2900 BC - Chinese Emperor Fu Hsi References Marijuana as a Popular Medicine
"The Chinese Emperor Fu Hsi (ca. 2900 BC), whom the Chinese credit with bringing civilization to China, seems to have made reference to Ma, the Chinese word for Cannabis, noting that Cannabis was very popular medicine that possessed both yin and yang."
2700 BC - Chinese Emperor Shen Nung Said to Discover Healing Properties of Marijuana
"According to Chinese legend, the emperor Shen Nung (circa 2700 BC; also known as Chen Nung) [considered the Father of Chinese medicine] discovered marijuana's healing properties as well as those of two other mainstays of Chinese herbal medicine, ginseng and ephedra."
1500 BC - Earliest Written Reference to Medical Marijuana in Chinese Pharmacopeia
"The use of cannabis for purposes of healing predates recorded history. The earliest written reference is found in the 15th century BC Chinese Pharmacopeia, the Rh-Ya."
1450 BC - Book of Exodus References Holy Anointing Oil Made from Cannabis
"Holy anointing oil, as described in the original Hebrew version of the recipe in Exodus (30:22-23), contained over six pounds of kaneh-bosem, a substance identified by respected etymologists, linguists, anthropologists, botanists and other researchers as cannabis, extracted into about six quarts of olive oil, along with a variety of other fragrant herbs. The ancient anointed ones were literally drenched in this potent mixture."
1213 BC - Egyptians Use Cannabis for Glaucoma, Inflammation, and Enemas
Cannabis pollen is found on the mummy of Ramesses II, who died in 1213 BC. Prescriptions for cannabis in Ancient Egypt include treatment for the eyes (glaucoma), inflammation, and cooling the uterus, as well as administering enemas.
1000 BC - Bhang, a Drink of Cannabis and Milk, Is Used in India as an Anesthetic
Bhang, a cannabis 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.
700 BC - Medical Use of Marijuana in the Middle East Recorded in the Venidad
"The Venidad, one of the volumes of the Zend-Avesta, the ancient Persian religious text written around the seventh century BC purportedly by Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), the founder of Zoroastrianism, and heavily influenced by the Vedas, mentions bhang and lists cannabis as the most important of 10,000 medicinal plants."
600 BC - Indian Medicine Treatise Cites Cannabis as a Cure for Leprosy
"Cannabis was used in India in very early medical applications. People believed it could quicken the mind, prolong life, improve judgment, lower fevers, induce sleep and cure dysentery... The first major work to lay out the uses of cannabis in [Indian] medicine was the Ayurvedic [a system of Indian medicine] treatise of Sushruta Samhita written in 600 BC... Within the Sushrita, cannabis is cited as an anti-phlegmatic and a cure for leprosy."
200 BC - Medical Cannabis Used in Ancient Greece
In ancient Greece, cannabis is used as a remedy for earache, edema, and inflammation.
1 AD - Ancient Chinese Text Recommends Marijuana for More Than 100 Ailments
"In a compendium of drug recipes compiled in 1 AD [Pen Ts'ao Ching], based on traditions from the time of Shen Nung, marijuana is depicted as an ideogram [pictorial symbol] of plants drying in a shed. This ancient text... recommends marijuana for more than 100 ailments, including gout, rheumatism, malaria, and absentmindedness."
30 - Jesus Allegedly Uses Anointing Oil Made with Cannabis
70 - Roman Medical Text Cites Cannabis to Treat Earaches and Suppress Sexual Longing
"Pedanius Dioscorides (circa AD 40-90), a Greek physician who was a Roman army doctor and traveled widely on campaigns throughout the Roman empire, studied many plants, gathering his knowledge into a book he titled De Materia Medica (On Medical Matters). Published about AD 70 it became the most important medical tome of the next 1500 years. Irrefutably included in it was cannabis, bothkannabis emeros and kannabis agria, the male and female respectively. Dioscorides stated bluntly that the plant which was used in the making of rope also produced a juice that was used to treat earache and suppress sexual longing."
79 - Pliny the Elder Writes about Medicinal Properties of Cannabis Plant
200 - Chinese Surgeon Hua T'o Uses Cannabis Resin and Wine as Anesthetic
Chinese surgeon Hua T'o performed surgeries such as "organ grafts, resectioning of intestines, laparotomies (incisions into the loin), and thoracotomies (incisions into the chest)... rendered painless by means of ma-yo, an anaesthetic made from cannabis resin and wine."
800-900 - Cannabis Used as Medicine in Arabic World by Some, Labeled "Lethal Poison" by Others
"Cannabis was used medicinally across the Arabic world in Roman times, applied to a wide variety of ailments (from migraines to syphilis) and as an analgesic and anaesthetic. The great ninth-century Islamic physician Rhazès... prescribed it widely; a contemporary, the Arab physician Ibn Wahshiyah, warned of the potential effects of hashish which he wrote was a lethal poison."
1500 - Muslim Doctors Use Marijuana to Reduce Sexuality
"After the 1500s, once Islam spread to India, Moslem doctors used the Persian theories to guide their use of cannabis. Their applications tended to stress the late effects, rather than the early ones, so they used it, for instance, as a means of reducing sexuality rather than increasing it."
1538 - Hemp Used During Middle Ages
"During the Middle Ages, hemp was central to any herbalist's medicine cabinet. William Turner, the naturalist considered the first English botanist, praises it in his New Herball, published in 1538."
1578 - Chinese Medical Text Describes Medical Uses for Marijuana
"A Chinese medical text (1578 AD) [Bencao Gangmu Materia Medica, by Li Shizhen] describes the use of marijuana to treat vomiting, parasitic infections, and hemorrhage. Marijuana continues to be used in China as a folk remedy for diarrhea and dysentery and to stimulate to appetite."
1600s - William Shakespeare May Have Smoked Cannabis
"Thackeray et al. reported in the South African Journal of Science the results of chemical analyses of plant residues in 'tobacco pipes' from Stratford-upon-Avon and environs, dating to the early 17th century... The pipe bowls and stems had been obtained by Thackeray on loan from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon. Several of the pipes had been excavated from the garden of William Shakespeare.
Results of this study (including 24 pipe fragments) indicated Cannabis in eight samples, nicotine (from tobacco leaves of the kind associated with Raleigh) in at least one sample, and (in two samples) definite evidence for Peruvian cocaine...
