Historical Context and Early Legislation:
- Hemp cultivation in Jamestown in 1619 and George Washington’s hemp cultivation at Mount Vernon
- Introduction of cannabis to Western medicine by William OShaughnessy in 1839
- Medicinal cannabis availability in American pharmacies from the 1850s
- State laws regulating pharmaceutical sales in the 19th century
- New York’s 1860 law requiring prescriptions for cannabis sale
- Attempts to include cannabis in poison laws in the late 19th century
- Regulations requiring drug labeling and prescriptions
- Various states’ laws mentioning cannabis in the early 1900s
Criminalization and Federal Regulations:
- Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 requiring accurate labeling of drugs
- Federal Pure Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act of 1938 defining marijuana as a dangerous drug
- International Opium Convention in 1925 regulating Indian hemp
- Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act of 1925–1932 standardizing drug regulations
- Federal Bureau of Narcotics formation in 1930 to outlaw recreational drugs
- Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 making possession or transfer of cannabis illegal
- Boggs Act of 1952 and Narcotics Control Act of 1956 imposing mandatory sentencing
- Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classifying cannabis as Schedule I
- Solomon–Lautenberg Amendment of 1990 urging states to suspend licenses for drug offenses
Key Figures and Influence on Legislation:
- William Randolph Hearst’s demonization of cannabis in newspapers
- Andrew Mellon and Du Pont family’s alleged aim to destroy the hemp industry
- Influence of nylon industry on demonization of hemp
- Challenges in hemp paper production and misconceptions about hemp’s effects
- DEA Judge’s recommendation for cannabis reclassification in 1988
Evolution of Cannabis Legislation:
- House Joint Resolution 117 in 1998 opposing marijuana legalization for medicinal use without FDA approval
- United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative in 2001 ruling against medical cannabis exception
- Gonzales v. Raich in 2005 establishing federal jurisdiction for prosecuting medical cannabis violators
- Cole Memorandum rescinded in 2018 by Attorney General Jeff Sessions
- Decriminalization initiatives from the 1970s onwards and early medical cannabis laws from 1978 to 1982
Medical Use and Programs:
- Compassionate IND program initiated in 1978 for medical cannabis use
- New Mexico passing the first medical cannabis law in 1978
- Bureaucratic obstacles faced by states in implementing medical cannabis programs
- DEA targeting medical cannabis patients until 2014 and the impact of the Rohrabacher–Farr amendment
- Only two patients currently receiving cannabis through the federal program