In the United States, the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act (strictly the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act) was one of the cornerstone bills that led to the criminalization of Cannabis. It was introduced to U.S. Congress by Harry Anslinger, then Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Species Cannabis indica Cannabis ruderalis Cannabis sativa Cannabis (drug) Hemp Hemp (disambiguation) Cannabis is a genus of flowering plant that includes one or more species. ... Congress in Joint Session. ... Harry J. Anslinger (1892-1975) is widely considered to be The first United States drug czar. Currently, many firmly oppose Anslinger for his rhetoric-based crusade against marijuana, fueling decades of misinformation about the drug based on racism and fear. ... Amid evidence of corruption in 1929, the US Treasury Departments Narcotics Division collapsed and the following year Congress created the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), still under the Treasury Deparment. ...

The act did not itself criminalize the possession or usage of marijuana, but levied a tax equalling roughly one dollar on anyone who dealt commercially in marijuana. It did, however, include penalty provisions. Violations of proper procedure could result in a fine of up to $2000 and five years' imprisonment. The net effect was to effectively make it too risky for anyone to deal in the substance.

The bill was passed on the grounds that marijuana caused "murder, insanity and death". Today, it is generally accepted that the dangers of marijuana are not as great claimed, and in 1951 Harry Anslinger himself claimed that he had no evidence to support that thesis. However, new reasons had emerged by then, which pushed through a bill that superceded the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. It is worth noting that Marijuana has many known links to cancer, though this was not understood at the time this bill was passed.

Pro-marijuana supporters and advocacy groups often attack the bill, claiming that the act was based in racism and unsupported claims.

There is little evidence that Anslinger himself made overtly racial statements. The statements are probably wrongly attributed to Anslinger, or made up by activists paraphrasing the reasons for the marijuana laws. See the discussion of such statements under the article on Harry Anslinger. Harry J. Anslinger (1892-1975) is widely considered to be The first United States drug czar. Currently, many firmly oppose Anslinger for his rhetoric-based crusade against marijuana, fueling decades of misinformation about the drug based on racism and fear. ...

In 1969 in Timothy Leary v. US, this act was found to be unconstitutional since it violated the Fifth Amendment, since a person seeking the tax stamp would have to incriminate him/herself.^[1] In response the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 was passed. For the American baseball player use Tim Leary (baseball player) Timothy Francis Leary, Ph. ... Amendment V (the Fifth Amendment) of the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, is related to legal procedure. ... The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) was enacted into law by the Congress of the United States as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (21 USC 13). ...

It should be noted that, while this article uses the spelling "marijuana", in keeping with the most common spelling, the correct spelling for the Marihuana Tax Act is "Marihuana". "Marihuana" was the spelling most commonly used in Federal Government documents at the time. In keeping with prior law, it is still spelled "Marihuana" in some congressional bills such as HR 3037, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005.

See also

• Legalise cannabis parties
• Medical cannabis

Marijuana parties are formal political parties set up specifically to legalise cannabis. ... A catalog page offering Cannabis sativa extract. ...

External links

• Full Text of the Marihuana Tax Act as passed in 1937
• Full transcripts of the congressional hearings for the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937
• A short history of the marijuana laws by the law professor who wrote the original legal history
• The Forbidden Fruit and the Tree of Knowledge: An Inquiry into the Legal History of American Marihuana Prohibition by Professors Richard J. Bonnie & Charles H. Whitebread, II, Virginia Law Review, Volume 56, October 1970 Number 6
• Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do
• Article detailng history of medical marijuana, and legal history

References

1. ^ Timothy Leary v. US, Supreme Court of the United States, 1969