Thackeray (unpublished manuscript) suggests that Shakespeare preferred Cannabis as a stimulant which had mind-stimulating properties."
1611-1762 - Jamestown Settlers Bring Marijuana to North America
"The Jamestown settlers brought the marijuana plant, commonly known as hemp, to North America in 1611, and throughout the colonial period, hemp fiber was an important export. Indeed, in 1762, 'Virginia awarded bounties for hemp culture and manufacture, and imposed penalties on those who did not produce it.'"
1621 - Popular English Mental Health Book Recommends Cannabis to Treat Depression
English Clergyman and Oxford scholar Robert Burton suggests cannabis as a treatment for depression in his influential and still popular 1621 book The Anatomy of Melancholy.
1652 - Herbalist Nicholas Culpeper Writes about Medical Uses for Hemp
"The great British herbalist Nicholas Culpeper (1616–1654) wrote in his [1652] The English Physitian (sic) that hemp extract 'allayeth Inflammations in the Head … eases the pains of the Gout … Knots in the Joynts, [and] the pains of the Sinews and Hips'. Culpeper's preparation probably had little psychoactivity as native cannabis grown in northern latitudes has relatively low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content."
1745-1775 - George Washington Grows Hemp
"[George] Washington's diary entries indicate that he grew hemp at Mount Vernon, his plantation, for about 30 years [approximately 1745-1775]. According to his agricultural ledgers, he had a particular interest in the medicinal use of Cannabis, and several of his diary entries indicate that he indeed was growing Cannabis with a high Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content - marijuana."
1774-1824 - Thomas Jefferson Grows Hemp at Monticello
"Thomas Jefferson did grow hemp [as noted in his farming diaries from 1774-1824], but there is no evidence to suggest that Jefferson was a habitual smoker of hemp, tobacco, or any other substance. Some have pointed to a supposed reference in Jefferson's Farm Book to separating male and female hemp plants as evidence that he was cultivating it for purposes of recreational smoking; no such reference exists in Jefferson's Farm Book or any other document, although George Washington did record such a thing in his own diary..."
"The Chinese Emperor Fu Hsi (ca. 2900 BC), whom the Chinese credit with bringing civilization to China, seems to have made reference to Ma, the Chinese word for Cannabis, noting that Cannabis was very popular medicine that possessed both yin and yang."
2700 BC - Chinese Emperor Shen Nung Said to Discover Healing Properties of Marijuana
"According to Chinese legend, the emperor Shen Nung (circa 2700 BC; also known as Chen Nung) [considered the Father of Chinese medicine] discovered marijuana's healing properties as well as those of two other mainstays of Chinese herbal medicine, ginseng and ephedra."
1500 BC - Earliest Written Reference to Medical Marijuana in Chinese Pharmacopeia
"The use of cannabis for purposes of healing predates recorded history. The earliest written reference is found in the 15th century BC Chinese Pharmacopeia, the Rh-Ya."
1450 BC - Book of Exodus References Holy Anointing Oil Made from Cannabis
"Holy anointing oil, as described in the original Hebrew version of the recipe in Exodus (30:22-23), contained over six pounds of kaneh-bosem, a substance identified by respected etymologists, linguists, anthropologists, botanists and other researchers as cannabis, extracted into about six quarts of olive oil, along with a variety of other fragrant herbs. The ancient anointed ones were literally drenched in this potent mixture."
1213 BC - Egyptians Use Cannabis for Glaucoma, Inflammation, and Enemas
Cannabis pollen is found on the mummy of Ramesses II, who died in 1213 BC. Prescriptions for cannabis in Ancient Egypt include treatment for the eyes (glaucoma), inflammation, and cooling the uterus, as well as administering enemas.
1000 BC - Bhang, a Drink of Cannabis and Milk, Is Used in India as an Anesthetic
Bhang, a cannabis 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.
700 BC - Medical Use of Marijuana in the Middle East Recorded in the Venidad
"The Venidad, one of the volumes of the Zend-Avesta, the ancient Persian religious text written around the seventh century BC purportedly by Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), the founder of Zoroastrianism, and heavily influenced by the Vedas, mentions bhang and lists cannabis as the most important of 10,000 medicinal plants."
600 BC - Indian Medicine Treatise Cites Cannabis as a Cure for Leprosy
"Cannabis was used in India in very early medical applications. People believed it could quicken the mind, prolong life, improve judgment, lower fevers, induce sleep and cure dysentery... The first major work to lay out the uses of cannabis in [Indian] medicine was the Ayurvedic [a system of Indian medicine] treatise of Sushruta Samhita written in 600 BC... Within the Sushrita, cannabis is cited as an anti-phlegmatic and a cure for leprosy."
200 BC - Medical Cannabis Used in Ancient Greece
In ancient Greece, cannabis is used as a remedy for earache, edema, and inflammation.
1 AD - Ancient Chinese Text Recommends Marijuana for More Than 100 Ailments
"In a compendium of drug recipes compiled in 1 AD [Pen Ts'ao Ching], based on traditions from the time of Shen Nung, marijuana is depicted as an ideogram [pictorial symbol] of plants drying in a shed. This ancient text... recommends marijuana for more than 100 ailments, including gout, rheumatism, malaria, and absentmindedness."
30 - Jesus Allegedly Uses Anointing Oil Made with Cannabis
70 - Roman Medical Text Cites Cannabis to Treat Earaches and Suppress Sexual Longing
"Pedanius Dioscorides (circa AD 40-90), a Greek physician who was a Roman army doctor and traveled widely on campaigns throughout the Roman empire, studied many plants, gathering his knowledge into a book he titled De Materia Medica (On Medical Matters). Published about AD 70 it became the most important medical tome of the next 1500 years. Irrefutably included in it was cannabis, bothkannabis emeros and kannabis agria, the male and female respectively. Dioscorides stated bluntly that the plant which was used in the making of rope also produced a juice that was used to treat earache and suppress sexual longing."
79 - Pliny the Elder Writes about Medicinal Properties of Cannabis Plant
200 - Chinese Surgeon Hua T'o Uses Cannabis Resin and Wine as Anesthetic
Chinese surgeon Hua T'o performed surgeries such as "organ grafts, resectioning of intestines, laparotomies (incisions into the loin), and thoracotomies (incisions into the chest)... rendered painless by means of ma-yo, an anaesthetic made from cannabis resin and wine."
