| by Engr. Neaz Morshed | No comments

Major cannabis history changing events

Massachusetts outlaws cannabis in 1911.

The Old Bay State became the first to outlaw marijuana, with Prohibitionist sentimentality rising (the U.S. senate proposed the 18th Amendment in 1917). Then the other states trailed soon after.

Woodrow Wilson signs Harrison Narcotics Tax Act in 1915.

Composed of three U.S. House bills, the Harrison Act forbidden the importation of opiates and constrained doctors from recommending narcotics. The main intent was to stop the use of opium, heroine, morphine but the bill affected the marijuana industry, as well. 

‘Reefer Madness’ debuts in 1936

Reefer Madness was initially made by a church group as an ethics tale about cannabis but was bought by Dwain Esper, a director and producer of manipulation films. The fictional story of how marijuana influenced a group of people to steal, kill and also rape. 

LaGuardia Report released in 1944.

New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, A rival of the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act chosen a commission to study the effects of marijuana in New York City two years later, in 1939. The report was issued in 1944 and reversed claims earlier made by the federal government about the risks of marijuana.

Boggs Act introduces minimum sentencing in 1951.

Exploration for “Boggs Act” in Wikipedia and you’ll be spontaneously directed to the page on required sentencing. The law made a first-time cannabis possession offense a least of two to 10 years with a fine up to $20,000 which close to $200,000 today when adjusted for increase. 

Nixon declares war on drugs in 1971.

President Richard Nixon mentioned that the public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. If you want to fight and conquest this enemy, it is essential to wage a new, all-out offensive. He has asked the Congress to offer the governmental authority and the funds to fuel this kind of offensive. He then went on to scale up federal drug control agencies and characterized marijuana as a Schedule him substance, to make it one of the most constrained drugs in the country along with LSD and heroin. 

Marinol approved by the FDA in 1985.

Marinol, a remedy medicine that can release nausea and vomiting related with chemotherapy as well as numerous other symptoms, is a synthetic or chemically made form of cannibus. It was the first marijuana invention permitted by the FDA which is followed shortly by Cesamet.

California legalizes medical marijuana in 1996.

California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana, though some states had permitted cannabis as much as 20 years before.  Much of the west coast followed California’s lead, as that by 2000, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Maine had all allowed medicinal uses of the drug.

Four states authorize recreational marijuana in 2016.

Rather amazingly, one of the first states to authorize recreational use via ballot initiative (which is along with California, Nevada and Maine) was Massachusetts — the first state to outlaw marijuana.

Jimmy Carter wins the presidency and advocates for decriminalization of marijuana in 1977.

Letter to Congress, which is written by Carter, was like- Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more harmful to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be altered. Nowhere is this clearer than in the laws against possession of marijuana in secretive for personal use. It’s between 1973 and 1978, 11 states legalized marijuana.