POLITICAL SCIENCE

Medicinal Marijuana Laws in the U.S.

Medicinal Marijuana Laws in the U.S.

Introduction

Marijuana, the popular name for cannabis, has been used as medicine since ancient times. In modern times, medical marijuana has become a political issue as a growing number of U.S' states have moved to legalize its availability even while federal law prohibits it as a Schedule I drug (meaning it has not accepted medical use). Recent years have seen mounting scientific evidence of marijuana's effectiveness for a broad range of conditions and growing use by patients and doctors (Cohen, 2008). However, the U.S' government has resisted changing its Schedule I status.

Discussion

Marijuana is mentioned in the earliest pharmaceutical texts of the ancient world. Introduced to Western medicine by Dr. William O'Shaughnessy in 1839, it was widely prescribed during the 19th century for conditions including migraines, neuralgia, spasticity, and menstrual cramps. Medical interest declined with the introduction of potent narcotics toward the end of the century. Until modern times, marijuana was regularly administered in oral preparations. The dosage of these medications was difficult to gauge, as the major active ingredient, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) was not identified until 1965. Other active ingredients, notably the THC congeners known as cannabinoids, have been identified in marijuana (Himmelstein, 1983).

Cannabis was exempted from the Harrison Act at the urging of pharmaceutical manufacturers, who argued that it was safe and rarely abused. It was removed from the market under the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 over the objections of the American Medical Association. Following passage of the Controlled Substances Act (1970), marijuana was temporarily classified as a Schedule I drug with the intent of revisiting this classification after the report of the Presidential Commission on Marijuana (1972); however, this never happened. Marijuana's medical effects were rediscovered by young chemotherapy and glaucoma patients in the 1970s. In 1972, the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws filed a petition to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule II prescription drug. After prolonged hearings, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) ruled that Marijuana must first be proven effective in controlled clinical studies.

Advocates for more permissive attitudes toward marijuana, such as National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), began to make headway, and several states and municipalities decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. By late 1970s, however, a number of parental advocacy groups became more influential. These groups, which were strongly opposed to marijuana, enlisted the help of the DEA and other organizations such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse. As a result, support grew for the enhanced “War on Drugs” of the 1980s.

In support of these efforts, in 1983 the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program was initiated, in schools across the U.S., to encourage children to stay away from drugs. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 instituted mandatory sentences for drug-related crimes including those involving marijuana.

Medical marijuana emerged as a political issue when San Francisco voters overwhelmingly approved a medical marijuana ballot measure, Proposition P ...