| DATES |
EVENTS - 2737 B.C. to 1799 |
POSITION |
| 2737 BC |
|
Pro |
| 2737 BC |
"Actually, the emperor [Emperor Shen-Nung] turns out to be mythological; Shen is a component of Chinese folk religion, creator of agriculture, and one of the gods most widely worshipped in pre-Revolutionary China. The Treatise on Medicine attributed to Shen was compiled by an early Han dynasty writer, whose sources go back only as far as the fourth century B.C."
1970 Eric Goode, PhD The Marijuana Smokers , Page 13. |
Con |
| 2000 BC |
|
Pro |
| 1400 BC |
"A thriving Bronze Age drug trade supplied hashish (cannabis) and opium to ancient cultures throughout the eastern Mediterranean as balm for the pain of childbirth and disease, proving a sophisticated knowledge of medicines dating back thousands of years."
Aug. 8, 2002 Associated Press report of conference on DNA and archaeology in Israel. |
Pro |
Pre
1000 BC |
|
Pro |
| 1000 BC |
Bhang, a cannabis preparation (a drink, generally mixed with milk) is used as an anesthetic and anti-phlegmatic in India...
Cannabis begins to be used in India to treat a wide variety of human maladies. The drug is still highly regarded and used by some medical practitioners in India.
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse - Appendix, Chapter One, Part I |
Pro |
| 500 BC |
|
Pro |
| 200 BC |
|
Pro |
| 70 BC |
Roman Emperor Nero's surgeon, Dioscorides, praises cannabis for making the stoutest cords and for its medicinal properties.
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide |
Pro |
| 200 AD |
|
Pro |
| 1619 |
America's first marijuana law is enacted at Jamestown Colony, Virginia, "ordering" all farmers to "make tryal of" (grow) Indian hemp seed. More mandatory (must-grow) hemp cultivation laws are enacted in Massachusetts in 1631, in Connecticut in 1632 and in the Chesapeake Colonies into the mid-1700s. Cannabis is used primarily for fibers, and it’s medical use is not widely known by the population at large.
Nov. 2000 Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Clothes |
Neutral |
| 1621 |
The medical book The Anatomy of Melancholy by English clergyman Robert Burton claims cannabis is a treatment for depression.
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide |
Pro |
| pre-1700 |
Cannabis is used in Africa to restore appetite and to relieve pain of hemorrhoids. Its antiseptic uses are also known to certain African tribes. Various other uses, in a number of African countries, include the treatment of tetanus, hydrophobia, delirium tremens, infantile convulsions, neuralgia, cholera, menorrhagia, rheumatism, hay fever, asthma, skin diseases, and protracted labor during childbirth.
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse |
Pro |
| 1763 |
|
Pro |
| 1799 |
Napoleon's army returns from Egypt with knowledge (and samples) of cannabis. The scientific members of Napoleon’s forces are interested in the drug’s pain relieving and sedative effects.
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse - Appendix, Chapter One, Part I |
Pro |
| DATES |
EVENTS - 1800 - 1934 |
POSITION |
| 1839 |
|
Pro |
| 1840 |
|
Pro |
| 1842 |
O’Shaughnessy reports that tetanus could be arrested and cured when treated with extra large doses of cannabis.
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse - Appendix, Chapter One, Part I
Various marijuana and hashish extracts are the first, second or third most prescribed medicines in the United States from 1842 until the 1890s.
Nov. 2000 Jack HererThe Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Pro |
| 1850 |
|
Neutral |
| 1850 |
"Medical use of cannabis declines and cannabis begins to lose support of the medical profession as other medications, considered superior to cannabis in their effects and more easily controlled as to dose, come into wide use."
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse - Appendix, Chapter One, Part I
|
Con |
| 1854 |
"The US Dispensary of 1854 lists cannabis compounds as suggested remedies for a multitude of medical problems, including neuralgia, depression, hemorrhage, pain relief and muscle spasm."
1999 Saul RubinOffbeat Marijuana
|
Pro |
1856-
1937 |
|
Con |
| 1857 |
John Bell, MD, Boston, reports that the effects of cannabis in control of mental and emotional disorders is superior to the use of "moral discipline” to restrain the mentally ill.
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse - Appendix, Chapter One, Part I
|
Pro |
| 1858 |
|
Pro |
| 1860 |
The Committee on Cannabis Indica of the Ohio State Medical Society is convened. The Committee reports that their respondents claimed cannabis successfully treated neuralgic pain, dysmenorrhea, uterine hemorrhage, hysteria, delirium tremens, mania, palsy, whooping cough, infantile convulsions, asthma, gonorrhea, nervous rheumatism, chronic bronchitis, muscular spasms, tetanus, epilepsy and appetite stimulation.
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse - Appendix, Chapter One, Part I
|
Pro |
| 1870 |
|
Pro |
| 1893-94 |
India establishes the India Hemp Commission to examine the question of cannabis use in India. The Commission reports the use of cannabis as an analgesic, a restorer of energy, a hemostat, an ecbolic, and an anti-diarrhetic. Cannabis is also mentioned in the report as an aid in treating hay fever, cholera, dysentery, gonorrhea, diabetes, impotence, urinary incontinence, testicular swelling, granulation of open sores, and chronic ulcers. Other beneficial effects attributed to cannabis are prevention of insomnia, relief of anxiety, protection against cholera, alleviation of hunger and as an aid to concentration of attention.
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse - Appendix, Chapter One, Part I
|
Pro |
| 1895 |
|
Neutral |
| 1898 |
Sir William Osler, professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins and later Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, stated in his 1898 discussion of migraine headaches that marijuana "is probably the most satisfactory remedy" for that condition.
2002 The Schaffer Online Library of Drug Policy
|
Pro |
| 1906 |
The Pure Food and Drug Act is passed, forming the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and giving it the power to regulate foods and drugs, and requiring labeling of contents on foods and drugs. The patent medicine industry was demised by this act.
2003 The Schaffer Online Library of Drug Policy;
|
Neutral |
| 1915 |
Utah passes the first US state anti-marijuana law. Mormons who had gone to Mexico in 1910 returned smoking marijuana. The Utah legislature enacted laws outlawing all Mormon religion prohibitions as criminal laws.
2002 The Schaffer Online Library of Drug Policy; Drug Law Timeline
The States of Utah, California and Texas outlaw cannabis.
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide |
Con |
| 1922 |
The Narcotic Drug Import and Export Act is passed by US Congress. It is intended to eliminate use of narcotics except for legitimate medical use.
2002 The Schaffer Online Library of Drug Policy; Drug Law Timeline
|
Neutral |
| 1923 |
|
Con |
| 1924 |
|
Con |
| 1927 |
The Bureau of Chemistry is reorganized into two separate entities. Regulatory functions are located in the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration, and nonregulatory research is located in the Bureau of Chemistry and soils.
May 3. 1999US Food and Drug Administration, FDA Backgrounder
|
Neutral |
| 1927 |
|
Con |
| 1928 |
|
Con |
| 1929 |
|
Con |
| 1930 |
The US government sponsors the Siler Commission to study the effects of off-duty smoking of marijuana by American servicemen in Panama. The report concludes that marijuana is not a problem and recommends that no criminal penalties apply to its use.
Nov. 2000 Jack HererThe Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Neutral |
| 1930 |
The Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration is shortened to the Food and Drug Administration.
May 3. 1999 US Food and Drug Administration, FDA Backgrounder,
|
Neutral |
| 1931 |
Mellon, in his role as President Hoover's Secretary of the Treasury, appoints his future nephew-in-law, Harry J. Anslinger, to be head of the newly reorganized Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (FBNDD).
Nov. 2000 Jack HererThe Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Neutral |
| 1933 |
The Military Surgeon writes: "Practically all the seed for the present day American hemp culture is grown in the Kentucky River valley. Hemp is found growing wild in the 'slough' district of the Illinois River valley, especially in Tazewell County, where the gathering of the flowering tops is a local industry. The harvest is sold to the pharmaceutical trade. There is no evidence that the smoking of hemp or other abuse respecting this plant is practiced or known to those engaged in this occupation.”
July-Dec. 1933 The Military Surgeon Volume 73
|
Pro |
| 1933 |
The FDA recommends a complete revision of the obsolete 1906 Food and Drugs Act. A five-year legal battle is launched in the US Senate.
May 3. 1999 US Food and Drug Administration, FDA Backgrounder,
|
Neutral |
| 1933 |
Marijuana (Cannabis indica or C. sativa) is described in the Epitome of U. S. Pharmacopoeia, and National Formulary as a "narcotic poison, producing a mild delirium. Used in sedative mixtures, but of doubtful value. Also employed to color corn remedies.
Cannabis is used in medicine to relieve pain, to encourage sleep, and to soothe restlessness.
The drug is used very little in the practice of medicine. It is considered unstable and unreliable and as there are other drugs which can be used to relieve pain and produce sleep the prescribing of this drug for these purposes is falling into disuse.
