Harrison, Lana D.,
Michael Backenheimer and James A. Inciardi (1995), Cannabis use in the
United States: Implications for policy. In: Peter Cohen & Arjan Sas
(Eds) (1996), Cannabisbeleid in Duitsland, Frankrijk en de Verenigde
Staten. Amsterdam, Centrum voor Drugsonderzoek, Universiteit van Amsterdam.
pp. 237-247.
© Copyright 1995, 1996 Centrum
voor Drugsonderzoek, Universiteit van Amsterdam. All rights reserved.
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5 History of drug legislation
Subtitle
Lana D. Harrison, Michael
Backenheimer and James A. Inciardi
History
The history of the United States policy towards marijuana
is probably best seen in the perspective of United States policy towards
drugs in general and then, more specifically, marijuana. It is also necessary
to view policy in a two-dimensional frame, the first being supply reduction,
the reduction and control of the supply of drugs through legislation,
law enforcement, interdiction, sentencing, and incarceration, and the
second being demand reduction, the reduction of the demand for drugs.
'Demand reduction' is operationalized through education, prevention and
treatment. The history of supply and demand reduction policies in the
U.S. will be reviewed separately.
Supply reduction in the United States
Arguably, there are several different points at which the
history of supply reduction in the United States could begin. At the Federal
level, the banning of importation of opium by Chinese nationals occurred
in 1887 and in 1905 opium smoking was restricted in the Philippines (BJS,
1992, p. 80). Mid-1906 saw Congressional passage of the Pure Food and
Drug Act. The act banned the interstate transportation of adulterated
or mislabeled food and drugs. Importantly, the legislation did not prohibit
or outlaw the use of cocaine and opiate drugs. It did, however, set standards
of quality and truth in labeling and did lead to the demise of much of
the patent medicine industry since the ingredients of such medicines now
were required to be indicated (Inciardi, 1992, p. 15).
Efforts at drug control were not, however, limited to the Federal establishment.
A municipal ordinance was passed in San Francisco in 1875 which prohibited
the smoking of opium in opium dens (BJS, 1992, p. 78). In the 1890s several
states enacted legislation aimed at limiting the supply of morphine and
cocaine within their jurisdictions. Such laws generally required a physician's
prescription prior to obtaining these drugs, thus limiting their legal
use to medical purposes. Since morphine and cocaine could freely be obtained
from states without such laws, the laws were not generally effective in
controlling the distribution of morphine and cocaine (BJS, 1992, p. 76).
One of the most influential legislative acts ever passed concerning drugs
occurred in 1914 when the Congress approved the Harrison Act (after its
main sponsor, Representative Francis Burton Harrison of New York). This
act (with a multitude of regulations, court decisions, Supreme Court decisions
and amendments) was to become the standard and the basis of narcotic regulation
in the United States for the next 50 years. It was based upon the constitutional
authority of the Federal Government 'to raise revenue and to tax and regulate
the distribution and sale of narcotics' (BJS, 1992, p. 76). The Harrison
Act ultimately served to make illegal the nonmedical use of morphine and
cocaine. It 'required all people who imported, manufactured, produced,
compounded, sold, dispensed, or otherwise distributed cocaine and opiate
drugs to register with the Treasury Department, pay special taxes, and
keep records of all transactions' (Inciardi, 1992, p. 15). Although technically
defined as a revenue act and enacted (perhaps) for the purpose of providing
some Federal control over drugs, the Harrison Act served to criminalize
the estimated 200,000 users of narcotics in the United States. Many so-called
honest citizens suddenly found themselves on the wrong side of the law
and labeled addicts. Decisions by the Supreme Court supported the legality
of the taxing aspects of the Harrison Act and, importantly banned maintenance
supplies for addicts. This latter decision essentially deprived the medical
profession of the privilege of writing a narcotic prescription for an
addict patient for the purpose of maintenance. A later court decision
held that a narcotic prescription for an addict was illegal even when
the intent was part of a 'cure' program. This was reversed in 1925 but,
by that time, physicians were loathe to prescribe narcotics to addicts
and an illegal drug distribution chain had become well-established (Inciardi,
1992, p. 16).