800-900 - Cannabis Used as Medicine in Arabic World by Some, Labeled "Lethal Poison" by Others
"Cannabis was used medicinally across the Arabic world in Roman times, applied to a wide variety of ailments (from migraines to syphilis) and as an analgesic and anaesthetic. The great ninth-century Islamic physician Rhazès... prescribed it widely; a contemporary, the Arab physician Ibn Wahshiyah, warned of the potential effects of hashish which he wrote was a lethal poison."
1500 - Muslim Doctors Use Marijuana to Reduce Sexuality
"After the 1500s, once Islam spread to India, Moslem doctors used the Persian theories to guide their use of cannabis. Their applications tended to stress the late effects, rather than the early ones, so they used it, for instance, as a means of reducing sexuality rather than increasing it."
1538 - Hemp Used During Middle Ages
"During the Middle Ages, hemp was central to any herbalist's medicine cabinet. William Turner, the naturalist considered the first English botanist, praises it in his New Herball, published in 1538."
1578 - Chinese Medical Text Describes Medical Uses for Marijuana
"A Chinese medical text (1578 AD) [Bencao Gangmu Materia Medica, by Li Shizhen] describes the use of marijuana to treat vomiting, parasitic infections, and hemorrhage. Marijuana continues to be used in China as a folk remedy for diarrhea and dysentery and to stimulate to appetite."
1600s - William Shakespeare May Have Smoked Cannabis
"Thackeray et al. reported in the South African Journal of Science the results of chemical analyses of plant residues in 'tobacco pipes' from Stratford-upon-Avon and environs, dating to the early 17th century... The pipe bowls and stems had been obtained by Thackeray on loan from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon. Several of the pipes had been excavated from the garden of William Shakespeare.
Results of this study (including 24 pipe fragments) indicated Cannabis in eight samples, nicotine (from tobacco leaves of the kind associated with Raleigh) in at least one sample, and (in two samples) definite evidence for Peruvian cocaine...
Thackeray (unpublished manuscript) suggests that Shakespeare preferred Cannabis as a stimulant which had mind-stimulating properties."
1611-1762 - Jamestown Settlers Bring Marijuana to North America
"The Jamestown settlers brought the marijuana plant, commonly known as hemp, to North America in 1611, and throughout the colonial period, hemp fiber was an important export. Indeed, in 1762, 'Virginia awarded bounties for hemp culture and manufacture, and imposed penalties on those who did not produce it.'"
1621 - Popular English Mental Health Book Recommends Cannabis to Treat Depression
English Clergyman and Oxford scholar Robert Burton suggests cannabis as a treatment for depression in his influential and still popular 1621 book The Anatomy of Melancholy.
1652 - Herbalist Nicholas Culpeper Writes about Medical Uses for Hemp
"The great British herbalist Nicholas Culpeper (1616–1654) wrote in his [1652] The English Physitian (sic) that hemp extract 'allayeth Inflammations in the Head … eases the pains of the Gout … Knots in the Joynts, [and] the pains of the Sinews and Hips'. Culpeper's preparation probably had little psychoactivity as native cannabis grown in northern latitudes has relatively low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content."
1745-1775 - George Washington Grows Hemp
"[George] Washington's diary entries indicate that he grew hemp at Mount Vernon, his plantation, for about 30 years [approximately 1745-1775]. According to his agricultural ledgers, he had a particular interest in the medicinal use of Cannabis, and several of his diary entries indicate that he indeed was growing Cannabis with a high Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content - marijuana."
1774-1824 - Thomas Jefferson Grows Hemp at Monticello
"Thomas Jefferson did grow hemp [as noted in his farming diaries from 1774-1824], but there is no evidence to suggest that Jefferson was a habitual smoker of hemp, tobacco, or any other substance. Some have pointed to a supposed reference in Jefferson's Farm Book to separating male and female hemp plants as evidence that he was cultivating it for purposes of recreational smoking; no such reference exists in Jefferson's Farm Book or any other document, although George Washington did record such a thing in his own diary..."
1799 - Napoleon's Forces Bring Marijuana from Egypt to France
Napoleon invades Egypt with forces that include a scientific expedition team. In addition to discovering the Rosetta Stone, the team brings cannabis back to France in 1799. The cannabis was investigated for its pain relieving and sedative effects in Europe and became more widely accepted in Western medicine.
1840 - Medical Marijuana Comes to United Kingdom via William O'Shaughnessy and Reportedly Used by Queen Victoria for Menstrual Cramps
"Cannabis was reintroduced into British medicine in 1842 by Dr. W[illiam] O'Shaughnessy, an army surgeon who had served in India. In Victorian times it was widely used for a variety of ailments, including muscle spasms, menstrual cramps, rheumatism, and the convulsions of tetanus, rabies and epilepsy; it was also used to promote uterine contractions in childbirth, and as a sedative to induce sleep. It is said to have been used by Queen Victoria against period pains: there is no actual proof of this at all, but Sir Robert Russell, for many years her personal physician, wrote extensively on cannabis, recommending it for use in dysmenorrhoea [menstrual cramps]. It was administered by mouth, not by smoking, but usually in the form of a tincture (an extract in alcohol). Cannabis extracts were also incorporated in many different proprietary medicines."
1840s - Marijuana Becomes Mainstream Medicine in the West
"In the 19th Century, marijuana emerged as a mainstream medicine in the West. Studies in the 1840s by a French doctor by the name of Jacques-Joseph Moreau [a French psychiatrist] found that marijuana suppressed headaches, increased appetites, and aided people to sleep."
1850 - Marijuana Added to US Pharmacopeia
"By 1850, marijuana had made its way into the United States Pharmacopeia [an official public standards-setting authority for all prescription and over-the counter medicines], which listed marijuana as treatment for numerous afflictions, including: neuralgia, tetanus, typhus, cholera, rabies, dysentery, alcoholism, opiate addiction, anthrax, leprosy, incontinence, gout, convulsive disorders, tonsillitis, insanity, excessive menstrual bleeding, and uterine bleeding, among others. Patented marijuana tinctures were sold..."