July-Dec. 1933 The Military Surgeon Volume 73
|
Con |
| mid-1930's |
"The abolition of slavery following the Civil War put hemp at a competitive disadvantage because its harvest and processing required intensive labor. The industry slowly declined to the brink of extinction as cotton captured the fiber market, but by the mid-1930s new machinery could efficiently extract hemp's fibers from its stalk, and the plant was poised for economic recovery. The Feb. 1938 issue of Popular Mechanics hailed it as the 'New Billion-Dollar Crop,' while a concurrent issue of Mechanical Engineering deemed hemp 'The Most Profitable and Desirable Crop That Can Be Grown.'"
Jan. 18, 2004 Los Angeles Times - "The Demonized Seed" by Lee Green,
|
Neutral |
| DATES |
EVENTS - 1935-1995 |
POSITION |
| 1935-7 |
"In secret US Treasury Department meetings, prohibitive tax laws are drafted and strategies plotted. Marijuana is not banned outright; the law calls for an occupational excise tax upon dealers, and a transfer tax upon dealings in marijuana."
Nov. 2000 Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Con |
| 1937 |
Assistant US Surgeon General Walter Treadway told the Cannabis Advisory Subcommittee of the League of Nations that, "It [cannabis] may be taken for a relatively long time without social or emotional breakdown. Marihuana is habit-forming. . . in the same sense as. . . sugar or coffee."
Nov. 2000 Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Pro |
| 1937 |
"The Hearst newspapers had acquired a taste for sensationalistic headlines and lurid stories about Mexicans and 'marijuana-crazed Negroes' assaulting, raping and murdering whites. It was all nonsense, but Anslinger shamelessly parroted these myths and concocted his own in congressional testimony and in speeches and articles, branding marijuana the 'worst evil of all.' In a 1937 magazine piece titled "Marijuana, the Assassin of Youth," he blamed suicides and "degenerate sex attacks" on the drug.
'Marijuana is the unknown quantity among narcotics,' he wrote. 'No one knows, when he smokes it, whether he will become a philosopher, a joyous reveler, a mad insensate, or a murderer.' Prior to such calculated misstatements, few Americans had smoked marijuana. Most had never even heard of it."
Jan. 18, 2004 Los Angeles Times - "The Demonized Seed" by Lee Green
|
Con |
1937
Mar. 29 |
"After the Supreme Court decision of Mar. 29, 1937, upholding the prohibition of machine guns through taxation, Herman Oliphant made his move. On Apr. 14, 1937 he introduced the bill directly to the House Ways and Means Committee instead of to other appropriate committees such as food and drug, agriculture, textiles, commerce, etc.
His reason may have been that "Ways and Means" is the only committee that can send its bills directly to the House floor without being subject to debate by other committees. Ways and Means Chairman Robert L. Doughton, a key DuPont ally, quickly rubber-stamped the secret Treasury bill and sent it sailing through Congress to the President."
Nov. 2000 Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Con |
1937
Spring |
"William G. Woodward, MD, who was both a physician and an attorney for the American Medical Association, testified on behalf of the AMA.
He said, in effect, the entire fabric of federal testimony was tabloid sensationalism! No real testimony had been heard! This law, passed in ignorance, could possibly deny the world a potential medicine, especially now that the medical world was just beginning to find which ingredients in cannabis were active.
Woodward told the committee that the only reason the AMA hadn't come out against the marijuana tax law sooner was that marijuana had been described in the press for 20 years as 'killer weed from Mexico.'
The AMA doctors had just realized 'two days before' these spring 1937 hearings, that the plant Congress intended to outlaw was known medically as cannabis, the benign substance used in America with perfect safety in scores of illnesses for over one hundred years.
'We cannot understand yet, Mr. Chairman,' Woodward protested, 'why this bill should have been prepared in secret for two years without any intimation, even to the profession, that it was being prepared.' He and the AMA were quickly denounced by Anslinger and the entire congressional committee, and curtly excused."
Nov. 2000 Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Pro |
1937
Spring |
"When the Marijuana Tax Act bill came up for oral report, discussion, and vote on the floor of Congress, only one pertinent question was asked from the floor: "Did anyone consult with the AMA and get their opinion?"
Representative Vinson, answering for the Ways and Means Committee replied, "Yes, we have. A Dr. Wharton [mistaken pronunciation of Woodward?] and the AMA are in complete agreement!"
With this memorable lie, the bill passed, and became law in Dec. 1937."
Nov. 2000 Jack Herer; The Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Con |
1937
Aug. 2 |
The Marijuana Tax Act passes and becomes law.
Act of Aug. 2, 1937, Public 238, 75th Congress
|
Con |
| 1938 |
|
Neutral |
| 1940 |
|
Pro |
| 1941 |
"Marijuana is officially removed from the US Pharmacopoeia."
1997 American Medical Association, Report 10 of the Council of Scientific Affairs
|
Con |
| 1942 |
Drs. Allentuck and Bowman, in a study of the use of marihuana in the morphine abstinence syndrome, state "The results in general, although still inconclusive, suggest that the marijuana substitution method ameliorated or eliminated (the symptoms) sooner, the patient was in a better frame of mind, his spirits elevated, his physical condition was more rapidly rehabilitated, and he expressed a wish to resume his occupation sooner.”
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
|
Pro |
| 1943 |
|
Pro |
| 1944 |
New York City Mayor LaGuardia’s Committee on Marihuana notes two possible therapeutic applications of marijuana: "The first is the typical euphoria-producing action which might be applicable in the treatment of various types of mental depression; the second is the rather unique property which results in the stimulation of appetite.”
New York City Mayor LaGuardia’s Committee on Marihuana studied 56 morphine and heroin addicts at Riker’s Island Penitentiary, N.Y., find-ing "those who received tetrahydrocannabinols had less severe withdrawal symptoms than those who received no treatment or who were treated with Magendie’s solution.”
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
|
Pro |
| 1945 |
|
Neutral |
| 1945 |
Harry J. Anslinger, head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (FBNDD), "in public tirade after tirade, denounces Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, the New York Academy of Medicine and the doctors who researched the report.
Anslinger proclaims that these doctors would never again do marijuana experiments or research without his personal permission, or be sent to jail. He then uses the full power of the United States government illegally to halt virtually all research into marijuana while he blackmails the American Medical Association (AMA) into denouncing the New York Academy of Medicine and its doctors for the research they had done."
To refute the LaGuardia report, the AMA, "at Anslinger's personal request, conducts a 1944-45 study, which reports; 'of the experimental group 34 were negroes and one was white' (for statistical control) who smoked marijuana, became disrespectful of white soldiers and officers in the segregated military."
Nov. 2000 Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Con |
| 1947 |
|
Pro |
| 1948 |
"Testifying before a strongly anti-Communist Congress in 1948 - and thereafter continually to the press - Anslinger proclaims that marijuana renders its users not violent at all, but so peaceful - and pacifistic - that the Communists 'could and would use marijuana to weaken our American fighting men's will to fight.'"
Nov. 2000 Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Con |
| 1949 |
Researchers JP Davis and HH Ramsey report (Fed. Proc. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol. 8: 284) that a clinical trial of five institutionalized epileptic children found that: "Three children - responded at least as well as to previous therapy. Fourth child – almost completely seizure free. Fifth child – entirely seizure free.” Their conclusion was that "the cannabinols herein reported deserve further trial in non-institutionalized epileptics.”
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
|
Pro |
| 1952 |
Dr. J. Kapelikovi, in his report "Antibacterial Action of Cannabis Indica," concludes that "alcohol extract of cannabis is bacterially effective against many gram-positive and one gram-negative micro-organisms." He also found a paste form of external application successful. According to the report; "from a study of 2,000 herbs by Czechoslovakian scientists it was found that cannabis indica was the most promising in the realm of antibiotics.”
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
|
Pro |
| 1953 |
Drs. Thompson and Proctor report; "Pyrahexyl (a synthetic cannabis-like drug) and related compounds are beneficial in the treatment of withdrawal symptoms from the use of alcohol to a marked degree, and in the treatment of withdrawal symptoms from the use of opiates to a less marked, but still significant degree.”
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
|
Pro |
| 1954 |
|
Pro |
| 1957 |
"In 1957, a Wisconsin farmer harvested the last legal commercial hemp crop in America."
Jan. 18, 2004 Los Angeles Times - "The Demonized Seed" by Lee Green
|
Neutral |
| 1957 |
Drs. Chopra and Chopra, in their article "The Use of the Cannabis Drugs in India”, state; "with regard to the use of cannabis in Indian indigenous medicine at the present time, it may be said that it was and still is fairly extensively used in both the Ayurvedle (Hindu) and Tibbi (Mohammedan) systems of medicine as an anodyne, hypnotic, analgesic and antispasmodic, and as a remedy for external application to piles. It is also used in the treatment of dysmennorhoea, rheumatism, chronic diarrhea of the sprue type, gonorrhea, malaria and mental diseases on the advice of itinerant practitioners of indigenous medicine as well as quacks who roam about the country. For medicinal purposes the drug is administered by mouth and hardly ever by smoking.”
