dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

it’s necessary to look at how the drug works in the brain. Marijuana is as effective as it is because its active chemical compound (tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC) mimics substances called endocannabinoids that the human body produces on its own. In the brain, endocannabinoids work by controlling the production of neurotransmitters (chemical substances that facilitate communication between the brain and the central nervous system). In the rest of the body, endocannabinoids relax muscles, reduce inflammation, protect damaged tissue, and regulate appetite and metabolism, among many other functions.

Because endocannabinoids are so important, the brain has readymade receptors for them. Since the THC in cannabis mimics natural endocannabinoids, marijuana is unique among other drugs in that regard. The same physiological effects that arise from the normal application of endocannabinoids are triggered with the use of marijuana, especially in the brain. This is why smokers experience memory issues, augmented levels of pain, and alterations to emotion, pleasure, and movement control.

ad9mac

It’s only a schedule one because of Nixon trying to get back at hippies...it was a weapon for him
.........

Gimme a break. Pot was illegal long before Nixon.

ad9mac

And another study showing that drivers who drive high showed no more risk of accidents than those who didnt do anything before driving

...................
Written in Toke of the Town.. LOL

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

It is a long and winding road.... I remember anti-mj posters when I was a kid/teen that were almost all produced and distributed by the Consolidated Brewers Association and American Breweries Association - in fact, I did a book report on it as a senior in hs, wasn't very popular with staff...……………… A lot of the law part started back around 1913 when the world began a hard line stance on opium and the opium trade - International law, and they threw MJ in with it. . There are a few sites that have consolidated the history of mj in the US. Here is one www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/LIBRARY/mj_outlawed.htm and there are several others. A lot of folks had their hand in it over decades - in Revolutionary war times and later, farmers were begged to plant and produce hemp, nearly forced to at one point, as lots of products were made from it...… then someone sat around some burning rope and, well the rest is history. .. . . .

The Nixon tie-in goes back to 1970 when it was designated Schedule 1. Growing up in that time, I remember a lot of things that were issues, that seem silly now, and a lot of issues, that still are issues.....

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

It wasn't a schedule 1.

And before that, it wasn't illegal at times.


1600-1890s

Domestic production of hemp encouraged

American production of hemp was encouraged by the government in the 17th century for the production of rope, sails, and clothing. (Marijuana is the mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves that comes from the hemp plant.)

In 1619 the Virginia Assembly passed legislation requiring every farmer to grow hemp. Hemp was allowed to be exchanged as legal tender in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.

Domestic production flourished until after the Civil War, when imports and other domestic materials replaced hemp for many purposes. In the late nineteenth century, marijuana became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was sold openly in public pharmacies.

During the 19th century, hashish use became a fad in France and also, to some extent, in the U.S.


1906

Pure Food and Drug Act

Required labeling of any cannabis contained in over-the-counter remedies.


1900 - 20s

Mexican immigrants introduce recreational use of marijuana leaf

After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, Mexican immigrants flooded into the U.S., introducing to American culture the recreational use of marijuana. The drug became associated with the immigrants, and the fear and prejudice about the Spanish-speaking newcomers became associated with marijuana. Anti-drug campaigners warned against the encroaching "Marijuana Menace," and terrible crimes were attributed to marijuana and the Mexicans who used it.


1930s

Fear of marijuana

During the Great Depression, massive unemployment increased public resentment and fear of Mexican immigrants, escalating public and governmental concern about the problem of marijuana. This instigated a flurry of research which linked the use of marijuana with violence, crime and other socially deviant behaviors, primarily committed by "racially inferior" or underclass communities. By 1931, 29 states had outlawed marijuana.


1930

Creation of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN)

Harry J. Anslinger was the first Commissioner of the FBN and remained in that post until 1962.


1932

Uniform State Narcotic Act

Concern about the rising use of marijuana and research linking its use with crime and other social problems created pressure on the federal government to take action. Rather than promoting federal legislation, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics strongly encouraged state governments to accept responsibility for control of the problem by adopting the Uniform State Narcotic Act.


1936

"Reefer Madness"

Propaganda film "Reefer Madness" was produced by the French director, Louis Gasnier.

