1937 Marihuana Tax Act
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In the United States, 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.
The act did not itself criminalize the possession or usage of marijuana, but levied a tax equaling 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 insignificant, 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 However, new reasons had emerged by then, which pushed through a bill that superseded the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.
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.
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.
[edit] External links
- Full Text of the Marijuana Tax Act as passed in 1937
- Marijuana Tax Stamps: History of the Marijuana Tax Act with photos of government issued Tax Stamps
- Full transcripts of the congressional hearings for the Marijuana 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 detailing history of medical marijuana, and legal history
- Collect Marijuana Tax Stamps