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
|
Pro |
| 1959 |
|
Pro |
| 1960 |
Krejci, Kabelik and Santavy include in "Cannabis as a Medicant” the various microorganisms against which cannabis is effective; "Proof could be furnished that the cannabis extracts produce a very satisfactory antibacterial effect upon the following microbes: staphylococcus pyogenes aureus, streptococcus alpha haemolyticus, streptococcus beta haemolyticus, enterococcus, diplococcus pneumonia, B. antracis, and corynebacterium diptheriae i.e., all of them gram-positive microorganisms. Noteworthy is the effect upon staphyloccus aureaus strains, which are resistant to penicillin and to other antibiotics."
Kabelik reports that in Argentina "cannabis is considered a real panacea for tetanus, colic, gastralgia, swelling of the liver, gonorrhea, sterility, impotency, abortion, tuberculosis of the lungs and asthma…even the root-bark has been collected in spring, and employed as a fibrifuge, tonic, for treatment of dysentery and gastralgia, either pulverized or in form of decoctions. The root when ground and applied to burns is said to relieve pain. Oil from seeds has been frequently used even in treatment of cancer.”
Kabelik also notes; "In human therapy the best results have been obtained with the following medicaments combined with substances derived from cannabis: dusting powder together with boric acid, ointment, ear drops, alcohol solutions with glycerine, aqueous emulsions, dentin powder. The preparations mentioned above have been already tested clinically, and will eventually be made available for production.”
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
|
Pro |
| 1961 |
|
Pro |
| 1961 |
The U.N. Treaty 406 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed, which seeks to outlaw cannabis use and cannabis cultivation worldwide, and "eradicate cannabis smoking within 30 years." The US representative is Anslinger.
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide
|
Con |
| 1962 |
|
Pro |
| 1963 |
H.B.M Murphy, MD PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, reports on cannabis investigations in Eastern Europe, stating "it is alleged to be active against gram positive organisms at 1/100,000 dilution, but to be largely inactivated by plasma, so that prospects for its use appear to be confined to E.N.T. (ear, nose and throat) and skin infections.”
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
|
Pro |
| 1964 |
Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, Lionel Jacobson Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is the first to identify delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) as the most active compound in cannabis.
Feb. 11, 2002 US Hempfood Association
|
Neutral |
| 1965 |
|
Pro |
| 1966 |
|
Pro |
| 1968 |
The UK's Wooton Report states "Having reviewed all the material available to us we find ourselves in agreement with the conclusion reached by the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission and the New York Mayor's Committee that the long-term consumption of cannabis in moderate doses has no harmful effects."
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide
|
Pro |
| 1968 |
A report by a London Advisory Committee suggests that "cannabis treats the symptoms and not the cause by focusing the user’s attention on his anxieties and pains without helping to resolve them."
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
|
Con |
| 1969 |
Dr. Vansim of Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland Headquarters of the US Army Chemical Corps, writes in a 1969 book Psychotomimetic Drugs that "the synthetic preparations of cannabis are of interest. There are three areas where they may be of definite use in medicine. One concerns the use of a cannabis analogue which Dr. Walter S. Loewe reported [1937-1942] very effective in preventing grand mal seizures if given in small doses.”
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
|
Pro |
| 1970 |
Veliky and Genest in "Suspension Culture of Cannabis Sativa” report that "the ethanol extract of cultured cells exhibited antibiotic activity against Bacillus megatherium, staphylococcus aureaus and escherichia coli...”
Tod Mikuriya, MD, notes that the substitution of smoked cannabis for alcohol may have rehabilitative value for certain alcoholics.
1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
|
Pro |
| 1970 |
The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act (US Controlled Substances Act) is passed by Congress, which deletes the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, and places Marijuana (and all parts thereof) into Schedule I, meaning it has no medical value and has the highest potential for abuse.
1997 American Medical Association, Report 10 of the Council on Scientific Affairs
|
Con |
1970
Oct. |
A NIMH granted research study by Leo E. Hollister, MD, reports in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics that "Two separate experiments indicated that in most subjects, after oral administration of marihuana, total food intake, as well as reports of hunger and appetite, are increased. Stimulation of appetite by marihuana is by no means invariable, occurring in only slightly more than half the subjects."
Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and TherapeuticsVol 12, No. 1
|
Pro |
| 1971 |
|
Pro |
| 1971 |
The British Misuse of Drugs Act classifies cannabis as a Class B drug. "This bans the medical use of cannabis, ignoring the Wooton Report."
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide
|
Con |
| 1972 |
The Consumers' Union, the parent company of Consumer Reports magazine, published a book titled Licit & Illicit Drugs that recommended, among other things, "...the immediate repeal of all federal laws governing the growing, processing, transportation, sale, possession, and use of marijuana... Consumers' Union recommends that each of the fifty states similarly repeal its existing marijuana laws and pass new laws legalizing the cultivation, processing, and orderly marketing of marijuana -- subject to appropriate regulations."
1972 Consumers' Union |
Pro |
1972
Dec |
Drs. Hepler, Frank and Ungerleider publishes a study in the American Journal of Ophthalmology which finds that the use of marijuana is associated with a decrease in intraocular pressure.
Dec. 1972 American Journal of Ophthalmology, Pages 1185-1190.
|
Pro |
| 1973 |
The Final Report of Canada's Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs (the Le Dain Commission) is released, which recommends decriminalization of the personal use of marijuana..
Aug. 4, 2003 Drug Sense/MAP
|
Pro |
| 1973 |
The Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA) consolidates NIMH, NIDA, and NIAAA under one organization.
The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs is reorganized into the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
2003 The Schaffer Online Library of Drug Policy;Drug Law Timeline
The US Supreme Court upholds the 1962 drug effectiveness law and endorses FSA action to control entire classes of products by regulations rather than to rely only on litigation.
May 3, 1999 US Food and Drug Administration, FDA Backgrounder
|
Neutral |
| 1975 |
In an article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute; "Antineoplastic Activity of Cannabinoids" a Medical College of Virginia team notes: "The active chemical agent in marijuana curbs the growth of three kinds of cancer in mice and may also suppress the immunity reaction that causes the rejection of organ transplants." The researchers find that "THC slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers, and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent."
1975 Journal of the National Cancer Institute
Dr. Stephen Sallan of the Sidney Farber Cancer Center publishes a study which finds that THC has antiemetic properties and that it is better in preventing vomiting than in treating existing vomiting.
Mar. 18, 1982 Michigan Cancer Foundation
Dr. Donald Tashkin et al publishes an article in American Review of Respiratory Disease (Volume 112, 1975) which, Dr. Tashkin says "appear to support the benefit ascribed to the use of cannabis in the last century for the treatment of bronchial asthma."
The report noted; "After methacholine induced bronchospasm, placebo marijuana and saline inhalation produced minimal changes in specific airway conductance and thoracic gas volume, whereas 2.0 per cent marijuana and isoproterenol each caused a prompt correction of bronchospasm and associated hyperinflation."
2004 National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)
|
Pro |
1975
Oct. 20 |
Paul Consroe, PhD, publishes a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that finds "Marijuana smoking, in conjunction with therapeutic doses of Phenobarbital and diphenylhydantoin, was apparently necessary for controlling seizures in one 24-year-old epileptic patient."
Oct. 20, 1975 Journal of the American Medical Association, , Vol. 234, No. 3.
|
Pro |
1975
Nov. |
Virtually all of America's leading researchers on marijuana meet at Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove, California. Seminars sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) address a compendium of studies from their earliest to most recent findings.
When the seminars are over, "practically all the scientists conclude that the federal government, with the hard evidence collected so far on the therapeutic potential of marijuana, should be rushing to invest tax money into more research."
Nov. 2000 Jack HererThe Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Pro |
1976
Jan. 5 |
|
Pro |
| 1976 |
Keyes reports that cannabis seeds "contain an appreciable amount of protein (19 percent), oil and an impressive array of enzymes, including lipase, maltase, amylase, urease and tryptase, which might be the main reasons for their medicinal activity.”
1981 Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, Mia Touw, ”The Religious and Medicinal Uses of Cannabis in China, India and Tibet”, Jan-Mar, 1981 Vol. 13(1)
|
Pro |
| 1976 |
American pharmaceutical companies successfully petition the federal government to be allowed to finance and judge 100% of marijuana research.
The Ford Administration, NIDA and the DEA said in effect, "no American independent (read: university) research or federal health program would be allowed to again investigate natural cannabis derivatives for medicine."
This agreement is made without any safeguards guaranteeing integrity on the part of the pharmaceutical companies; "they are allowed to regulate themselves."
Nov. 2000 Jack HererThe Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Con |
1976
Nov. 24 |
A Washington, D.C. man (Robert Randall) afflicted by glaucoma employs the little-used Common Law Doctrine of Necessity to defend himself against criminal charges of marijuana cultivation (US v. Randall). On Nov. 24, 1976, federal Judge James Washington rules Randall's use of marijuana constitutes a "medical necessity."