1889 - Article in The Lancet Outlines Use of Cannabis for Opium Withdrawal
"In 1889, an article by Dr. E. A. Birch in The Lancet, then as now one of the world's leading medical journals, outlined the application of cannabis for the treatment of opium and chloral hydrate withdrawal symptoms: the mixture reduced the opium craving and acted as an anti-emetic [drug that is effective against vomiting and nausea]."
1893-1894 - Indian Hemp Commission Mentions Several Medical Uses of Cannabis
"Concern about cannabis as an intoxicant leads the government of India to establish the Indian Hemp Commission of 1893-1894 to examine the question of cannabis use in India."
The report mentions the use of cannabis as an "analgesic, a restorer of energy, a hemostat, an ecbolic [to induce contractions], and an antidiaretic." Cannabis is also "mentioned as an aid in treating hay fever, cholera, dysentery, gonorrhea, diabetes, impotence, urinary incontinence, swelling of the testicles, 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."
1900 - Cannabis Used for Asthma, Bronchitis, and Loss of Appetite in South Asia
"Cannabis was one of the more important drugs in the Indian Materia Medica at the turn of the century. It was, and still is, widely used in rural areas of the Indian subcontinent [South Asia] for asthma, bronchitis and loss of appetite."
1906 - Pure Food and Drugs Act Requires Labeling of Medicine, Including Cannabis
"An Act for preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for regulating traffic therein, and for other purposes...
That for the purposes of this Act an article shall also be deemed to be misbranded... if the package fail to bear a statement on the label of the quantity or proportion of any alcohol, morphine, opium, cocaine, heroin, alpha or beta eucaine, chloroform, cannabis indica, chloral hydrate, or acetanilide, or any derivative or preparation of any such substances contained therein."
1911 - Massachusetts Becomes First State to Outlaw Cannabis
"Bolstered by Progressive Era faith in big government, the 1910s marked a high tide of prohibitionist sentiment in America. In 1914 and 1916, alcohol prohibition initiatives would make the state ballot. Meanwhile, the legislature was tackling such morals issues as prostitution, racetrack gambling, prizefighting, liquor, and oral sex. Amidst this profusion of vices, Indian hemp [aka cannabis] was but a minor afterthought… states banned cannabis in the 1910s: Massachussets 1911, Maine, Wyoming and Indiana in 1913; New York City in 1914; Utah and Vermont in 1915; Colorado and Nevada in 1917. As in California, these laws were passed not due to any widespread use or concern about cannabis, but as regulatory initiatives to discourage future use."
Jan. 1915 - President Wilson Signs Harrison Act, the Model for Future Drug Regulation Legislation
"Representative Francis B. Harrison (D-NY) introduced three bills in 1913 to remedy the [drug] problem by controlling the domestic manufacture of opium and by regulating the international opium trade. According to his bills, opium could be imported or exported only for medicinal purposes. Harrison also proposed that the government '...impose a special tax upon all persons who... sell, distribute or give away opium or coca leaves...'
President Woodrow Wilson signed all three of Harrison's measures into law by Jan. 1915.
1915-1927 - 10 States Pass Marijuana Prohibition Laws
"[In 1915] Utah passes state anti-marijuana law...
Other states quickly followed suit with marijuana prohibition laws, including Wyoming (1915), Texas (1919), Iowa (1923), Nevada (1923), Oregon (1923), Washington (1923), Arkansas (1923), and Nebraska (1927)." The state of New York outlaws cannabis in 1927.
1918 - US Pharmaceutical Farms Grow 60,000 Pounds of Cannabis Annually
"Up to World War I, pharmaceutical supplies of cannabis indica were entirely imported from India (and occasionally Madagascar), in accordance with the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, which specified that it come from flowering tops of the Indian variety...
Finally, in 1913, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Bureau of Plant Industry announced it had succeeded in growing domestic cannabis of equal quality to the Indian. When foreign supplies were interrupted by World War I, the United States became self-sufficient in cannabis. By 1918, some 60,000 pounds were being produced annually, all from pharmaceutical farms east of the Mississippi."
Feb. 19, 1925 - League of Nations Sign Multilateral Treaty Restricting Cannabis Use to Scientific and Medical Only
At the Second Opium Conference and the International Opium Convention, sponsored by the League of Nations and signed in Geneva on Feb. 19, 1925, Egypt proposes that hashish (cannabis resin) be added to the list of narcotics covered by the convention.
The convention authorizes the use of "Indian hemp" (cannabis) only for scientific and medical purposes. Restrictions on importing and exporting cannabis resin are put into place.
This convention is the first multilateral treaty that deals with cannabis.
1928 - Cannabis Added to the UK's "Dangerous Drugs Act"
Cannabis is added to the list of prohibited drugs in the UK's "Dangerous Drugs Act in 1928." Cocaine was added in 1920.
1930s - Use of the Word "Marijuana" Increases in the US
"The currency of the word [marijuana] increased greatly in the United States in the 1930s in the context of the debate over the use of the drug, the term being preferred as a more exotic alternative to the familiar words hemp and cannabis...
Influence of a folk etymology from the Spanish personal name María-Juana or its familiar form Mari-Juana has frequently been suggested; if so this would appear to have occurred within English."
1930s - American Pharmaceutical Firms Sell Extracts of Marijuana as Medicines
"As demand for marijuana-based medications accelerated, pharmaceutical firms attempted to produce consistently potent and reliable drugs from hemp. By the 1930s at least two American companies – Parke-Davis and Eli Lily – were selling standardized extracts of marijuana for use as an analgesic, an antispasmodic and sedative. Another manufacturer, Grimault & Company, marketed marijuana cigarettes as a remedy for asthma."
1930 - Harry J. Anslinger Appointed Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics
"In 1930, Congress consolidated the drug control effort in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, led by the endlessly resourceful commissioner, Harry Jacob Anslinger, who became the architect of national prohibition. His case rested on two fantastical assertions: that the drug caused insanity; that it pushed people toward horrendous acts of criminality."
1933 - William Randolph Hearst Plays Role in Denouncing Marijuana
"[I]n 1933, marijuana became the target of government control. Sensationalistic stories linked violent acts to cannabis consumption... Many of the most outlandish stories appeared in newspapers published by William Randolph Hearst. Hearst reportedly had financial interests in the lumber and paper industries. He may have sought to eliminate competition from hemp."
