Current Policies and Politics
Cannabis sativa was banned
in the
United States with the passing of the
Marijuana Tax Act in 1937. This was a single bill that passed through
Congress in less than 10 weeks and effectively terminated over 150 years
of federal encouragement towards hemp and marijuana cultivation. American
legislators passed this law in an attempt to curb recreational marijuana
use among the citizens, especially youths. The bill was encouraged by
people like New Orleans District Attorney Eugene Stanley, who claimed
that, "many of the crimes of the South were committed by criminals who
relied on the effects of the drug to give them a false courage and freedom
from restraint."(Citation) (Bloomquist
p. 253) It has been postulated by
a great number of people that the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act was
spurred, not by a desire to keep citizens from becoming strung-out on
drugs, but by the industries of timber and oil who saw hemp's commercial
potential as threatening to their livelihood (Citation)(Conrad p. 37). Some key
players in this smoke-filled escapade were the Du Pont petrochemical
company, oil man and Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon and the Hearst
newspaper/timber company. By promoting marijuana hysteria and confusion
through a variety of mediums such as Hearst's yellow journals, these and a
few other powerful players effectively pushed a law into being that has
been a focal point of controversy ever since. For more information on
this subject, take a look at these books (Conrad, Herrer, Grinspoon
{Marihuana Reconsidered} ...links are forthcoming) Marijuana is
currently scheduled as a Class 1
narcotic under the Controlled Substances Act. This scheduling makes
it impossible for doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients,
regardless of their patients needs or health status. The Drug Enforcement
Agency has been appealed several times to reschedule marijuana, most
notably in 1988 by NORML. During these
monumental hearings Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young, heard
testimony from DEA officials, numerous doctors and sick people claiming to
have been helped by marijuana. In the conclusion his 69-page ruling,
Judge Young became the first government official to accept a medical role
for the nation's most wildly used illicit drug by saying, "The evidence in
this record clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of
relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so
with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable,
arbitrary and capricious for (the) DEA to continue to stand between those
sufferers and the benefits of this substance in the light of the evidence
in this record."(Citation) This ruling was immediately criticized by the DEA
lawyers and anti-drug groups who said that rescheduling marijuana to allow
for its medicinal use would send a confusing message to the youth of
America during a critical juncture in the continuing war on drugs.
Stephen E. Stone, associate counsel for the DEA, and other DEA officials
said that Judge Young's decision went against the majority of the medical
community's opinion. "This totally ignores the bulk of the medical
evidence...The judge seems to hand his hat on what he calls a 'respectable
minority of physicians.' What percent are you talking about?..."
(Washington Post newpaper 9/7/88 p. 42 by Michael Isikoff WP Staff Writer)
Medicinal marijuana has recently received unprecedented attention
from the media as California
Proposition 215 and
Arizona Proposition 200 passed, allowing for marijuana to be
prescribed by physicians, cultivated and used by patients and care-givers.
The controversy sparked by the passing of these laws has been at the
center of the nations attention, appearing on the cover of Newsweek
(2/3/96) and in The New
England Journal of Medicine Shortly following the passing of
these laws, President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno, along
with other government officials, announced their support of the ongoing
federal ban on marijuana. "Attorney General Janet Reno announced that
physicians in any state who prescribed the drug (marijuana) could lose the
privilege of writing prescriptions, be excluded from Medicare and Medicaid
reimbursement, and even be prosecuted for a federal crime."
(citation)
This stance is currently being challenged by a number of physicians,
mostly from Arizona and California, who are suing the federal government
on the grounds that their first amendment right to freedom of speech is
being infringed upon. The outcome is still not clear, but the amount of
evidence that is being uncovered and presented by the national press is
making the issue of medicinal marijuana one of the key focuses of this
decade.
Return to Medcinal
Marijuana Home Page