Patients Out of Time
|
Pro |
| 1978 |
As a result of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit against the government (Randall v. US), a procedure is devised to allow patients to receive medical marijuana from the US government (NIDA).
Patients Out of Time
"Since its inception in 1974, NIDA has been the sole administrator of a contract to grow cannabis (marijuana) for research purposes and the only legal source for cannabis in the United States."
"NIDA has continued to grow cannabis in order to provide a contamination-free source of cannabis material with consistent and predictable potency for use in biomedical research." NIDA produces marijuana cigarettes "in three potencies: strength 1: 3-4%; strength 2: 1.8-2.2%; and strength 3: placebo, as close to 0% as possible."
Jan. 1998 NIDA; About NIDA; Provision of Marijuana and Other Compounds For Scientific Research
|
Pro |
| 1982 |
Omni magazine (Sep. 1982) indicates that Eli Lilly, Abbott Labs, Pfizer, Smith, Kline & French, and others would lose hundreds of millions, to billions of dollars annually, and lose even more billions in Third World countries, if marijuana were legal in the US Omni Magazine notes that after nine years, Nabilone was still considered virtually useless when compared with real, home-grown THC-rich cannabis buds; and Marinol works as well as marijuana in only 13% of patients.
Nov. 2000 Jack HererThe Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Con |
1983
Sep. |
The Reagan/Bush Administration put a soft "feeler" out in Sep. of 1983 for "all American universities and researchers to destroy all 1966-76 cannabis research work, including compendiums in libraries. Scientists and doctors so ridiculed this unparalleled censorship move that the plans were dropped."
Nov. 2000 Jack HererThe Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Con |
1988
Sep. |
The DEA's own conservative administrative law judge, Francis Young, after taking medical testimony for 15 days and reviewing hundreds of DEA/NIDA documents positioned against the evidence introduced by marijuana reform activists, concludes that "marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man."
Nov. 2000 Jack HererThe Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Pro |
1989
Dec. 30 |
DEA Director John Lawn orders that cannabis remain listed as a Schedule I narcotic - having no known medical use.
Nov. 2000 Jack HererThe Emperor Wears No Clothes
|
Con |
| 1990 |
Stephen Ng et al publishes a study, "the first case-control study of incident seizures in adults”, which states; "Marijuana use appeared to be a protective factor against first seizures in men.” The study concluded; "The authors conclude that heroin use is a risk factor and marijuana use a protective factor for new-onset seizures.”
1990American Journal of Epidemiology; Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Vol. 132, No. 1
|
Pro |
| 1990 |
The cannabinoid receptor, the "lock" into which cannabinoids fit, activating the specific biochemical events, is discovered. This intensifies the search for the cannabinoid-like brain molecule that binds to the cannabinoid receptor.
Feb. 11, 2002 US Hempfood Association
|
Pro |
| 1991 |
In Apr. 1991 The Florida Court of Appeals reverses the lower court, overturning a young couple's criminal conviction for marijuana cultivation and rules their use of marijuana is a "medical necessity" in the treatment of AIDS. In Oct. 1991 the Florida Supreme Court upholds the Appeals Court's verdict and orders the prosecutor to file no further appeals in the case.
Patients Out of Time
|
Pro |
| 1991 |
The FDA publishes regulations to accelerate the review of drugs for life-threatening diseases.
May 3, 1999US Food and Drug Administration, FDA Backgrounder
|
Neutral |
| 1991 |
In June, 1991, The Compassionate IND Program for medical marijuana is suspended after the number of applications surge in response to the AIDS epidemic.
1997 American Medical Association, Report 10 of the Council on Scientific Affairs
|
Con |
| 1992 |
William Devane and Raphael Mechoulam identify a natural brain molecule that binds to the cannabinoid receptor. They call it anandamide, from the Sanskrit word for "eternal bliss". While the substance mimics the action of THC, interestingly, it doesn't look anything like it. Additional natural anandamides have since been found and it is speculated that a family of receptors may exist.
1997 American Medical Association, Report 10 of the Council on Scientific Affairs
|
Pro |
| 1992 |
In Mar., 1992, The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services decides that NIDA would not provide marijuana for single-patient INDs, "except to those patients who were already receiving marijuana at the time. 27 additional single-patient INDs that had received FDA approval are canceled and the patients are not supplied with marijuana."
1997 American Medical Association, Report 10 of the Council on Scientific Affairs
|
Con |
1992
Mar. 28 |
In the US, The Economist states: "Medicines often produce side effects. Sometimes they are physically unpleasant. Cannabis too has discomforting side effects, but these are not physical they are political."
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide
|
Pro |
1992
Mar. 28 |
Jim Montgomery, a US paraplegic who smokes cannabis to relieve muscle spasms, is arrested in Oklahoma for two ounces of marijuana. He is sentenced to life plus 16 years. It is later reduced to 10 years.
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide
|
Con |
| 1993 |
55 British MP's (Member of Parliament) "call for cannabis to be recognized and allowed for treatment of Multiple Sclerosis."
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide
|
Pro |
1994
Feb. |
In Feb., the US District Court rejects a petition for review of the rescheduling of Cannabis. The ruling leads to a 5-part "revised formulation for determining whether a drug has a currently accepted medical use:
- The drug’s chemistry must be known and reproducible;
- There must be adequate safety studies;
- There must be adequate and well-controlled studies proving efficacy;
- The drug must be accepted by qualified experts; and
- The scientific evidence must be widely available.”
Patients Out of Time |
Con |
1994
Nov. |
In Nov., The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) call on the federal government to aggressively research marijuana's medicinal use for the seriously ill. In a petition to Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, the FAS point out that whole cannabis is already in clinical use by patients suffering a variety of illnesses, including AIDS and epilepsy.
The Federation, in a one-sentence petition, state: "based on much evidence from patients and doctors alike on the superior effectiveness and safety of whole cannabis ... we hereby petition the Executive Branch and the Congress to facilitate and expedite the research necessary to determine whether this substance should be licensed for medical use by seriously ill persons.”
Patients Out of Time
|
Pro |
1995
July 10 |
Jon Gettman submits a petition to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) requesting "that proceedings be initiated to repeal the rules and regulations that place marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinols in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)”.
2004 US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Diversion Control Program
|
Pro |
1995
Nov. 11 |
British journal of the medical profession, The Lancet states: "The smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health."
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide
|
Pro |
| DATES |
EVENTS - 1996-2000 |
POSITION |
| 1996 |
The UK Crown Prosecution Service begins dropping cases of possession and cultivation of marijuana against some ill (Multiple Sclerosis) people as "not in the public interest to proceed."
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide
|
Pro |
1996
June |
Scottish Nationalist Conference votes to allow cultivation for personal use and research into medical uses of cannabis, stating; "Relatively few adverse clinical effects from the chronic use of marijuana have been documented in humans. However, the criminalization of marijuana use may itself be a health hazard, since it may expose the users to violence and criminal activity."
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide
|
Pro |
1996
Aug. |
The Journal of the National Cancer Institute publishes an article by researchers Sanford Barsky, MD et al., that states: ”findings suggest that smoking marijuana and/or cocaine, like tobacco smoking, exerts field cancerization effects on bronchial epithelium, which may place smokers of these substances at increased risk for the subsequent development of lung cancer."
Aug. 1996 Journal of the National Cancer Institute
|
Con |
1996
Aug. 4 |
California state agents raid the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Club. The next day, the club is ordered closed by Superior Court Judge William Cahill. The Club reportedly distributed marijuana beyond that used for medicinal purposes. The club's owner, Dennis Peron, makes news when he declares that "all use [of marijuana] is medical."
Sep. 1996 The National Drug Strategy Network
|
Con |
1996
Aug. 8 |
The State of Massachusetts enacts H. 2170, which mandates that "within 180 days, the state's public health department must establish the rules and regulations necessary to get its therapeutic research program running and to allow a defense of medical necessity for enrolled patients. Rules were established, but federal permission for research was never obtained."
Marijuana Policy Project
|
Pro |
1996
Nov. 5 |
Voters in Arizona (Proposition 200) and California (Proposition 215) approve initiatives endorsing the legal use of marijuana under a doctor’s supervision.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Pro |
1996
Nov 6 |
Arizona Governor Fife Symington threatens to veto Proposition 200. John MacDonald, Government Affairs Director for the Arizona Attorney General’s office says a veto of Proposition 200 by the governor would violate the state’s constitution.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Con |
1996
Nov. 9 |
The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) issues a press release stating: "Federal law is unchanged by the passage of these initiatives. The decision to bring appropriate criminal or administrative enforcement action will be decided on a case by case basis.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Con |
1996
Nov. 14 |
US Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey holds a closed door meeting with California law enforcement officials to discuss the federal response to the passage of Prop 215. Attendance is restricted to those who oppose the legal use of medical marijuana.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Con |
1996
Dec. 2 |
Senator Orrin Hatch calls a special hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee to denounce the passage of the California and Arizona initiatives. Thomas Constantine, Administrator of the DEA, testifies that the federal government could "take both administrative and criminal actions against doctors who violate the terms of their DEA drug registrations to prescribe controlled substances.”