1936 - Bureau of Narcotics Urges Federal Action to Control Marijuana
"It is difficuly to know precisely the extent of marihuana use in the 1930s. The Narcotics Bureau itself never provided any official estimate. The Bureau spoke only of 'widespread use...'
[Commissioner Harry] Anslinger maintained that all drug use was a plot of 'civic corruption,' a public enemy seeking to destroy the community...
During 1936 the Bureau headlined the marihuana danger in its report ["Traffic in Opium and Other Dangerous Drugs," 1936]. For the first time it urged federal controls and presented a description of the vice, describing dire mental and moral changes among users."
1936 - New Medications Supplant Marijuana as Treatment for Pain
"By the end of 1936... all 48 states had enacted laws to regulate marijuana. Its decline in medicine was hastened by the development of aspirin, morphine, and then other opium-derived drugs, all of which helped to replace marijuana in the treatment of pain and other medical conditions in Western medicine."
1936 - Reefer Madness Film Cautions Against Marijuana
"Reefer Madness is a morality tale of how Reefer Addiction ruins the life of its young protagonist and gets a lot of other people killed, sexually compromised and committed to lunatic asylums...
Reefer Madness began its cinematic life as a 1936 cautionary film entitled Tell Your Children. It was financed by a small church group, and was intended to scare the living bejeezus out of every parent who viewed it. Soon after the film was shot, however, it was purchased by the notorious exploitation film maestro Dwain Esper (Narcotic, Marihuana, Maniac), who took the liberty of cutting in salacious insert shots and slapping on the sexier title of Reefer Madness, before distributing it on the exploitation circuit...
Today, the film is a cult phenomenon dwarfed only by The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and 'Reefer Madness' is a bona fide catch phrase."
Napoleon invades Egypt with forces that include a scientific expedition team. In addition to discovering the Rosetta Stone, the team brings cannabis back to France in 1799. The cannabis was investigated for its pain relieving and sedative effects in Europe and became more widely accepted in Western medicine.
1840 - Medical Marijuana Comes to United Kingdom via William O'Shaughnessy and Reportedly Used by Queen Victoria for Menstrual Cramps
"Cannabis was reintroduced into British medicine in 1842 by Dr. W[illiam] O'Shaughnessy, an army surgeon who had served in India. In Victorian times it was widely used for a variety of ailments, including muscle spasms, menstrual cramps, rheumatism, and the convulsions of tetanus, rabies and epilepsy; it was also used to promote uterine contractions in childbirth, and as a sedative to induce sleep. It is said to have been used by Queen Victoria against period pains: there is no actual proof of this at all, but Sir Robert Russell, for many years her personal physician, wrote extensively on cannabis, recommending it for use in dysmenorrhoea [menstrual cramps]. It was administered by mouth, not by smoking, but usually in the form of a tincture (an extract in alcohol). Cannabis extracts were also incorporated in many different proprietary medicines."
1840s - Marijuana Becomes Mainstream Medicine in the West
"In the 19th Century, marijuana emerged as a mainstream medicine in the West. Studies in the 1840s by a French doctor by the name of Jacques-Joseph Moreau [a French psychiatrist] found that marijuana suppressed headaches, increased appetites, and aided people to sleep."
1850 - Marijuana Added to US Pharmacopeia
"By 1850, marijuana had made its way into the United States Pharmacopeia [an official public standards-setting authority for all prescription and over-the counter medicines], which listed marijuana as treatment for numerous afflictions, including: neuralgia, tetanus, typhus, cholera, rabies, dysentery, alcoholism, opiate addiction, anthrax, leprosy, incontinence, gout, convulsive disorders, tonsillitis, insanity, excessive menstrual bleeding, and uterine bleeding, among others. Patented marijuana tinctures were sold..."
1889 - Article in The Lancet Outlines Use of Cannabis for Opium Withdrawal
"In 1889, an article by Dr. E. A. Birch in The Lancet, then as now one of the world's leading medical journals, outlined the application of cannabis for the treatment of opium and chloral hydrate withdrawal symptoms: the mixture reduced the opium craving and acted as an anti-emetic [drug that is effective against vomiting and nausea]."
1893-1894 - Indian Hemp Commission Mentions Several Medical Uses of Cannabis
"Concern about cannabis as an intoxicant leads the government of India to establish the Indian Hemp Commission of 1893-1894 to examine the question of cannabis use in India."
The report mentions the use of cannabis as an "analgesic, a restorer of energy, a hemostat, an ecbolic [to induce contractions], and an antidiaretic." Cannabis is also "mentioned as an aid in treating hay fever, cholera, dysentery, gonorrhea, diabetes, impotence, urinary incontinence, swelling of the testicles, 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."
1900 - Cannabis Used for Asthma, Bronchitis, and Loss of Appetite in South Asia
"Cannabis was one of the more important drugs in the Indian Materia Medica at the turn of the century. It was, and still is, widely used in rural areas of the Indian subcontinent [South Asia] for asthma, bronchitis and loss of appetite."
1906 - Pure Food and Drugs Act Requires Labeling of Medicine, Including Cannabis
"An Act for preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for regulating traffic therein, and for other purposes...
That for the purposes of this Act an article shall also be deemed to be misbranded... if the package fail to bear a statement on the label of the quantity or proportion of any alcohol, morphine, opium, cocaine, heroin, alpha or beta eucaine, chloroform, cannabis indica, chloral hydrate, or acetanilide, or any derivative or preparation of any such substances contained therein."
1911 - Massachusetts Becomes First State to Outlaw Cannabis
"Bolstered by Progressive Era faith in big government, the 1910s marked a high tide of prohibitionist sentiment in America. In 1914 and 1916, alcohol prohibition initiatives would make the state ballot. Meanwhile, the legislature was tackling such morals issues as prostitution, racetrack gambling, prizefighting, liquor, and oral sex. Amidst this profusion of vices, Indian hemp [aka cannabis] was but a minor afterthought… states banned cannabis in the 1910s: Massachussets 1911, Maine, Wyoming and Indiana in 1913; New York City in 1914; Utah and Vermont in 1915; Colorado and Nevada in 1917. As in California, these laws were passed not due to any widespread use or concern about cannabis, but as regulatory initiatives to discourage future use."