By 1920, an illicit drug economy had emerged in the United States that
profited principally from cocaine and heroin distribution. In 1922 the
Federal response was the Jones-Miller Act. This act provided fines of
up to $5,000 and prison sentences for up to 10 years for any individual
found guilty of being party to the unlawful importation of narcotics.
In fact, the legislation had little influence upon the illicit drug marketplace
except to increase the price of heroin and cocaine (Inciardi, 1992, p.
18).
Until 1920, when Alcohol Prohibition was legislated, there were sparse
accounts of marijuana in the press and those that did exist showed marijuana
to be smoked for recreational purposes. After prohibition was enacted,
marijuana markets began to appear in a few cities, most notably New Orleans
and New York (Brecher, 1986, p. 14). Harry Anslinger, Federal Narcotics
Commissioner, began a war against marijuana in 1933. He used the popular
press to prey upon the fears of the American public, including racial
fear and division. He believed that marijuana was a 'killer weed.' He
supplied information to magazines, periodicals, newspapers, and other
media outlets alleging marijuana was responsible for cases of insane violence
with only the flimsiest of evidence to support this allegation (Inciardi,
1992, p. 23). By 1937, in large part due to Anslinger's unrelenting campaign
against marijuana, 46 of the (then) 48 states passed anti-marijuana legislation.
With Anslinger and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics vocally advocating
for its passage, the Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act and it was
signed into law on August 2, 1937 (Inciardi, 1992, p. 24). Modeled after
the Harrison Act, it essentially placed marijuana into the same category
as the cocaine and opium products. It became illegal to import marijuana
into the United States (McWilliams, 1991). As predicted by the American
Medical Association and others who fought the passage of the bill, it
did not serve to curb marijuana use (Brecher, 1986, p. 14).
By the early 1940s narcotic addiction had all but disappeared in the
United States. This was not the result of some miraculous medical breakthrough
nor was it the result of legislative initiatives. It was the fact that
World War II was serving to 'cut off the supplies of opium from Asia and
interrupt the trafficking routes from Europe' (Inciardi, 1992, p. 24).
Several other legislative efforts in the supply reduction area are worthy
of mention. The Opium Poppy Act of 1942 was enacted in an effort to regulate
poppy production. As had the Harrison Act and Marijuana Tax Act, it used
licensing and taxation as the basis of the regulation. The Narcotics Act
of March 8, 1946, sought to regulate synthetic equivalents of opium and
cocaine. Two legislative pieces, the Boggs Bill of 1951 and the Narcotic
Drug Act of 1956 served to establish more severe penalties for violations
of drug laws. The year 1960 saw passage of the Manufacturing Act. Its
purpose was to tighten controls and restrictions over legally manufactured
narcotic drugs. By virtue of the Manufacturing Act a system of licensing
manufacturers and setting quotas for classes of drugs, both natural and
synthetic, was set in place. The United States became one of fifty-four
nations who became party to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in
1961. (This assumed the status of a U.S. Treaty obligation in 1967.) The
primary purpose of the Single Convention was to modernize and coordinate
international narcotic control. Provisions were made within the Single
Convention for the control of cannabis thus, in some of its features,
the Convention singled out cannabis in much the same fashion it singled
out opium and coca bushes (the source of cocaine). The Drug Abuse Control
Amendments of 1965 revisited the Manufacturing Act of 1960 and tightened
controls and increased penalties as found under that act. It was aimed
specifically at barbiturates, amphetamines and hallucinogens (U.S. News
and World Report, 1970, pp. 85-89).
In October, 1970, President Richard M. Nixon signed the Comprehensive
Drug Abuse and Prevention and Control Act of 1970 into law. This popularly
became known as the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. 'It consolidates
over fifty federal narcotic, marijuana and dangerous drug laws into one
law designed to control the legitimate drug industry and to curtail importation
and distribution of illicit drugs throughout the United States' (U.S.
