I believe the tax act of 1937 was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the Leary case of 1969. The Controlled Substances Act in 1971 on the surface appears to be a quick replacement for the changed view on the tax act, but it’s likely that there is more than meets the eye. It’s likely that the 1971 act was a twofer, so to speak, in that it helped replace and strengthen the intended purpose of tax act that Leary successfully contested, while also fulfilling obligations to the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, this is where cannabis was scheduled 1 and 4. Schedule 4 being reserved for substances already on schedule 1 with the added context of propensity for abuse, that it’s liabilities are not offset by it’s therapeutic benefits. This placed more restrictions on cannabis from a global perspective than if it were just schedule 1 alone.
It’s interesting to note, like etymology, the progression of things. How they originated. Where they formed.
It’s interesting to note that cannabis was dropped from United States pharmacopoeia in 1941, while Britain had dropped it from their pharmacopoeia nearly a decade earlier in 1932. It’s also interesting to note that when writing the language for the 1937 tax act, the nomenclature used was marihuana instead of the more commonly known terms like cannabis or Indian hemp. Surely trying to pull a fast one on those whose livelihoods it would inevitably be affecting as pointed out by Dr. Woodward of the American Medical Association in 1937:
In other words, marihuana is not the correct term. It was the use of the term “marihuana” rather than the use of the term “Cannabis” or the use of the term “Indian hemp” that was responsible, as you realized, probably, a day or two ago, for the failure of the dealers in Indian hempseed to connect up this bill with their business until rather late in the day.
Rulers and those in positions of power have tried to leverage the reduced accessibility of cannabis against it’s people since antiquity.
Soudoun Sheikouni, the Emir of the Joneima in Arabia, outlawed the use of cannabis across his jurisdiction. Sheikouni’s prohibition is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, attested cannabis ban in the world.
@buckaroobonsai it’s interesting to note that Anslinger was married to the niece of Andrew Mellon, appointed secretary of Treasury that served under three different sitting presidents. Same dude that had a significant financial interest in Old Overholt Rye, a liquor company that he eventually granted exception to the Volstead Act. Same dude that also helped finance DuPont. Same dude that owned Gulf Oil. Everything touches. It seems they were protecting their investments through regulatory action.
On a lighter note, on December 2, 2020, during its reconvened 63rd session, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted to withdraw “cannabis and cannabis resin” from Schedule IV of the Single Convention. It’s wild to consider the lasting effects some individuals have had on the culture of humanity. Limiting access to a plant that has been with mankind for mellenia to protect ones financial interests is a supreme dishonor. In turn, it makes the community here and the essence of spirit behind Overgrow culturally significant and in my opinion quite honorable. Much love