The Motion Pictures Association of America, composed of the major Hollywood studios, banned the showing of any narcotics in films.


1937

Marijuana Tax Act

After a lurid national propaganda campaign against the "evil weed," Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act. The statute effectively criminalized marijuana, restricting possession of the drug to individuals who paid an excise tax for certain authorized medical and industrial uses.


1944

La Guardia Report finds marijuana less dangerous

New York Academy of Medicine issued an extensively researched report declaring that, contrary to earlier research and popular belief, use of marijuana did not induce violence, insanity or sex crimes, or lead to addiction or other drug use.


1940s

"Hemp for Victory"

During World War II, imports of hemp and other materials crucial for producing marine cordage, parachutes, and other military necessities became scarce. In response the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched its "Hemp for Victory" program, encouraging farmers to plant hemp by giving out seeds and granting draft deferments to those who would stay home and grow hemp. By 1943 American farmers registered in the program harvested 375,000 acres of hemp.


1951-56

Stricter Sentencing Laws

Enactment of federal laws (Boggs Act, 1952; Narcotics Control Act, 1956) which set mandatory sentences for drug-related offenses, including marijuana.

A first-offense marijuana possession carried a minimum sentence of 2-10 years with a fine of up to $20,000.


1960s

Marijuana use popular in counterculture

A changing political and cultural climate was reflected in more lenient attitudes towards marijuana. Use of the drug became widespread in the white upper middle class. Reports commissioned by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson found that marijuana use did not induce violence nor lead to use of heavier drugs. Policy towards marijuana began to involve considerations of treatment as well as criminal penalties.


1968

Creation of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs

This was a merger of FBN and the Bureau of Dangerous Drugs of the Food and Drug Administration.


1970

Repeal of most mandatory minimum sentences

Congress repealed most of the mandatory penalties for drug-related offenses. It was widely acknowledged that the mandatory minimum sentences of the 1950s had done nothing to eliminate the drug culture that embraced marijuana use throughout the 60s, and that the minimum sentences imposed were often unduly harsh.

Marijuana differentiated from other drugs

The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act categorized marijuana separately from other narcotics and eliminated mandatory federal sentences for possession of small amounts.

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) founded


1972

Shafer Commission

The bipartisan Shafer Commission, appointed by President Nixon at the direction of Congress, considered laws regarding marijuana and determined that personal use of marijuana should be decriminalized. Nixon rejected the recommendation, but over the course of the 1970s, eleven states decriminalized marijuana and most others reduced their penalties.


1973

Creation of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

Merger of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNND) and the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE).


1974

High Times founded


1976

Beginning of parents' movement against marijuana

A nationwide movement emerged of conservative parents' groups lobbying for stricter regulation of marijuana and the prevention of drug use by teenagers. Some of these groups became quite powerful and, with the support of the DEA and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), were instrumental in affecting public attitudes which led to the 1980s War on Drugs.


1986

Anti-Drug Abuse Act - Mandatory Sentences

President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, instituting mandatory sentences for drug-related crimes. In conjunction with the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, the new law raised federal penalties for marijuana possession and dealing, basing the penalties on the amount of the drug involved. Possession of 100 marijuana plants received the same penalty as possession of 100 grams of heroin. A later amendment to the Anti-Drug Abuse Act established a "three strikes and you're out" policy, requiring life sentences for repeat drug offenders, and providing for the death penalty for "drug kingpins."


1989

Bush's War on Drugs

President George Bush declares a new War on Drugs in a nationally televised speech.


1996

Medical Use Legalized in California

California voters passed Proposition 215 allowing for the sale and medical use of marijuana for patients with AIDS, cancer, and other serious and painful diseases. This law stands in tension with federal laws prohibiting possession of marijuana.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

No...quoted in toke of the town, the actual stats came from the U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

You can see right in this thread, though almost no one is aware of the history of Cannabis, lots of misinformation coming from the "reefer madness" crowd.

That's part of the issue; the misinformation propaganda machine has done a great job of keeping Cannabis depicted as the "devil's lettuce".

traderjohn Loc: New York City

SSSHH

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Why would you think, you have a"clue"? That's rich.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Because I recognize your statement (That ongoing and sustained of pot caused a mental imbalance and lack of choices that are not conducive to correct decisions.) as false...that's why.

