New 2012 NORML Marijuana: Historical, Legal and Medical Facts

NORML ......working to reform marijuana laws....... Representing cannabis consumers since 1970

MARIJUANA: Historical, Legal and Medical Facts

February, 2012

A Brief History of Marijuana

Unique in the world, the plant Cannabis Sativa has been cultivated throughout recorded history for both its useful fiber and its psychoactive and medicinal properties.
When frown for the fiber, the plant is known as hemp and is typically planted in tightly spaced rows to maximizethe stalk. Hemp grows well in a variety of climates and soil types and is naturally resistant to pests, precluding the need for pesticides. It out-competes most weeds, so herbicides are not necessary and it leaves a weed-free field for a following crop.

In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel. Hemp can displace cotton which is usually grown with massive amounts of chemicals. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp. Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper. It is now illegal to grow hemp in America so we import hemp products.

Cannabis use for recreational, religious or spiritual, and medicinal purposes goes back as far as the 3rd millenium BC. The typical herbal form of cannabis consists of the flowers and subtending leaves of mature pistillate female plants so marijuana is grown widely spaced to maximize the leaves and flowering tops. The resinous form of the drug is known as hashish (or merely as 'hash').

As medicine, cannabinoids in marijuana supplement our body's endocannabinoid system(discussed below) to treat or prevent a wide variety of conditions including migrane headaches, chronic pain, glaucoma, nausea, AIDS wasting syndrome, ALS, MS Parkinson's, Crohn's Disease, addiction to alcohol and opiates, fibromyalgia, hypertension, Hepatitis C, cancer rheumatoid arthritis, PTSD and Tourette's Syndrome.

As a mild intoxicant, marijuana heightens awareness of our thoughts and surroundings, enhancing intellectual and sensual experiences as well as creativity and generally improving one's mood. There is an increased appreciation of music and art. Food tastes more delicious.

Prohibiton Begins

Cultivated for fiber from the first days of American colonies (the Jamestown settlers brought hemp to Virginia in 1611), marijuana was raely used as and intoxicant until Mexican and West Indian immigrants imported the drug to the United States in the early years of the 20th century. The first anti-marijuan laws were passed by southern and southwestern states, aimed at Hispanics.

Beginning in the 1930s, the federal government conducted and unrelenting campaign to demonize marijuan. The newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics was staffed by agents from Treasury Department formerly in charge of enforcing the Volstead Act. Anxious to justify their continued employment, they needed a new prohibition and they needed it fast.

Marijuana was the perfect target because it was unfamiliar to the general public. Thus the government could create and image of pot as a highly dangerous and foreign sustance. Calling cannabis "marijuana" made it seem even more foreign. Physicians who had prescribed cannabis for decades did not realize this new prohibiton was aimed at a familiar medicine until it was too late. The government's unscientific and racist claim included these:

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Fillipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, results from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others."

"....the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races."

"Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death."

"Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."

"Marijuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing"

"Marijuana is the most violent-causing drug in the history of mankind."

Hearings before the Senate Interstate Commission on Crime (1937): Senator Davis; "How many (marijuana) cigarettes would you have to smoke before you got this vicious mental attitude toward your neighbor?" Mr. Anslinger(head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics): "I beleive in some cases one cigarette might develop a homicidal mania, probably to kill his brother....some people could smoke five before it would take effect, but all the experts agreee that the continued use leads to insanity."

Based on these scurrilous charges, pot prohibiton sailed through Congress despite the opposition of the American Medical Society which predicted (accurately) that passage of the Mrijuana Tax Act would lead to marijuana being unavailable as medicine.

From our history books: The bill to ban the cannabis plant from American soil passed easily in the committee and moved on to the House of Representatives. It landed on the Speaker's Platform before a limited number of Congressional Representatives. The debate that followed consisted of a single man, a Republican from New York State, who stood and asked what the bill was about. Speaker Rayburn replied, "I dont know. It has something to do with something called marihuana. I think it's a narcotic of some kind."

The same man asked if the AMA supproted the bill. In response to the question, a member of the committee that had criticized Dr. Woodward and sent the bill to Congress leaped to his feet and shouted, "Their Doctor Wentworth came down here. They supported this bill 100 percent!" This spurious statement ended further questions, and the vote began. There was no recorded vote on the bill; instead, legislators walked past this point or that point on the floor to indicate a yes or no vote. The bill was on the floor for a remarkable 92 seconds before it became Federal Law. This new prohibiton happened in 1937, just four years after Congress repealed alcohol prohibition.

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