News and World Report, 1970, p. 90). Notably, the act compressed the Harrison
Act and its five decades of amendments, modifications and interpretations
into one law. The act, importantly, also showed a basic 'change in judicial
interpretation of the Constitution's commerce clause,' as it relied upon
commerce powers for its support thus doing away with having to show 'police
function as a revenue measure' (BJS, 1992, p. 86). One aspect of the Controlled
Substances Act defines a schedule for drugs. Schedule I lists those substances
which have no accepted medical utility but have substantial potential
for abuse. Found on this schedule are heroin, marijuana, and various other
hallucinogens. Schedule II lists substances having a high abuse liability
but also having some accepted medical purpose. Found on Schedule II are
morphine and cocaine. It is worth noting that, under the scheduling provisions
of the act, marijuana is seen as needing to be grouped with heroin while
cocaine with its significant abuse liability and very limited medical
use still falls into Schedule II. The Act did, with respect to criminal
penalty, select out 'marijuana from other drugs and lowered the maximum
penalty for possession of an ounce of marijuana to one year in jail and
a $5,000 fine, with the option of probation or a conditional discharge
at the judge's discretion' (Slaughter, 1988, p. 421).
In the 1970s two more laws passed the Congress that were to be used (at
least in part) to stem the tide of drug abuse. One was the Racketeer-Influenced
and Corrupt Organizations law (RICO) and the other was the Continuing
Criminal Enterprise (CCE) statute. Both had as their aim the forfeiture
of ill-gotten gain, the removal of the rights of drug traffickers to any
personal assets or property - including real estate, cash, automobiles,
and jewelry, -obtained by or used in a criminal enterprise or undertaking.
Under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1876, military involvement in law enforcement
was banned. This act was amended in 1982 to permit state and local law
enforcement to use the military for training, intelligence and investigation
of law violations involving drugs. Military equipment (for example, planes)
could be used by civilian agencies in enforcing drug laws.
The 1980s saw the passage of four major antidrug bills. All were primarily
within the supply reduction arena. First was the Comprehensive Crime Control
Act of 1984 which broadened criminal and civil asset forfeiture laws and
increased Federal criminal sanctions for drug offenses. The next bill
passed was the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. While providing money for prevention
and treatment, it also 'restored mandatory prison sentences for large-scale
distribution of marijuana, imposed new sanctions on money laundering,'
and other demand reduction components (BJS, 1992, p. 86). A third piece
of legislation was the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Amendment Act which primarily
increased the sanctions for crimes related to drug trafficking and set
in place new Federal offenses. It should be noted that these three legislative
pieces were dramatic with respect to an enforcement model and marijuana.
They 'raised federal penalties for marijuana possession, cultivation,
and trafficking. Sentences were to be determined by the quantity of the
drug involved; 'conspiracies' and 'attempts' were to be punished as severely
as completed acts; and possession of a hundred marijuana plants (would)
now carry the same sentence as possession of a hundred grams of heroin'
(Schlosser, 1994, p. 52). The fourth bill, the Crime Control Act of 1990
was almost totally aimed at supply reduction and law enforcement, doubling
the appropriations for drug law enforcement grants to states and localities,
and strengthening forfeiture and seizure statutes (BJS, 1992, p. 86).
In the preceding discussion of supply reduction policy as reflected by
the legal system, no attempt has been made to be all inclusive. A major
centerpiece of legislation not directly related to drugs but certainly
of interest was the era of Prohibition in the United States (Under the
Volsted Act of 1920, alcohol was prohibited in the United States and temperance
was the official policy of the nation. Repeal did not occur until 1933).
Certainly the lesson to be learned from a purely supply related vantage
point could be applied to any anti-drug effort, that a drug cannot unilaterally
be legislated out of existence, but the decade of alcohol prohibition
is beyond the scope of this effort. Suffice it to say that, from an historical
perspective, one anti-drug effort followed another, many claiming success
with only a modicum of evidence for support. In outlining the main entrants
over the past Century, we are struck by the fact that the legislation,
in many cases, does not appear to learn from the past - that a supply
reduction philosophy is not sufficient to stem the tide.
With respect to social policy and marijuana, it does not appear that
marijuana was considered a problem until the 1930s. Prior to that time,
marijuana enjoyed an anonymity that minimized it being worthy of social
policy or action. Even in the 1920s use of marijuana was limited to big
city slums, minority groups (blacks in the South and Mexicans, many illegal
aliens, in the Southwest, and jazz musicians); it had not as yet moved
'uptown,' but was beginning to be defined as a social problem. Largely
due to the mood of the times (Prohibition, the Harrison Narcotic Act,
the depression), and the war on marijuana as led by Harry Anslinger, the
Marijuana Tax Act was passed in 1937 and became the first Federal piece
of supply reduction legislation that was specific to marijuana. In 1961,
the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs mentions the control of cannabis
as one of its primary objectives. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970,
as earlier stated also puts marijuana in the same schedule of illicit
substances as heroin. The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 and
the Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 and 1988 cited earlier also had major
impact upon marijuana. The history of Federal policy towards marijuana
as reflected by the legislative process is clear. Legislation has made
precious little distinction between narcotics, cocaine and marijuana.