Jan. 1915 - President Wilson Signs Harrison Act, the Model for Future Drug Regulation Legislation
"Representative Francis B. Harrison (D-NY) introduced three bills in 1913 to remedy the [drug] problem by controlling the domestic manufacture of opium and by regulating the international opium trade. According to his bills, opium could be imported or exported only for medicinal purposes. Harrison also proposed that the government '...impose a special tax upon all persons who... sell, distribute or give away opium or coca leaves...'
President Woodrow Wilson signed all three of Harrison's measures into law by Jan. 1915.
1915-1927 - 10 States Pass Marijuana Prohibition Laws
"[In 1915] Utah passes state anti-marijuana law...
Other states quickly followed suit with marijuana prohibition laws, including Wyoming (1915), Texas (1919), Iowa (1923), Nevada (1923), Oregon (1923), Washington (1923), Arkansas (1923), and Nebraska (1927)." The state of New York outlaws cannabis in 1927.
1918 - US Pharmaceutical Farms Grow 60,000 Pounds of Cannabis Annually
"Up to World War I, pharmaceutical supplies of cannabis indica were entirely imported from India (and occasionally Madagascar), in accordance with the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, which specified that it come from flowering tops of the Indian variety...
Finally, in 1913, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Bureau of Plant Industry announced it had succeeded in growing domestic cannabis of equal quality to the Indian. When foreign supplies were interrupted by World War I, the United States became self-sufficient in cannabis. By 1918, some 60,000 pounds were being produced annually, all from pharmaceutical farms east of the Mississippi."
Feb. 19, 1925 - League of Nations Sign Multilateral Treaty Restricting Cannabis Use to Scientific and Medical Only
At the Second Opium Conference and the International Opium Convention, sponsored by the League of Nations and signed in Geneva on Feb. 19, 1925, Egypt proposes that hashish (cannabis resin) be added to the list of narcotics covered by the convention.
The convention authorizes the use of "Indian hemp" (cannabis) only for scientific and medical purposes. Restrictions on importing and exporting cannabis resin are put into place.
This convention is the first multilateral treaty that deals with cannabis.
1928 - Cannabis Added to the UK's "Dangerous Drugs Act"
Cannabis is added to the list of prohibited drugs in the UK's "Dangerous Drugs Act in 1928." Cocaine was added in 1920.
1930s - Use of the Word "Marijuana" Increases in the US
"The currency of the word [marijuana] increased greatly in the United States in the 1930s in the context of the debate over the use of the drug, the term being preferred as a more exotic alternative to the familiar words hemp and cannabis...
Influence of a folk etymology from the Spanish personal name María-Juana or its familiar form Mari-Juana has frequently been suggested; if so this would appear to have occurred within English."
1930s - American Pharmaceutical Firms Sell Extracts of Marijuana as Medicines
"As demand for marijuana-based medications accelerated, pharmaceutical firms attempted to produce consistently potent and reliable drugs from hemp. By the 1930s at least two American companies – Parke-Davis and Eli Lily – were selling standardized extracts of marijuana for use as an analgesic, an antispasmodic and sedative. Another manufacturer, Grimault & Company, marketed marijuana cigarettes as a remedy for asthma."
1930 - Harry J. Anslinger Appointed Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics
"In 1930, Congress consolidated the drug control effort in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, led by the endlessly resourceful commissioner, Harry Jacob Anslinger, who became the architect of national prohibition. His case rested on two fantastical assertions: that the drug caused insanity; that it pushed people toward horrendous acts of criminality."
1933 - William Randolph Hearst Plays Role in Denouncing Marijuana
"[I]n 1933, marijuana became the target of government control. Sensationalistic stories linked violent acts to cannabis consumption... Many of the most outlandish stories appeared in newspapers published by William Randolph Hearst. Hearst reportedly had financial interests in the lumber and paper industries. He may have sought to eliminate competition from hemp."
1936 - Bureau of Narcotics Urges Federal Action to Control Marijuana
"It is difficuly to know precisely the extent of marihuana use in the 1930s. The Narcotics Bureau itself never provided any official estimate. The Bureau spoke only of 'widespread use...'
[Commissioner Harry] Anslinger maintained that all drug use was a plot of 'civic corruption,' a public enemy seeking to destroy the community...
During 1936 the Bureau headlined the marihuana danger in its report ["Traffic in Opium and Other Dangerous Drugs," 1936]. For the first time it urged federal controls and presented a description of the vice, describing dire mental and moral changes among users."
1936 - New Medications Supplant Marijuana as Treatment for Pain
"By the end of 1936... all 48 states had enacted laws to regulate marijuana. Its decline in medicine was hastened by the development of aspirin, morphine, and then other opium-derived drugs, all of which helped to replace marijuana in the treatment of pain and other medical conditions in Western medicine."
1936 - Reefer Madness Film Cautions Against Marijuana
"Reefer Madness is a morality tale of how Reefer Addiction ruins the life of its young protagonist and gets a lot of other people killed, sexually compromised and committed to lunatic asylums...
Reefer Madness began its cinematic life as a 1936 cautionary film entitled Tell Your Children. It was financed by a small church group, and was intended to scare the living bejeezus out of every parent who viewed it. Soon after the film was shot, however, it was purchased by the notorious exploitation film maestro Dwain Esper (Narcotic, Marihuana, Maniac), who took the liberty of cutting in salacious insert shots and slapping on the sexier title of Reefer Madness, before distributing it on the exploitation circuit...
Today, the film is a cult phenomenon dwarfed only by The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and 'Reefer Madness' is a bona fide catch phrase."
May 4, 1937 - American Medical Association Opposes the Proposed Marihuana Tax Act and Supports Research on Medical Cannabis
"There is nothing in the medicinal use of Cannabis that has any relation to Cannabis addiction. I use the word 'Cannabis' in preference to the word 'marihuana', because Cannabis is the correct term for describing the plant and its products. The term 'marihuana' is a mongrel word that has crept into this country over the Mexican border and has no general meaning, except as it relates to the use of Cannabis preparations for smoking...