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Con |
1996
Dec. 12 |
McCaffrey and Dept. of Transportation Secretary Federico Pena hold a joint press conference stating: "The law is clear. If you are a safety-sensitive worker and you’re caught using drugs, these propositions don’t mean a thing. You’re out of a job.”
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Con |
1996
Dec. 30 |
The Clinton administration announces its plan to institute criminal prosecution of physicians who prescribe or recommend marijuana in California and Arizona, and to deprive them of their right to write prescriptions of any kind. The plan further recommends that such physicians be excluded from Medicaid and Medicare.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Con |
| 1997 |
An 8-year study at the UCLA School of Medicine concludes that long-term cannabis smokers do not experience a greater annual decline in lung functions than non-smokers. Their study, published in Volume 155 of the American Journal of Respiratory and Clinical Care Medicine (Jan. 1997), states: "No differences were noted between even quite heavy marijuana smoking and nonsmoking of marijuana."
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide
|
Pro |
| 1997 |
|
Con |
1997
Jan. 9 |
Responding to public opposition over the Clinton administration's proposal to arrest physicians who recommend or prescribe marijuana, the ONDCP commits nearly one million dollars to fund a comprehensive review by the National Academy of Sciences' (NAS) Institute of Medicine of the existing scientific literature regarding marijuana's medical potential.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Pro |
1997
Jan. 14 |
A group of California physicians and patients file a class action suit (Conant v. McCaffrey) in federal court in San Francisco seeking an injunction to prevent federal officials from taking any punitive action against physicians who recommend the medical use of marijuana to their patients in compliance with state law.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Pro |
1997
Jan. 21 |
Senator Lauch Faircloth (R-NC) introduces legislation in Congress (S. 40) to severely sanction physicians who prescribe or recommend the medical use of marijuana. That same day, Senator Orrin Hatch includes similar provisions in a Republican-backed anti-crime bill (S. 3)
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Con |
1997
Jan. 22 |
The Massachusetts Department of Health issues regulations to create an affirmative medical defense for patients who use marijuana for a legitimate medical need. The Department also begins developing a blueprint for a state-run medical marijuana research project. Governor William Weld endorses the action and states that he has "no problem" with the use of marijuana as a therapeutic agent.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Pro |
1997
Jan. 30 |
Dr. Jerome Kassirer, editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, opines that the federal policy that prohibits physicians from prescribing marijuana to seriously ill patients is "misguided, heavy-handed, and inhumane." He argues that the federal government should immediately reschedule marijuana to allow for its legal use by prescription.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Pro |
1997
Feb. 27 |
A letter to medical organizations by Jo Ivy Boufford, MD, Acting Asst. US Secretary for Health, and Mark M. Richard, Esq., Acting Asst. US Attorney General, state that nothing in federal law prevents a physician in the context of a legitimate patient-physician relationship from discussing with a patient the risks and alleged benefits of the use of marijuana to alleviate symptoms.
1997 American Medical Association, Report 10 of the Council of Scientific Affairs
|
Pro |
1997
Feb. 27 |
Physicians, the letter to medical organizations notes, cannot intentionally provide their patients with oral or written statements to enable them to obtain controlled substances in violation of federal law.
1997 American Medical Association, Report 10 of the Council of Scientific Affairs
|
Con |
1997
Mar. 6 |
A group of physicians, health organizations, and patients file a federal lawsuit in US District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the federal government's refusal to allow physicians to prescribe marijuana in states that permit them to do so.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Pro |
1997
Mar. 14 |
A letter, released jointly by the American Medical Association and the California Medical Association, and delivered to the US Department of Justice, supports "free and unfettered exchange of information” between patients and physicians. The letter notes "free disclosure apply even if the effectiveness of a potential treatment or modality is not yet fully proven.”
Patients Out of Time
|
Pro |
1997
Mar. 24 |
The American Medical Association, in a letter to the US National Institutes of Health, urges the NIH to consider the institution of policies designed to facilitate well designed clinical research into the medical utility of marijuana.
1997 American Medical Association, Report 10 of the Council of Scientific Affairs
|
Pro |
1997
Apr. 15 |
A study by Kaiser Permanente, "Marijuana Use and Mortality", published in the American Journal of Public Health concludes; "Relatively few adverse clinical effects from the chronic use of marijuana have been documented in humans."
2002 UK Cannabis Campaigners' Guide
|
Pro |
1997
Apr. 15 |
The Arizona Legislature guts medical marijuana provisions included in Proposition 200 by approving a law mandating that state licensed physicians may only prescribe marijuana after it has been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Backers of Proposition 200 announce that they will file a referendum to block the Legislature's action.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3.
|
Con |
1997
Apr. 21 |
Federal DEA agents raid Flower Therapy, a medical marijuana sales operation in a converted warehouse, seizing 331 marijuana plants but leaving its supply of dried medical marijuana behind. In addition to the marijuana plants, agents take 15 ultraviolet ``grow'' lights, five small plastic irrigation pools, nine ventilation fans and a variety of other gear used to grow the marijuana. There were no arrests. This was the first federal action since California passed Proposition 215 in 1996.
Apr. 22. 1997 San Francisco Chronicle, ”Federal Raid On S.F. Grower of Medical Pot"
|
Con |
1997
Apr. 24 |
San Jose becomes the first city in the United States to pass zoning laws regulating cannabis buyers' clubs.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3
|
Pro |
1997
Apr. 30 |
US District Court Judge Fern Smith rules that federal officials may not sanction California doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients in compliance with state law. Plaintiffs' attorney Graham Boyd hails the ruling as a "tremendous victory."
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3
|
Pro |
1997
June 3 |
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) introduces H.R. 1782 in Congress to provide for the medicinal use of marijuana in the states. The legislation eliminates the federal restrictions which currently interfere with an individual state's decision to permit the medical use of marijuana, and mandates the federal government to provide marijuana for medical research purposes to all FDA approved scientific protocols.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3
|
Pro |
1997
June 16 |
Nevada state prosecutors drop felony marijuana possession charges against a California cancer patient after the district attorney concedes that the marijuana was purchased in San Francisco and was for medicinal purposes only. Legal analysts claim that this is the first interstate proceeding involving medical marijuana imported from California.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3
|
Pro |
1997
July 2 |
The British Medical Association (BMA) overwhelmingly calls for the legalization of marijuana for medical use at a conference in Scotland.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3
|
Pro |
1997
Aug. 7 |
In the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. George Annas of the Boston University School of Medicine demands that seriously ill patients be given immediate legal access to medical marijuana. Annas writes: "Research should go on, and while it does, marijuana should be available to all patients who need it to help them undergo treatment for life-threatening illnesses."
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3
|
Pro |
1997
Aug. 8 |
After an almost five month delay, the NIH releases a promised report on the therapeutic potential of marijuana. The NIH report concludes that marijuana "looks promising enough [in the treatment of certain serious illnesses] to recommend that there be new controlled studies done," and urges the federal government to play an active role in facilitating clinical evaluations of medical marijuana.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3
|
Pro |
1997
Aug. 8 |
White House spokesman Mike McCurry tells the Associated Press that the administration continues to oppose the use of marijuana to treat sick people despite the NIH findings.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3
|
Con |
1997
Sep. 16 |
Federal officials provide a $170,000 grant to Washington state anti-drug coordinators to fund a full, state-wide anti-marijuana effort. Proponents of Initiative 685 immediately file a complaint with the Public Disclosure Commission and state Ethics Board alleging that the federal funds are being used illegally to campaign against the "Drug Medicalization and Prevention Act of 1997." Federal and state laws prohibit tax dollars from being used to fund a political campaign.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3
|
Con |
1997
Sep. 18 |
NIDA officially announces that Dr. Donald Abrams of UC-San Francisco will receive his full grant request of $978,000 for a study of the use of smoked marijuana, oral dronabinol, and a placebo, in HIV-positive patients. The aim of the revised protocol is to determine whether marijuana has serious short-term side effects on the health of HIV-positive patients. Only if the findings of this initial study -- scheduled to take nearly 18 months to complete -- are negative, would Abrams then be permitted to research safety and efficacy of the chronic use of marijuana for HIV-associated anorexia and weight loss.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3
|
Pro |
1997
Oct. |
A Medical Marijuana Providers’ Conference is held in Santa Cruz, California. Organized by The Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center. It is the first such conference of the so-called "cannabis clubs.” It is attended by over 100 individuals and organizations. The physician's authorization letter is standardized as well as policies and procedures from verification of eligibility.