For practical purposes, Federal law does not recognize any distinction
between marijuana and other illicit substances. Having outlined the supply
side of Federal policy, the discussion now necessarily shifts to the demand
side and the degree to which Federal legislation has recognized prevention
and treatment of substance abuse as worthwhile goals.
Demand reduction
Federal legislation in the demand reduction area (prevention
and treatment) is sparse when compared to that of supply reduction. In
fact, interpretation of the Harrison Narcotic Act was anti-treatment as
it deprived the medical profession of the right to provide maintenance
and/or 'cure' doses of narcotics to the addict population. A court reversal
of this posture in 1925 was a case of 'too little, too late.' Perhaps
the first piece of Federal legislation that could, by any stretch of the
imagination, be considered oriented to demand reduction was the 1929 passage
of the Porter Narcotic Farm Act. This act provided for the U.S. Public
Health Service to establish Federal hospitals specifically for the treatment
of imprisoned addicts. The first of two facilities was built in Lexington,
Kentucky in 1935 and the second facility opened in Fort Worth, Texas in
1938. These facilities were in fact prisons modified to provide medical
and psychiatric services.
In 1962 the Supreme Court (Robinson v. California) ruled that addiction
to narcotics, in and of itself, was an illness and not a criminal offense.
This led to an increase in Federal treatment efforts (U.S. House of Representatives,
1978a, p. 9). The Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963, passed
by the 90th Congress, was the first to provide Federal assistance to non-Federal
entities for treatment. 'The 1968 amendments to this Act established specialized
addict treatment grants' (BJS, 1992, p. 81). The significance of the Act
was major in that it brought 'narcotic addiction' into the realm of mental
illness thus enabling Federal support for local drug treatment efforts.
In 1966, the Congress passed the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act (NARA).
The legislation called for addicts charged with federal crimes to be civilly
committed rather than face prosecution and it allowed the court to mandate
a treatment program in lieu of prison. It also permitted the establishment
of a treatment program for addicts not charged with crimes (though this
received criticism as a form of preventive deterrence (detention)) (U.S.
News and World Report, 1970, p. 88). In all cases, before civil commitment
could occur, the addict had to be judged by the court as likely to be
rehabilitated.
Federal efforts in demand reduction activities probably did not begin
as a major or focal activity until the passage of Public Law 92-255, the
Drug Abuse Office and Treatment Act of 1972. This law mandated the Special
Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention (SAODAP) whose task was to provide
'overall planning and policy and establish objectives for all Federal
demand reduction programs' ( U.S. House of Representatives, 1978a, p.
2). The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) was created and was to
be the center piece for a major Federal effort in demand reduction. In
spite of this serious effort at centralization, Federal efforts within
the demand reduction arena remained highly fragmented prompting the second
report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse to note
that drug abuse 'prevention' was 'promoted by all levels of Government,
but rarely planned by any of them' (U.S. House of Representatives, 1978a,
p. 2). Federal legislation in the demand reduction area from that time
until the present has taken on the task of trying to centralize and provide
leadership to drug abuse demand reduction activities. Legislation established
the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA) in 1974,
and other legislation established various strategy councils, several successors
to SAODAP, and most recently the successor to ADAMHA, the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). With the creation
of SAMHSA in 1992, drug abuse demand reduction services were transferred
to SAMHSA and research activities remained with NIDA. NIDA along with
the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse and the National
Institute of Mental Health became Institutes of the National Institutes
of Health. It is probably safe to say that, to date, little positive centralization
of demand reduction action has occurred within the Federal Bureaucracy.
With respect to demand reduction activities specifically geared to marijuana,
probably the closest effort came in the creation of the National Commission
on Marihuana and Drug Abuse in 1970 by Congress (under President Nixon)
for a two year term. The Commission's role was to examine the nature and
extent of drug abuse demand reduction activities and issue annual reports
on findings, conclusions, and suggest needed future activities. Both anti
and pro marijuana reform groups testified before the Commission. In its
1972 report, Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding, the Commission
recommended that decriminalization of marijuana be considered. The Nixon
Administration rejected this proposal out of hand. While marijuana was
certainly implied and included in many demand reduction activities of
the Federal effort, it has never been explicitly legislated.
