoxicant in the 1920s and 1930s. During this time, tabloid newspapers and the newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics popularized exaggerated accounts of violent crimes allegedly committed by immigrants intoxicated by marijuana.

Why is marijuana illegal?

Two powerful entities with different interests but a common goal converged in the late 1930s to produce the hasty and undebated Marijuana Tax Act of 1937: Harry Anslinger, chief of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and DuPont Chemicals (specifically chemist Wallace Carothers). During the 1920s hemp was renamed "marihuana" and the plant's long-standing history as a cash crop was replaced with a new image: "The Devil's Weed." The commissioner of the newly founded FBN spearheaded this propaganda crusade. The marijuana portion of the hemp prohibitionist movement found it all too easy to integrate its agenda with racial and ethnic discrimination that was a prevalent part of US culture at the time. The first cannabis prohibition law in the U.S. was passed in 1903 in Brownsville, Texas. The law applied only to Mexicans, and targeted them based upon a heavy cannabis smoking tradition that remained a part of their culture, while immigrating to the US.

After the end of prohibition, the US was left with many unemployed police officers who had previously enjoyed an unusually affluent occupation. Many of these officers were not ready to let this lifestyle slip away. Incidentally, it was about this time (1930) when the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs was reformed, and a man named Harry J. Anslinger was appointed as its head. Anslinger campaigned tirelessly for funding in order to hire a large force of narcotics officers. (After retiring, Anslinger once mused that the FBNDD was a place where young men were given a license to steal and rape.) Anslinger frequented parents' and teacher's meetings, giving scary speeches about the dangers of marijuana. This period of time became known as Reefer Madness.

The FBNDD is the organization that preceded what we now call the DEA, and was responsible for enforcing the new Federal drug laws against heroin, opium, and cocaine. Anslinger's biggest concern as head of the FBNDD was getting uniform drug laws passed in all States and the Federal legislature (as well as providing a rationale for an ever expanding payroll of narcotics officers). The Bureau proceeded to launch a misinformation campaign against marijuana and enrolled the services of Hollywood and several tabloid newspapers. Headlines across the nation began publicizing alleged reports of insanity and violence induced by "reefer-smoking." Exaggerated accounts of violent crimes committed by immigrants reportedly intoxicated by marijuana became popularized. Once under the influence of the drug, criminals purportedly knew no fear and lost all inhibitions. For example, a news bulletin issued by the FBN in the mid-1930s purported that a user of marijuana "becomes a fiend with savage or 'cave man' tendencies. His sex desires are aroused and some of the most horrible crimes result. He hears light and sees sound. To get away from it, he suddenly becomes violent and may kill." [Studies have demonstrated there is no real link between cannabis and crime.] Similar reports swept the country. A widely publicized issue of the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology asserted that the marijuana user is capable of "great feats of strength and endurance, during which no fatigue is felt. ... Sexual desires are stimulated and may lead to unnatural acts, such as indecent exposure and rape. ... [Use of marijuana] ends in the destruction of brain tissues and nerve centers, and does irreparable damage. If continued, the inevitable result is insanity, which those familiar with it describe as absolutely incurable, and, without exception ending in death." A Washington Times editorial published shortly before Congress held its first hearing on the issue argued: "The fatal marihuana cigarette must be recognized as a deadly drug and American children must be protected against it." This steady stream of propaganda influenced 27 states to pass laws against marijuana in the years leading up to federal prohibition and set the stage both culturally and politically for the passage of the "Marihuana Tax Act in 1937."

At the same time, DuPont Chemicals successfully synthesized the natural cellulose fibers found in hemp, thus providing a manmade substitute (albeit dirtier and more expensive) to the natural fibrous products fabricated from hemp. This new type of textile, nylon, was to be controlled from the raw material stage, as coal, to the completed product; a patented chemical product. The chemical company centralized the production and profits of the new "miracle" fiber. On the same note, DuPont developed synthetic plastics under the guise of conserving natural resources, but in reality DuPont benefited from a government-sanctioned vertical monopoly. Whereas hemp had previously composed an essential element in textiles, canvas, and other industrial products, DuPont now conveniently filled the gap left by the prohibition of both marijuana and hemp. The introduction of nylon, the introduction of high-volume machinery to separate hemp's long fiber from the cellulose hurd, and the outlawing of hemp as "marijuana" all occurred simultaneously. The hemp industry was indeed poised for an explosion in output due to the arrival of better capital equipment (similar to Whitney's cotton gin) but was cut off at the knees by the Tax Act of 1937. In 1997 Dupont was still the largest producer of man-made fibers, while no American citizen has legally harvested a single acre of textile grade hemp in over 60 years (except during the period of WWII). In sum, prohibition did not come about through a careful scientific examination of the medical facts and cultural consensus but rather through nefarious gerrymandering and ignorance. A noxious combination of racism, xenophobia, bureaucratic power-mongering, corporate profiteering, uninformed elected officials all contributed to our present dilemma.