I don't need to know everything there is to know to know when you spout something patently untrue and uninformed.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Dear Doctors,

“With so much information coming out about the medical value of marijuana, and that marijuana is not as dangerous as alcohol, why was it made illegal in the first place?”

Sincerely,

Looking for a history lesson

Dear Looking,

That is an excellent question. Now that many politicians and the public are taking a more objective look at marijuana, many are asking about the legal history of marijuana and how it ended up in the category of drugs deemed most dangerous by the federal government (Schedule I).

To understand how we ended up here, it is important to go back to what was happening in the United States in the early 1900’s just after the Mexican Revolution. At this time we saw an influx of immigration from Mexico into states like Texas and Louisiana. Not surprising, these new Americans brought with them their native language, culture and customs. One of these customs was the use of cannabis as a medicine and relaxant.

Mexican immigrants referred to this plant as “marihuana”. While Americans were very familiar with “cannabis” because it was present in almost all tinctures and medicines available at the time, the word “marihuana” was a foreign term. So, when the media began to play on the fears that the public had about these new citizens by falsely spreading claims about the “disruptive Mexicans” with their dangerous native behaviors including marihuana use, the rest of the nation did not know that this “marihuana” was a plant they already had in their medicine cabinets.

The demonization of the cannabis plant was an extension of the demonization of the Mexican immigrants. In an effort to control and keep tabs on these new citizens, El Paso, TX borrowed a play from San Francisco’s playbook, which had outlawed opium decades earlier in an effort to control Chinese immigrants. The idea was to have an excuse to search, detain and deport Mexican immigrants.

That excuse became marijuana.

This method of controlling people by controlling their customs was quite successful, so much so that it became a national strategy for keeping certain populations under the watch and control of the government.

During hearings on marijuana law in the 1930’s, claims were made about marijuana’s ability to cause men of color to become violent and solicit sex from white women. This imagery became the backdrop for the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 which effectively banned its use and sales.

While the Act was ruled unconstitutional years later, it was replaced with the Controlled Substances Act in the 1970’s which established Schedules for ranking substances according to their dangerousness and potential for addiction. Cannabis was placed in the most restrictive category, Schedule I, supposedly as a place holder while then President Nixon commissioned a report to give a final recommendation.

The Schafer Commission, as it was called, declared that marijuana should not be in Schedule I and even doubted its designation as an illicit substance. However, Nixon discounted the recommendations of the commission, and marijuana remains a Schedule I substance.

In 1996, California became the first state to approve the use of marijuana for medical purposes, ending its 59 year reign as an illicit substance with no medical value. Prior to 1937, cannabis had enjoyed a 5000 year history as a therapeutic agent across many cultures. In this context, its blip as an illicit and dangerous drug was dwarfed by its role as a medicine.

Opponents of medical marijuana regulations claim that there is not enough research to warrant medicinal use, but supporters of medical marijuana point to the 5000 years of history where cannabis was widely used as evidence for its medical efficacy.

Now that 23 states, plus Washington, DC, have passed medical marijuana laws, the public is questioning the utility of keeping marijuana under lock and key, especially in light of the racist and propagandized basis for making it illegal in the first place.

In just a few weeks, Florida, Oregon, Alaska and Washington DC voters will have the opportunity to put an additional nail in the coffin of prohibition by voting to legalize medical access in Florida and adult access in Oregon, Alaska and Washington DC. Changing the marijuana laws in these states and more to come is one of the first steps in dismantling the racially motivated war on drugs.

Sincerely,

The Doctors

Dr. Malik Burnett is a former surgeon and physician advocate. He also served as executive director of a medical marijuana nonprofit organization. Amanda Reiman, PhD, holds a doctorate in Social Welfare and teaches classes on drug policy at the University of California-Berkeley.

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

Lol where you think that is. Nixion the one that made it illegal educate yourself lol

Fdr didn't accomplish much

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

No...Nixon created the DEA who made it a schedule 1.

it was declared illegal before that by the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 which effectively banned its use and sales.

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

An what exactly did fdr accomplish on weed. Nothing

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

I agree. Nothing.