The history of narcotic and cannabis legislation is not necessarily,
however, the same as the social or public policy it purports to reflect.
The actual policy may be more restrictive or less restrictive than the
enacted legislation and it may be instructive to look at actual Federal
policy for the past several presidencies. It is probably fair to say that
during the Nixon and Ford years, public policy towards all drugs including
marijuana was highly restrictive. While there was certainly acknowledgement
of demand reduction, the major emphasis was clearly on supply reduction
and enforcement.
With the Carter years (1977-1980) came a very clear distinction between
narcotics and marijuana. Testifying before the Select Committee on Narcotics
Abuse and Control in July 1978 two high ranking Carter officials made
several statements of note: (1) It was admitted the Federal Government
did not have a specific treatment program for marijuana and in fact, the
Administrator of the Federal Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Agency
said, 'There is no treatment required for the use of marijuana as such'
(U.S. House of Representatives, 1978, p. 9); (2) The Associate Director
of the Domestic Policy Staff, the White House while stating the Administration's
position to discourage marijuana use went on to say, '...we have talked
about the propriety of decriminalizing the possession of small amounts
of marijuana for personal use, under Federal statute only. This would,
in effect, merely codify what is already occurring, since Federal law
enforcement efforts should not be directed at people who possess small
amounts of any drug, particularly marijuana' (U.S. House of Representatives,
1978b, p. 8); (3) The Federal position under the Carter Administration
was that this move towards decriminalization was a state-by-state choice
and should not be mandated by the Federal establishment. This tolerance
was not a totally new point of view as the period 1973-1978 saw eleven
states decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal
use (one state, Alaska, has since recriminalized its statutes).
The Reagan-Bush years (1981-1992) in the presidency heralded an increasing
emphasis on law enforcement, seizures and interdictions. While, at least
in theory, high level policy groups at the White House level were coordinating
supply reduction and demand reduction strategies, the emphasis of the
strategies were markedly supply oriented. Some major happenings and events
during these years were: (1) Between 1978 and 1992 some 35 states endorsed
the medicinal use of marijuana, a position supported by the American Medical
Association. In 1988, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws (NORML) won a 16-year law suit to force the Federal Government to
make marijuana accessible as medicine. This, however, was rejected by
the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on the basis that other medications
exist which can function as well or better than marijuana within the medical
model and that insufficient controlled scientific data were available
to support its being rescheduled. (2) The emphasis on slowing drug trafficking
through seizures and interdictions had (say some experts) some unforeseen
consequences. One was the switching by drug traffickers from marijuana
to cocaine as it was more easily concealed and brought significantly higher
prices. Another was the stimulation of American ingenuity to domestically
grow a high quality of marijuana. During the 1970s, almost all marijuana
(particularly of good grade) was trafficked into this country. Recall
that it is estimated that currently about half of the marijuana consumed
in the United States is locally grown and a portion of this is now being
grown indoors under highly controlled conditions. (3) During the 1970s
the military establishment (Title V of the Military Selective Service
Act) emphasized identification and treatment of alcohol and drug dependent
military personnel. The keynotes of this period were rehabilitation, treatment
and prevention. In August 1980, a Department of Defense (DOD) directive
turned the pendulum away from treatment and towards detection and enforcement.
A urinalysis program was instituted in late 1981. The current military
policy honed during the Reagan-Bush years is one of 'Zero Tolerance'.
'For the military, any use of drugs constitutes abuse and will result
in instant discharge for all but the lowest level personnel' (BJS, 1992,
p. 85).