How did the bill pass through Congress?

Rep. Robert L. Doughton of North Carolina introduced the Act in Congress on April 14, 1937 to criminalize the recreational use of marijuana through prohibitive taxation. The bill was the brainchild of Commissioner Anslinger who later testified before Congress in support of the bill. Congress held only two hearings to debate the merits of marijuana prohibition. The hearings totaled just one hour. Federal witness Harry Anslinger testified before the House Ways and Means Committee that "this drug is entirely the monster-Hyde, the harmful effect of which cannot be measured." He was joined by Assistant General Counsel for the Department of the Treasury, Clinton Hester, who affirmed that the drug's eventual effect on the user "is deadly." These statements summarized the federal government's official position and served as the initial justification for criminalizing marijuana smoking. The American Medical Association (AMA) represented the lone voice against marijuana prohibition before Congress. AMA Legislative Counsel Dr. William C. Woodward testified, "There is no evidence" that marijuana is a dangerous drug. Woodward challenged the propriety of passing legislation based only on newspaper accounts and questioned why no data from the Bureau of Prisons or the Children's Bureau supported the FBN's position. He further argued that the legislation would severely compromise a physician's ability to utilize marijuana's therapeutic potential. Surprisingly, the committee took little interest in Woodward's testimony and told the physician, "If you want to advise us on legislation, you ought to come here with some constructive proposals ... rather than trying to throw obstacles in the way of something that the federal government is trying to do."

Only two questions were asked on the House floor: "What is this bill about?" The answer given by the Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn, was, "I don't know - it's about something called marijuana - I think it's a narcotic or something." And, "What is the AMA's position?" The incorrect answer given by one of the subcommittee members (who later became a Supreme Court Justice) was, "They're behind us 100 percent." After just one hearing, the Ways and Means Committee approved the "Marihuana Tax Act." The House of Representatives followed suit on August 20 after engaging in only 90 seconds of debate. Doughton's bill sailed though the Senate with the same ease. The Senate held one brief hearing on the bill before overwhelmingly approving the measure. President Franklin Roosevelt promptly signed the legislation into law on August 2, 1937. The "Marihuana Tax Act" took effect on October 1, 1937.

Why is it classified as a Schedule I drug (most restrictive category)?

Most official and unofficial classifications of drugs are illogical and capricious; they therefore make a mockery of drug-law enforcement and bring drug education into disrepute. A major error of the current drug classification system is that it treats alcohol and nicotine-- two of the most harmful drugs-- essentially as nondrugs. The entire jerrybuilt structure of official drug classification rests on a series of Congressional enactments beginning in 1914 and reaching a climax in the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. The misclassifications built into this Act were not the results of scientific study but represented compromises between Senate and House committees, between Republican and Democratic legislators, between Congress and the Nixon administration. Worse yet, the Act authorizes the Attorney General of the United States to alter the classifications from time to time. Yet this binds judges to a political rather than scientific system of classification in assessing penalties; and educational programs generally take their cue from the official classification.

In 1988 the DEA's own administrative law judge, Francis L. Young, declared that marijuana in its natural form fulfilled the legal requirement of currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. He added that it was "one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man." His order that the marihuana plant be transferred to Schedule II was overruled, not by any medical authority, but by the DEA itself, which issued a final rejection of all pleas for reclassification in March 1992.

Between 1978 and 1996, 34 states passed laws recognizing marijuana's therapeutic value. The cannabis plant contains sixty compounds that are currently known to have therapeutic value. The presence of these unique chemicals, called `cannabinoids,' is something that scientists find very interesting. Many of these cannabinoids may have valuable effects as medicine. A 1982 National Academy of Sciences' (NAS) report on marijuana reaffirmed that criminal justice approaches were inappropriate and harmful. It recommended not only that marijuana possession be decriminalized, but that lawmakers give serious consideration to creating a system of regulated distribution and sale.