2002 The Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center
|
Pro |
1997
Oct. |
Witnesses on both sides of the medical marijuana issue testify before Congress at a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Crime. Proponents liken marijuana's medical utility and safety to drugs such as penicillin and urges the federal government to support legislative efforts to allow physicians to prescribe the drug, while opponents urge federal officials to take a more vocal stance opposing pending state marijuana initiatives.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3
|
Neutral |
1997
Nov. |
Americans for Medical Rights (AMR), the California-based group that spearheaded the successful passage of Proposition 215 in California, announces that it will coordinate medical marijuana initiatives for 1998 in Colorado and Maine.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3
|
Pro |
1997
Nov. |
The NIH rejects a research proposal to study the use of marijuana in acute migraine treatment.
Jan. 1998 Paul Armentano "The Fight for Medical Marijuana" Liberty Magazine Vol. XI, No. 3
|
Con |
1998
Jan. 9 |
Suit filed in federal court against six clubs, S.F. Cannabis Cultivators Coop, Flower Therapy, Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Coop, Santa Cruz Cannabis Buyers' Club, Marin Alliance, Ukiah Cannabis Club. - US Atty Michael Yamaguchi
Jan. 10, 1998 The Los Angeles Times
|
Con |
1998
Nov. 3 |
Alaskan voters pass Ballot Measure 8, which removes state-level criminal penalties for medical marijuana use, possession and cultivation.
Oregon voters pass Measure 67, which removes state-level criminal penalties for medical marijuana use, possession and cultivation.
Washington state voters approve Measure 692, which removes state-level criminal penalties for medical marijuana use, possession and cultivation.
2004 Marijuana Policy Project
|
Pro |
1999
May 21 |
The National Inst. of Health (NIH) and US Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) release guidelines for performing studies on the medical efficacy of marijuana. Medical Marijuana advocates are angered that the HHS has made no provisions for patients who have no other medical access to marijuana while the research is being conducted.
1999 The National Drug Strategy Network,
|
Con |
1999
June 20 |
Prominent physicians from the British Medical Association's (BMA) Scottish Regional Health Committee urge legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational purposes. George Venters, MD, the committee chairman, states; "I think more than half the population would support legislation if you laid out the evidence."
1999The National Drug Strategy Network
|
Pro |
1999
Nov. 2 |
Maine voters pass Question 2, which removes state-level criminal penalties for medical marijuana use, possession and cultivation.
2002 Marijuana Policy Project
|
Pro |
2000
Feb. |
Dr. Manuel Guzman of Complutence University in Madrid, Spain, releases a study that shows the active chemical in marijuana, THC, "destroys tumors in lab rats."
May 31, 2000 Alternet.org
|
Pro |
2000
Mar. 2 |
A study presented at the American Hearth Association's 40th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention by Murray A. Mittlemen, MD found that marijuana use "increases the heart rate by about 40 beats per minute. It also causes the blood pressure to increase when the person is lying down, and then abruptly fall when the person stands up, often causing dizziness. These effects may pose significant risk, especially in people with unrecognized coronary disease."
The researchers noted that they "still aren't sure whether it's the marijuana itself that causes the increased risk of heart attack, or whether it's other components in the smoke."
Mar. 2, 2000 American Heart Association meeting report
|
Con |
2000
June 14 |
The Hawaii state legislature passes SB 862, which removes state-level criminal penalties for medical marijuana use, possession and cultivation. This is the first law of this nature enacted by a state legislature.
2003 Marijuana Policy Project
|
Pro |
2000
July |
A study by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco finds that patients with HIV infection taking protease inhibitors "do not experience short-term adverse virologic effects from using cannabinoids." According to Donald Abrams, MD, lead author of the study and professor of clinical medicine in the UCSF Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center, "this was the first attempt to study the effects of marijuana in people with HIV and one of the most comprehensive studies about the effects of marijuana on the immune system."
2002 Cannabis MD Report
|
Pro |
2000
July 27 |
Washington, D.C. moves marijuana from Schedule V to Schedule III in 2000, which means "The substance has currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or the District of Columbia." The move is symbolic in nature.
2003 Marijuana Policy Project
|
Pro |
2000
Nov 7 |
Nevada voters approve ballot Question 9, which removes state-level criminal penalties for medical marijuana use, possession and cultivation.
Colorado voters approve ballot Amendment 20, which removes state-level criminal penalties for medical marijuana use, possession and cultivation.
2003 Marijuana Policy Project
|
Pro |
| DATES |
EVENTS - 2001-2011 |
POSITION |
| 2001 |
The Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics publishes an article by Guy A. Cabral, PhD, which states; "The cumulative data obtained through cell culture studies using various immune cell populations extracted from animals or humans, together with those obtained using animal models of infection, are consistent with the proposition that marijuana and cannabinoids alter immune cell function and can exert deleterious effects on resistance to infection in humans."
2001 Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, Vol. 1, No. 3/4, 2001, pp. 61-85, "Marijuana and Cannabinoids: Effects on Infections, Immunity, and AIDS"
The Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics publishes an article by Donald P. Tashkin, MD, which states; "Frequent marijuana use can cause airway injury, lung inflammation and impaired pulmonary defense against infection. The major potential pulmonary consequences of habitual marijuana use of particular relevance to patients with AIDS is superimposed pulmonary infection, which could be life threatening in the seriously immuno-compromised patient.”
2001 Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, No. 3/4, 2001, pp. 87-102, " Effects of Smoked Marijuana on the Lung and Its Immune Defenses: Implications for Medicinal Use in HIV-Infected Patients”
|
Con |
2001
Jan. 17 |
US Department of Health and Human Services, on reviewing a petition by Jon Gettman to reschedule marijuana, forwarded to them by the US DEA in 1997, recommends that marijuana "continue to be subject to control under Schedule I.”
2001 US Drug Enforcement Administration, Diversion Control Program
|
Con |
2001
Mar. |
The Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology reports (Pages 339-344): "This complex regulation of CYP1A1 by marijuana smoke and the Delta-9-THC that it contains has implications for the role of marijuana as a cancer risk factor.”
Mar. 2001Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology,
|
Con |
2001
Mar. 20 |
|
Con |
2001
Spring |
A study by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and California NORML releases preliminary findings that "medical marijuana patients may be able to protect themselves from harmful toxins in marijuana smoke by inhaling their medicine using an electric vaporizer." The study noted; "The vaporizer produced THC at a temperature of 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees F.) while completely eliminating three measured toxins - benzene, a known carcinogen, plus toluene and naphthalene."
2001 MAPS Bulletin
|
Pro |
2001
May 14 |
The United States Supreme Court in the case of United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyer’s Cooperative, rules "There is no medical necessity exception to the Controlled Substances Act’s prohibition on manufacturing and distributing marijuana."
2001 - US Supreme Court Syllabus of United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative ET AL.
|
Con |
2001
June 19 |
The American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates rejects a committee report that urges the organization to consider the compassionate use of medical marijuana for cancer patients and others.
2001 United Press International
|
Con |
2001
Sep. 7 |
England’s GW Pharmaceuticals presents its first data to the American Academy of Pain Management in Arlington, Virginia, which states: "Active [cannabis] treatments provide superior benefit to placebo in key outcomes (pain, overall symptom relief, sleep duration). The data shows clear trends which support the clinical improvements experienced by patients whose conditions have been considered intractable in the face of standard therapy. In some cases, the improvements have been sufficient to transform lives.”
2001 GW Pharmaceuticals
|
Pro |
2002
Jan. |
The Jan. 2002 edition of the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics publishes a study by Ethan Russo, MD, "Chronic Cannabis Use in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program: An Examination of Benefits and Adverse Effects of Legal Clinical Cannabis," which states: "Despite the obvious opportunity to generate data on the use of cannabis and its possible sequelae in these patients, neither NIDA, other branches of the National Institutes of Health, nor the FDA has published an analysis of information from this cohort. An examination of the contents of the National Library of Medicine Database (PubMed), and search engines of NIDA employing multiple combinations of key words failed to retrieve a single citation."
2002 Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics |
Neutral |
2002
Jan. |
The Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics publishes an article by Ethan Russo, MD, that states that a study of 4 of the remaining 7 legal medical marijuana patients who have been receiving marijuana from the US government since the 1970s and 1980s "demonstrate clinical effectiveness in these patients in treating glaucoma, chronic musculoskeletal pain, spasm and nausea, and spasticity of multiple sclerosis. All 4 patients are stable with respect to their chronic conditions, and are taking many fewer standard pharmaceuticals than previously.
These results would support the provision of clinical cannabis to a greater number of patients in need. We believe that cannabis can be a safe and effective medicine with various suggested improvements in the existing Compassionate IND program.”
Jan. 2002 Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics |
Pro |
2002
Mar. 5 |
Harrison Pope of Harvard Medical School questions whether memory and attention problems of habitual marijuana users are long-lasting. "The safest thing to say at this point is that the jury is still out on the question of whether long-term marijuana use causes lasting impairment in brain function.”