Within the current (Clinton) Administration the Office of National Drug
Control Policy (ONDCP) has 25 percent less staff than in the previous
administration. Further, under President Clinton, 'drug abuse' on both
the supply and demand sides has been rather low profile. Illicit drug
use is not being given the prominence and visibility of the Reagan-Bush
era. Also notable is that at the beginning of the Clinton Administration
term the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control (House of Representatives)
was not reconstituted by the Congress. While not able to introduce legislation
(Select committees recommend but may not introduce legislation), the committee
was valuable in providing Congressional oversight of both supply and demand
Federal agencies. It must be noted, however, that provisions of mandatory
sentencing, forfeiture, and seizure, as set forth in the Reagan-Bush years
are still in place and actively enforced. Under Federal mandatory minimum
drug sentences (for first offenders) having 100 marijuana plants or 100
kilos of marijuana (each plant is assumed to be worth a kilo of marijuana)
yields 5 years without parole. Possession of 1000 plants or 1000 kilos
yields 10 years without parole. The Court has no discretion in its sentencing
of those charged under Federal statute and found guilty.
State policy
There is wide variation in both the nature and extent of
anti-marijuana laws found in each of the 50 states. All, of course, are
subject to the Federal legislation just discussed, but, if charged at
the state or local level, tremendous variation exists not only between
states but, in many cases, also by counties and jurisdictions within states.
Several states have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana
for personal use. In general, however, most states have either not changed
their marijuana laws and sanctions or have, in fact (particularly during
the 1980s), taken an even stronger pro-enforcement stance. As an example,
possession of less than an ounce of marijuana in the state of New York
will probably bring a $100 fine. That same amount of marijuana found in
Nevada (the home of legalized gambling in the United States) constitutes
a felony. Even as a first offense, selling a pound of marijuana in Montana
could draw a life sentence. In New Mexico, dealing 10,000 pounds of marijuana
(as a first offense) could result in a three year prison term. Thus the
nature and extent of state marijuana laws is wide and varied (Schlosser,
1994, p. 54). The Appendix shows the penalties for marijuana possession
by state.
During the 1970s some 11 states instituted a policy of decriminalization
for the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. It
is instructive to note that research indicates there was no increase in
marijuana use in those states decriminalizing marijuana and these states
essentially maintained the same rate of use as in those states not instituting
a decriminalization policy. It should also be pointed out that several
states, Maine, Oregon and Ohio, who decriminalized marijuana in the 1970s
tightened their marijuana restrictions in the 1980s and no states have
further decriminalized marijuana since 1978. Further, Alaska, in 1990,
voted to recriminalize marijuana possession.
In summarizing this section on the history of marijuana policy in the
United States, some facts stand out above all others. First, the history
has been one of legal sanctions and control; not treatment, prevention
and education. The United States has made every effort to keep marijuana
from being imported into its borders and the result has been domestic
cultivation of new, even more potent strands of marijuana. Every conceivable
law enforcement authority including the military has been called upon
for assistance and yet marijuana use continues unabated.
The one period of so-called tolerance towards marijuana in this country
was in the 1970s when some states began to consider and pass decriminalization
statutes. When, however, the Congress failed to pass Federal decriminalization
statutes in the same time frame, the thrust of the movement towards decriminalization
was lost. The movement had not been focused or made clear enough to the
people of the United States as a whole. As a result, the opportunity for
concerted action was lost, the efforts of lobby groups such as NORML not
withstanding. However, as Dr. Inciardi points out in The War on Drugs
II, 'Perhaps most important of all, marijuana has always been viewed
as a drug favored by youth' (Inciardi, 1992, p. 44). The implication being
the people of this country are very much concerned about the effect(s)
marijuana might have upon its young. Given the policies of the Reagan-Bush
years and the current Clinton Administration, it is not likely that Federal
statutes will be proposed which seek to decriminalize marijuana.
References
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INCIARDI, J.A. 1992. The War on Drugs II. Mountain
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BRECHER, EDWARD M. 1986. 'Drug Laws and Drug Law Enforcement:
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Society 1:1.
MCWILLIAMS, JOHN C. 1991. 'The History of Drug Control
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Drug Control Policies in the United States. New York: Greenwood Press.
NATIONAL COMMISSION ON MARIHUANA AND DRUG ABUSE. 1972.
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Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse.
SLAUGHTER, JAMES B. 1988. 'Marijuana Prohibition in
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Journal of Law and Social Problems 21:4, pp. 417-475.
ERIC SCHLOSSER. 1994. 'Reefer Madness,' The Atlantic
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the United States and Abroad Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing
Office, (SCNAC-95-2-11).
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NARCOTICS ABUSE AND CONTROL. 1978b. Drug Abuse Treatment (Part 1).
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