To say, however, as has been proposed here, that the use of the drug should be prevented by a prohibitive tax, loses sight of the fact that future investigation may show that there are substantial medical uses for Cannabis." William C. Woodward, MD
Oct. 1937 - "Marihuana Tax Act" Leads to Decline in Marijuana Prescriptions
"Spurred by spectacular accounts of marijuana's harmful effects on its users, by the drug's alleged connection to violent crime, and by a perception that state and local efforts to bring use of the drug under control were not working, Congress enacted the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. Promoted by Harry Anslinger, Commissioner of the recently established Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the act imposed registration and reporting requirements and a tax on the growers, sellers, and buyers of marijuana. Although the act did not prohibit marijuana outright, its effect was the same.
Oct. 2, 1937 - First Marijuana Seller Convicted under US Federal Law Is Arrested
"On the day the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act was enacted -- Oct. 2, 1937 -- the FBI and Denver, Colo., police raided the Lexington Hotel and arrested Samuel R. Caldwell, 58, an unemployed labourer and Moses Baca, 26. On Oct. 5, Caldwell went into the history trivia books as the first marijuana seller convicted under U.S. federal law. His customer, Baca, was found guilty of possession...
Caldwell was sentenced to four years of hard labour in Leavenworth Penitentiary, plus a $1,000 fine. Baca received 18 months incarceration. Both men served every day of their sentence. A year after Caldwell was released from prison, he died."
"There is nothing in the medicinal use of Cannabis that has any relation to Cannabis addiction. I use the word 'Cannabis' in preference to the word 'marihuana', because Cannabis is the correct term for describing the plant and its products. The term 'marihuana' is a mongrel word that has crept into this country over the Mexican border and has no general meaning, except as it relates to the use of Cannabis preparations for smoking...
To say, however, as has been proposed here, that the use of the drug should be prevented by a prohibitive tax, loses sight of the fact that future investigation may show that there are substantial medical uses for Cannabis." William C. Woodward, MD
Oct. 1937 - "Marihuana Tax Act" Leads to Decline in Marijuana Prescriptions
"Spurred by spectacular accounts of marijuana's harmful effects on its users, by the drug's alleged connection to violent crime, and by a perception that state and local efforts to bring use of the drug under control were not working, Congress enacted the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. Promoted by Harry Anslinger, Commissioner of the recently established Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the act imposed registration and reporting requirements and a tax on the growers, sellers, and buyers of marijuana. Although the act did not prohibit marijuana outright, its effect was the same.
Oct. 2, 1937 - First Marijuana Seller Convicted under US Federal Law Is Arrested
"On the day the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act was enacted -- Oct. 2, 1937 -- the FBI and Denver, Colo., police raided the Lexington Hotel and arrested Samuel R. Caldwell, 58, an unemployed labourer and Moses Baca, 26. On Oct. 5, Caldwell went into the history trivia books as the first marijuana seller convicted under U.S. federal law. His customer, Baca, was found guilty of possession...
Caldwell was sentenced to four years of hard labour in Leavenworth Penitentiary, plus a $1,000 fine. Baca received 18 months incarceration. Both men served every day of their sentence. A year after Caldwell was released from prison, he died."
1938 - Canada Prohibits Cannabis Cultivation
"In 1938, Canada prohibited cannabis cultivation. The aim there was... to prevent the leisure use of marijuana. Doctors were still permitted to prescribe tincture of cannabis, but the bureaucracy that came with every prescription discouraged many from offering it to patients."
1942 - Marijuana Removed from US Pharmacopeia
"Marijuana was removed from the US Pharmacopeia in 1942, thus losing its remaining mantle of therapeutic legitimacy."
1938-1944 - LaGuardia Report Concludes Marijuana Less Dangerous Than Commonly Thought
In 1938, New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia requests that the New York Academy of Medicine conduct an investigation of marijuana. The 1944 report, titled "The Marihuana Problem in the City of New York," but commonly referred to as the "LaGuardia Report," concludes that many claims about the dangers of marijuana are exaggerated or untrue.
1951 - Boggs Act Establishes Minimum Prison Sentences for Simple Possession
"In 1951, Congress established mandatory minimum prison sentences for drug crimes. Named for its sponsor, Representative Hale Boggs (D-La.), the Boggs Act imposed two-to-five year minimum sentences for first offenses, including simple possession. The Act made no distinction between drug users and drug traffickers for purposes of sentencing.
1956 - Inclusion of Marijuana in Narcotics Control Act Leads to Stricter Penalties for Marijuana Possession
Congress includes marijuana in the Narcotics Control Act of 1956, which results in stricter mandatory sentences for marijuana-related offenses. A first-offense marijuana possession carries a minimum sentence of 2-10 years with a fine of up to $20,000.
1961 - UN Convention Provides Basis for Future Federal Prohibition of Marijuana
The 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs establishes the following rule in Article 49: "The use of cannabis for other than medical and scientific purposes must be discontinued as soon as possible but in any case within twenty-five years..."
1964 - THC, Main Psychoactive Component of Cannabis, First Identified and Synthesized
In 1964 Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is the first to identify delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as the main psychoactive component of cannabis. He is also the first to synthesize THC.
1968 - University of Mississippi Becomes Official Grower of Marijuana for Federal Government
"Since about 1968 the University of Mississippi has held a registration from the DEA or its predecessor agency to cultivate marijuana for government use and research activities
Apr. 8, 1968 - President Johnson Creates Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD)
"The dramatic increase in the use of marihuana and other drugs during the latter 1960's was a matter of high public visibility. In response, President Johnson offered Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1968. This reorganization was effective on April 8, 1968 and placed the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (of Treasury) and the Bureau of Drug Abuse Control (of FDA) in the Department of Justice and designated it the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs."
Nov. 1, 1968 - UK Wootton Report Finds Cannabis Is Less Dangerous Than Alcohol, Other Drugs
The Nov. 1, 1968 Wootton Report, written by the UK government's Advisory Committee on Drug Dependence, finds that "the long term consumption of cannabis in moderate doses has no harmful effects... Cannabis is less dangerous than the opiates, amphetamines and barbiturates, and also less dangerous than alcohol..."
The report's influence is seen in future British drug policies that reduce penalties for possession of marijuana by 50%.
1970 - Controlled Substances Act Classifies Marijuana as a Drug with "No Accepted Medical Use"
Congress passes the Controlled Substance Act as part of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. This law establishes a "singles system of control for both narcotic and psychotropic drugs for the first time in US history." The CSA creates five Schedules to classify substances. Marijuana is placed in Schedule 1, which are drugs "classified as having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision."