Mar. 5, 2002 Reuters:
|
Neutral |
2002
Mar. 5 |
Nadia Solowij, University of South Wales, publishes a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association which relates her findings that "heavy, chronic marijuana use causes memory loss and attention problems."
Mar. 5, 2002 Reuters
|
Con |
2002
May |
A preliminary report is released by the Canadian government which finds; Marijuana is not a gateway drug, marijuana users are unlikely to become addicted, marijuana prohibition has little impact on marijuana use, marijuana use does not lead to the commission of crime, and marijuana is not a serious health risk.
May 9, 2002 National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) Press Release
|
Pro |
2002
July 10 |
The British government announces plans to reduce penalties for cannabis possession, downgrading marijuana from a Class B to a Class C, "putting it on a par with steroids and sleeping pills."
July 10, 2002 Cybercast News Service (CNSNews.com)
|
Pro |
2002
July 10 |
Researchers at Okayama University in Japan (Hiroshi Ujike, et al.) release a study that finds "similarities between the brain dysfunctions in schizophrenic patients and the disruptions in brain activity caused by marijuana use." The researchers say that those individuals who are genetically predisposed to schizophrenia can have the disease triggered by marijuana use. For non-schizophrenics, "…it may be [developing schizophrenia from marijuana use] a very small risk factor. For most people it won't happen."
July 10, 2002 Cybercast News Service (CNSNews.com)
|
Con |
2002
July 18 |
The California Supreme Court votes unanimously to uphold Proposition 215, ruling that the medical marijuana initiative "renders possession and cultivation of marijuana non-criminal for a qualified patient or primary caregiver."
2002 California Supreme Court, ruling entered July 18, 2002
|
Pro |
2002
July 24 |
Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA), Ron Paul (R-TX), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Janice Schakowsky (D-IL) joins former Ronald Reagan presidential aide Lyn Nofziger and seriously ill patients in a first-ever Capitol Hill press conference calling on Congress to allow the state-sanctioned use of medicinal marijuana.
July 26, 2002 The Drug Reform Coordination Network’s (DRCNet)The Week Online with DRCNet
|
Pro |
2002
Aug. 28 |
A report released by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), based on data obtained from the National Household Survey, states that "the younger someone is when first trying marijuana, the more likely he or she is to become dependent on illegal drugs later in life."
The report also noted that "18 percent of adults who said they first tried pot before the age of 15 met the criteria for either dependence or abuse of alcohol or illicit drugs, compared to 2.1 percent of adults who said they had never used marijuana."
Aug. 28, 2002 Reuters
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2002
Sep. 6 |
California Attorney general Bill Lockyear requested a meeting with United States Attorney General John Ashcroft and DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson, to discuss the federal government's "unprecedentad attacks on locally-authorized medical marijuana operations."
In a letter formally requesting the meeting, Lockyer stated: "I must also question the ethical basis for the DEA's policy when these raids are being executed without apparent regard for the likelihood of successful prosecution. Whether or not the US Attorney decides to file in the Santa Cruz case, my Department is aware of other recent DEA-initiated raids involving as few as six marijuana plants in which no charges were ever filed, and no convictions obtained. Conversations with DEA representatives in California have made it clear that the DEA's strategic policy is to conduct these raids as punitive expeditions whether or not a crime can be successfully prosecuted."
2002 California State Department of Justice
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2002
Sep. 17 |
More than 1,000 people gather in Santa Cruz, California at City Hall to "send the federal government a loud message about what Santa Cruz wants for its sick and dying residents: the right to smoke medical marijuana." They did this by distributing marijuana to patients on the steps of City Hall. "City leaders attended the distribution to support giving sick people marijuana and to let the DEA know it's not welcome in this coastal town."
Sep. 18, 2002 Associated Press
For the first time ever, California Governor Grey Davis endorsed the medical use of marijuana in a radio interview. He said; "Well, I'm going to work with our Attorney General, Bill Lockyer. I have compassion for people who are sick and are properly using marijuana under our law. Nine states have a law that allow for marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes. So I'm going to work with Attorney General Lockyer to see if we can't find a way to get on the same page with the Federal Government. They're entitled to have a different scheme at the federal level, but clearly we ought to find some way to have an accommodation. I mean, both the State and Federal Governments work for the same people, the American people, and we have to find a way to get on the same page."
2002 Drug Sense/MAP Inc.
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2002
Sep. 30 |
DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson replies to a letter from California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, which criticized recent DEA raids on medical marijuana dispensories, and requested a meeting.
The letter from the DEA Administrator agreed to a meeting "at a mutually convenient time and place," but noted: "As long as marijuana remains a schedule I controlled substance, DEA will continue in its enforcement efforts targeting groups and individuals involved in its distribution."
2002 California State Attorney General's Office
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2002
Oct. 4 |
Reversing a lower court ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled the Constitution gives Congress exclusive power to define the district's legislative authority, giving Congress the right to block District of Columbia residents from voting on whether to legalize marijuana for medical use.
Voters had passed a referendum legalizing marijuana in 1998, but Congress, which appropriates money for district elections, blocked the effort through legislation. The Marijuana Policy Project then challenged the constitutionality of the act by suing the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics.
2002 Drug Sense/MAP Inc
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2002
Oct. 8 |
Jon Gettman announced the formation of The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis, "the largest coalition in the history of drug policy reform," which launched an extensive legal and scientific challenge to the Drug Enforcement Administration's prohibition of medical cannabis use in the United States.
The Coalition's petition argues that "in their review of the Gettman petition neither DEA nor HHS gave any consideration to marijuana's accepted medical use in the United States, its safety for use, its relative abuse potential or its relative dependence liability, as called for by the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)." This new cannabis rescheduling petition addresses all of these issues with new scientific findings that have not been reviewed in prior proceedings.
2002 High Times Magazine
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2002
Oct. 9 |
Two medical marijuana users file suit against federal authorities "in an effort to try to stop government raids on pot used by sick patients."
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Oakland, argues US Attorney General John Ashcroft and Drug Enforcement Administration director Asa Hutchinson are violating the Fifth, Ninth and 10th amendments as well as a commerce clause by cracking down on medical marijuana use.
Plaintiffs Angel McClary Raich of Oakland and Diane Monson of Oroville say they require medical marijuana to help ease the pain of their illnesses. Raich suffers from wasting syndrome, nausea and a brain tumor, and Monson endures chronic pain and spasms, said attorney Robert Raich, who is Angel's husband.
Robert Raich said he will seek an injunction prohibiting the federal government from bothering medical marijuana patients and their growers. The suit charges federal raids on medical marijuana growers are threatening people's health and their lives. It also argues the federal government has no jurisdiction for crackdowns within California, since the pot is grown and distributed within the state and does not involve interstate commerce.
2002 Associated Press
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2002
Oct. 9 |
San Jose Police Chief William Lansdowne "yanked his officers off the Drug Enforcment Administration [DEA] task force that raided a Santa Cruz medicinal marijuana club a month ago.
Lansdowne said his four officers and one sergeant have better things to do -- such as tackle the methamphetamine epidemic -- than harass local pot clubs, which are operating within state law.
'I think the priorities are out of sync at the federal level,' said Lansdowne, who said he agress the state's voters made the right decision in legalizing marijuana for medical use under regulated circumstances."
Oct. 10, 2002 San Francisco Chronicle
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2002
Oct. 29 |
The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules 3-0 that "the federal government may not revoke a doctor's license to dispense medications, or investigate a physician, for recommending marijuana to sick patients."
2002 The Los Angeles Times
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2002
Nov. 5 |
Two state propositions that attempted to meld the medical marijuana issue with general use decriminalization failed. Nevada Question 9, which attempted to decriminalize up to 3 oz. of cannabis was defeated 61% to 39%. Arizona Proposition 203, which would have "replaced criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana with a civil fine, set up a state-run distribution system to provide free medical marijuana to patients, and made a number of other changes in the state’s drug laws” was defeated 57% to 43%.
2002 Marijuana Policy Project
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2002
Nov. 24 |
"Canadian doctors have refused to support Canada's Medical Marijuana Access Regulations (MMAR) applications after provincial colleges of physicians and surgeons across the country told doctors not to sign the required forms."
2002 Drug Sense/MAP Inc.
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2002
Nov. 29 |
A report released by the US General Accounting Office said that in four of the states that allow medical use of marijuana "the laws have had a minimal impact on crime-fighting. The report also noted "only a small fraction of the people [0.05% of the population] in Oregon, Hawaii and Alaska used marijuana for medical purposes."
2002 US General Accounting Office
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2003
May 22 |
"Maryland Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich signed medical marijuana legislation into law today, marking the first time that a Republican governor has signed a bill to protect medical marijuana patients from jail. The action came despite enormous pressure from White House Drug Czar John Walters to veto the measure.
Maryland law presently provides penalties of up to a year in state prison and a $1,000 fine for marijuana possession. Under the new law, patients using marijuana to treat the symptoms of serious illness such as cancer, AIDS, and Crohn's disease will be able to use 'medical necessity' as a defense against marijuana possession charges. If successful, the most severe punishment they could receive would be a $100 fine."
