Legal history of cannabis in the United States
The Virginia Company enacted the decree, asking Jamestown's land owners to grow and export 100 hemp plants to help support England's cause.
Poison laws generally either required labels on the packaging indicating the harmful effects of the drugs or prohibited sale outside of licensed pharmacies and without a doctor's prescription.
Eight states and territories are listed with "sale of poisons" laws that specifically mention cannabis: North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Vermont, Maine, Montana; and the District of Columbia.
Several "sale of poison" laws did not specify restricted drugs, including in Indiana, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Nebraska, Kentucky, Mississippi, and New York.
[12] An article in Harper's Magazine (1883), attributed to Harry Hubbell Kane, describes a hashish-house in New York frequented by a large clientele, including males and females of "the better classes," and further talks about parlors in Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago.
[14] Even after the passage of regulations, there continued to be criticism about the availability of narcotics and around 1910 there was a wave of legislation aimed to strengthen requirements for their sale and remove what were commonly referred to as "loopholes" in poison laws.
That, combined with a legal requirement that all convictions be published (Notices of Judgment), proved to be important tools in the enforcement of the statute and had a deterrent effect upon would-be violators."
[19] Other states followed with marijuana laws including: Wyoming (1915); Texas (1919); Iowa (1923); Nevada (1923); Oregon (1923); Washington (1923); Arkansas (1923); Nebraska (1927);[20] Louisiana (1927); and Colorado (1929).
The U.S., led by Anslinger, had attempted to include the criminalization of all activities in the treaty – cultivation, production, manufacture and distribution – related to the use of opium, coca (and its derivatives), and cannabis, for non-medical and non-scientific purposes.
Article 2 of the Convention called upon signatory countries to use their national criminal law systems to "severely" punish, "particularly by imprisonment or other penalties of deprivation of liberty", acts directly related to drug trafficking.
Since the federal government had no authority under the 10th Amendment to regulate medicines, that power being reserved by individual states in 1937, a tax was the only viable way to legislate marijuana.
[45] Several scholars argue that the goal was to destroy the hemp industry,[46][47][48] largely as an effort of Hearst, Andrew Mellon and the Du Pont family.
[40] In its 1969 Leary v. United States decision the U.S. Supreme Court held the Marihuana Tax Act to be unconstitutional, since it violated the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
[69] Although the new law did officially prohibit the use of cannabis for any purpose, it also eliminated mandatory minimum sentences and reduced simple possession of all drugs from a felony to a misdemeanor.
[82] A number of states passed laws in the early 1990s seeking to comply with the amendment, in order to avoid a penalty of reduced federal highway funds.
[88] In January 1998, the U.S. government sued Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative for violating federal laws created as a result of the Controlled Substances Act.
[99] In 1972, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws petitioned the BNDD (which later became the DEA) to remove cannabis from the list of Schedule I drugs, in order to allow it to be prescribed by physicians.
[96] In September 1988, after two years of extensive public hearings, DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young ruled in favor of moving cannabis to a Schedule II classification, finding that "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.
"[103][104] Young further concluded: "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.
[108] The city board of supervisors soon followed with Resolution 141-92, which urged law enforcement not to prosecute individuals using cannabis under a doctor's care (as proven by a letter from a treating physician).
[114] The measure, approved with 56% of the vote, allowed the use, possession, and cultivation of cannabis by patients with a physician's recommendation, for treatment of cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine, or "any other illness for which marijuana provides relief".
[123] After Proposition 215 passed, the Clinton administration reiterated its firm opposition to the medical use of cannabis, and threatened to revoke the prescription-writing abilities of doctors who recommend or prescribe the drug.
In October 2009, the Ogden memo was issued by the Justice Department, advising U.S. attorneys to only prosecute medical cannabis providers who violate state law or engage in other federally-illegal activity (such as money laundering or illegal use of firearms).
[127] Prompted by public outcry and requests for clarification from numerous elected officials, a new memo was issued by Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole in June 2011.
[131][132] U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled against the DOJ in October 2015, however, stating that the interpretation "defies language and logic" and "tortures the plain meaning of the statute", and was "counterintuitive and opportunistic".
[134] In December 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, the first standalone cannabis reform bill enacted at the federal level.
[138][139] In August 2023, following a review by the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a recommendation to the DEA that cannabis be moved to Schedule III.
[144][143] NORML was actively involved in helping to pass these laws, lobbying in support of legislation and paying for decriminalization proponents (including members of the Shafer Commission) to travel to various states to testify.
[147][148] Additionally, San Francisco voters approved a non-binding measure in 1978 to effectively legalize cannabis,[149] but mayor George Moscone was assassinated shortly afterwards and the initiative was subsequently disregarded.
In October 2022, President Joe Biden announced a pardon for people convicted of simple possession of cannabis in federal court and in the District of Columbia.