2003 Marijuana Policy Project
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2003
July 23 |
"The US House of Representatives voted today to allow the Bush administration's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to continue raiding and arresting seriously ill medical marijuana patients and caregivers in states that allow the medical use of marijuana. The overall vote was 152 in favor, 273 opposed, and 10 not voting."
2003 Marijuana Policy Project
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2003
Aug. 22 |
Researchers publish a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine which concluded that there is "no major short-term harmful effects, and possibly some beneficial effects" from using marijuana medically in HIV-infected patients taking protease inhibitors.
2003 Annals of Internal Medicine
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2003
Sep. 1 |
Pharmacies in the Netherlands become legally obliged to stock and dispense medical cannabis, as well as advising users on the merits of brewing the mixture of cannabis into a tea.
2003 UK Independent
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2003
Oct. 7 |
The US Department of Health and Human Services received a patent (US 6,630,507 B1) for the therapeutic use of "cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants." |
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2003
Oct. 12 |
California Gov. Grey Davis signs S.B. 420 into law, which will create an ID card for medical marijuana users to show law enforcement officers. The measure is designed so police can sort out legitimate users from those taking advantage of the law for recreational use. It is a voluntary program.
2003 San Francisco Chronicle
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2003
Oct. 14 |
The US Supreme Court rejected an appeal of the 9th Circuit Courts decision in Conant v. Walters, turning down "the Bush administration's request to consider whether the federal government can punish doctors for recommending or perhaps even talking about the benefits of the drug [medical marijuana] to sick patients." The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the appeal keeps the permanent injunction in place.
2003 Associated Press
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2003
Nov. 24 |
"A federal judge cited a 'lesser harm doctrine' when he ruled Monday [11/24/03] that three men who pleaded guilty to running a West Hollywood medical marijuana center would receive no prison time.
US District Judge A. Howard Matz expressed admiration for the men's work in helping sick patients during the sentencing hearing in which he ordered they serve only one year of probation and up to 250 hours of community service." (Click here to read more.)
2003 Associated Press |
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2003
Nov. 26 |
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2003
Dec. 5 |
A study presented at a meeting of the British Thoracic Society in London found that "smoking cannabis on a regular basis actually depletes your lung of protective antioxidant substances...and this may have chronic long-term implications for young individuals.
2003 Reuters
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2003
Dec. 16 |
The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, ruled that people who use marijuana for medical purposes cannot be prosecuted by the federal government so long as they grow their own or obtain it from other growers without charge. To read more, click here.
2003 L.A. Times
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2004
May 7 |
"The Medical Board of California marked a milestone for California consumers and physicians by adopting a statement clarifying that the recommendation of medical marijuana by physicians in their medical practice will not have any effect against their physician's license if they follow good medical practice.
'The intent of the statement is to clearly and succinctly reassure physicians that if they use the same proper care in recommending medical marijuana to their patients as they would any other medication or treatment, their activity will be viewed by the Medical Board just as any other appropriate medical intervention,' said Hazem Chehabi, MD, immediate past president of the board. 'This is consistent with the board's mission to protect and advance the interests of California patients.'"
may 13, 2004 California Medical Board - Press Release
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2004
May 24 |
Vermont passes S.76, which is allowed into law by its Governor. This makes Vermont the 10th state in the US to decriminalize marijuana for medical purposes - joining Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington - and only the second to do so legislatively, with Hawaii being the first.
May 25, 2004 New York Times
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2004
Nov. 2 |
"Nov. [2], 2004, Montana voters by a significant margin (62 percent) passed Initiative 148, allowing certain patients with specific medical conditions to alleviate their symptoms through the limited use of marijuana under medical supervision.
The new law, effective immediately upon passage, also allows qualified patients and their caregivers to grow and/or possess a restricted number of marijuana plants.
Montana is the 10th state to pass a medical marijuana law. Under federal law, it is still illegal to grow, sell, purchase, or use marijuana, even for health-related reasons.
To use or grow marijuana under the Montana law, patients and caregivers must first register with the Quality Assurance Division of the Department of Public Health and Human Services."
Oct. 3, 2008 Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services
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2005
June 6 |
"Federal authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke pot on doctors' orders, the Supreme Court ruled Monday [6/6/05], concluding that state medical marijuana laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug.
The decision is a stinging defeat for marijuana advocates who had successfully pushed 10 states to allow the drug's use to treat various illnesses.
Justice John Paul Stevens, writing the 6-3 decision, said that Congress could change the law to allow medical use of marijuana."
June 6, 2005 CNN
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2005
June 17 |
"A week after the Supreme Court ruled that medical marijuana laws in California and nine other states are no bar to federal drug prosecution, the House voted down an amendment that would have stopped the Justice Department from bringing such cases. Although medical marijuana advocates never thought they would have the votes to bar federal prosecutions, some had predicted that because of the heightened interest after the Supreme Court's ruling that they would do better than Wednesday's 264-161 vote." [Read more]
June 17, 2005 Sacramento Bee
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2006
Jan. 3 |
"Rhode Island on Tuesday [1/3/06] became the 11th state to legalize medical marijuana and the first since the US Supreme Court ruled in June that patients who use the drug can still be prosecuted under federal law. The House overrode a veto by Gov. Don Carcieri, 59-13, allowing people with illnesses such as cancer and AIDS to grow up to 12 marijuana plants or buy 2.5 ounces of marijuana to relieve their symptoms. Those who do are required to register with the state and get an identification card."
Jan. 3, 2006 Associated Press
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2006
Jan. 21 |
"[San Diego] County supervisors kept their promise and sued the state yesterday [1/20/06] in an attempt at overturning laws that permit medical use of marijuana. A suit filed in US District Court in San Diego maintains that federal statutes prohibiting possession and use of marijuana pre-empt state law....
At a board meeting in Nov. [2005], supervisors Bill Horn, Dianne Jacob and Pamela Slater-Price voted to refuse to implement the identification card system. Supervisors subsequently voted to sue the state to overturn both laws." [Read more]
Jan. 21, 2006 San Diego Union-Tribune |
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2006
May 24 |
In the largest study of its kind, UCLA's Dr. Donald Tashkin has concluded that smoking marijuana, even regularly and heavily, does not lead to lung cancer.
Dr. Tashkin noted in the Washington Post that the new findings "were against our expectations. We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use. What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect." [Read more]
May 24, 2006 Washington Post |
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2007
Apr. 2 |
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson signed medical marijuana legislation into law on Apr. 2, 2007, making New Mexico the 12th state to legalize medical marijuana. The state Senate approved the bill 32-3 and the House passed the bill 36-31.
The bill requires the state government to authorize the distribution of medical marijuana to qualifying patients.
Apr. 2, 2007 Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)
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2008
Nov. 4 |
Voters in Michigan approved a ballot measure allowing severely ill patients to use medical marijuana by a vote of 63% to 37%. The measure will remove state-level penalties for registered patients using medical marijuana.
Nov. 4, 2008 Associated Press |
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2010
Feb. 17 |
"The Iowa Board of Pharmacy today issued a recommendation that the Iowa Legislature reclassify marijuana from Schedule I of the Iowa Controlled Substances Act into Schedule II of the Act. A Schedule II drug includes narcotic drugs with a high potential for abuse but with currently accepted medical use in treatment."
Feb. 10, 2010 "Iowa Board of Pharmacy Issues Recommendation" (30 KB) |
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2010
Nov. 2 |
Measure 13 in South Dakota is defeated 63.31% to 36.69%. The initiative would have allowed qualifying patients to use medical marijuana for certain debilitating medical conditions.
Nov. 2, 2010 |
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2010
Nov. 15 |
Arizona becomes the 15th state to legalize medical marijuana when proposition 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, passes by a margin of 4,341 votes out of 1,678,351 votes cast. The "yes" votes only outnumbered the "no" votes after the early and provisional ballots were all counted as of Nov. 15, 2010. |
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2011
May 13
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Delaware becomes the 16th state to legalize medical marijuana when Governor Jack Markell (D) signed SB 17 into law on May 13, 2011. The law allows adults in Delaware with certain debilitating conditions to possess up to six ounces of marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. |
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2011
July 8 |
"...in a decision announced Friday [July 8, 2011] the federal government ruled that [marijuana] has no accepted medical use and should remain classified as a highly dangerous drug like heroin.The decision comes almost nine years after medical marijuana supporters asked the government to reclassify cannabis...
Advocates for the medical use of the drug criticized the ruling but were elated that the Obama administration has finally acted, which allows them to appeal to the federal courts...
In a June 21 letter  (430 KB) to the organizations that filed the petition, DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said she rejected the request because marijuana 'has a high potential for abuse,' 'has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States' and 'lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision.' The letter and 37 pages of supporting documents were published Friday in the Federal Register."
July 8, 2011 Los Angeles Times  |
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