1970 - NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) Founded
NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, is founded in 1970 as a nonprofit public-interest advocacy group whose mission is to end marijuana prohibition.
1971 - UK Introduces Drug Classification System
The 1971 UK Misuse of Drugs Act introduces a drug classification system and sentencing guidelines. Cannabis is put in Class B, the middle of three classes.
May 1, 1971 - Nixon Says He Will Not Legalize Marijuana Despite Shafer Commission
In a televised news conference on May 1, 1971, responding to question about the White House Conference on Youth, which had voted to legalize marijuana, President Nixon said:
"As you know, there is a Commission that is supposed to make recommendations to me about this subject; in this instance, however, I have such strong views that I will express them. I am against legalizing marijuana. Even if the Commission does recommend that it be legalized, I will not follow that recommendation... I can see no social or moral justification whatever for legalizing marijuana. I think it would be exactly the wrong step. It would simply encourage more and more of our young people to start down the long, dismal road that leads to hard drugs and eventually self-destruction."
June 17, 1971 - President Nixon Declares War on Drugs
At a June 17, 1971 press conference, President Nixon said:
"America's public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive.
I have asked the Congress to provide the legislative authority and the funds to fuel this kind of an offensive. This will be a worldwide offensive dealing with the problems of sources of supply, as well as Americans who may be stationed abroad, wherever they are in the world...
I have brought Dr. [Jerome H.] Jaffe into the White House, directly reporting to me [as Special Consultant to the President for Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs], so that we have not only the responsibility but the authority to see that we wage this offensive effectively and in a coordinated way."
1972 - National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse ("Shafer Commission") Recommends Decriminalizing Marijuana
"Possession of marihuana for personal use would no longer be an offense, but marihuana possessed in public would remain contraband subject to summary seizure and forfeiture. Casual distribution of small amounts of marihuana for no remuneration, or insignificant remuneration not involving profit would no longer be an offense."
1972 - NORML Petitions DEA to Reschedule Marijuana
In 1972, NORML files an administrative petition with the DEA. "NORML's petition called on the federal government to reclassify marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule II drug so that physicians could legally prescribe it. Federal authorities initially refused to accept the petition until mandated to do so by the US Court of Appeals in 1974, and then refused to properly process it until again ordered by the Court in 1982...
Fourteen years after NORML's initial petition, in 1986, the DEA finally held public hearings on the issue before an administrative law judge. Two years later Judge Francis Young ruled [in the matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition, Docket No. 86-22] that the therapeutic use of marijuana was recognized by a respected minority of the medical community, and that it met the standards of other legal medications."
The final ruling in the case was made Feb 18 1994.
1973 - Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Established
The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNND) and the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE) are merged to form the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
1974 - NIDA Established, Placed in Charge of Contracts to Grow Marijuana for Research Purposes
The University of Mississippi is contracted by NIDA to grow either 1.5 or 6.5 acres of cannabis, or to not grow any at all, depending on research demand.
1976 - Marijuana Decriminalized in the Netherlands
"In 1976, the Netherlands adopted de facto decriminalization [of cannabis]. Under Dutch law, possession remains a crime, but the national policy of the Ministry of Justice is to not enforce that law. After 1980, a system of 'coffee shops' evolved in which the purchase of small quantities of cannabis by adults was informally tolerated and was then formally permitted in shops that were licensed."
Nov. 24, 1976 - Federal Court Rules Robert Randall's Use of Marijuana a "Medical Necessity"
"In November, 1976, a Washington, DC man [Robert Randall] afflicted by glaucoma employed the little-used Common Law Doctrine of Necessity to defend himself against criminal charges of marijuana cultivation (US v. Randall). On November 24, 1976, federal Judge James Washington ruled Randall's use of marijuana constituted a 'medical necessity...'
Judge Washington dismissed criminal charges against Randall. Concurrent with this judicial determination, federal agencies responding to a May, 1976 petition filed by Randall, began providing this patient with licit, FDA-approved access to government supplies of medical marijuana. Randall was the first American to receive marijuana for the treatment of a medical disorder."
1978 - Federal Government IND Compassionate Use Program Supplies Patients with Marijuana
"NIDA also supplies cannabis to seven patients under single patient so-called 'compassionate use' Investigational New Drug Applications (IND). In 1978, as part of a lawsuit settlement by the Department of Health and Human Services, NIDA began supplying cannabis to patients whose physicians applied for and received such an USID from the FDA."
1978 - New Mexico Passes First State Law Recognizing Medical Value of Marijuana
1980 - Marinol, a Synthetic Version of THC, and Smoked Marijuana Tested on Cancer Patients
"In 1980, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) began experimental distribution of a new drug called Marinol, an oral form of THC (the primary active ingredient in marijuana), to cancer patients in San Francisco. Simultaneously, six states conducted studies comparing smoked marijuana to oral THC in cancer patients who had not responded to traditional antivomiting medication. These state-sponsored studies revealed that thousands of patients found marijuana safer and more effective than synthetic THC. Meanwhile, the NCI experiments showed that some patients responded well to Marinol... Confronted with two different medical recommendations, the government chose to dismiss the state studies and give Marinol the green light."
1981 - Legal Medical Marijuana Patients Form Organization to Help Others Obtain Access
"In 1981, Bob Randall, the first legal medical marijuana patient under the IND program and Alice [O'Leary, his wife] formed an organization called the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics or ACT, of which I was a charter member. Our goal was to help other patients and their doctors file Compassionate Care Protocols, and to guide them through the government maze."
1981-1985 - US Gov Sells Marinol Patent to Unimed and FDA Approves It for Treatment of Nausea
"In 1981, the government agreed to sell the Marinol patent to Unimed, and Unimed applied to the FDA for permission to market the pill as a treatment for nausea. In November 1984, the FDA rejected Unimed's application because clinical tests that had been done on the drug were deficient. But Unimed hustled up some more data, and by June 1985, the FDA delivered its approval. A year later, the DEA gave it a green light."
May 1985 - Marinol Approved by FDA
"Made by Unimed, Marinol is the trade name for dronabinol, a synthetic form of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), one of the principal psychoactive components of botanical marijuana. It was approved in May 1985 for nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy in patients who fail to respond to conventional antiemetic treatments. In December 1992, it was approved by FDA for the treatment of anorexia associated with weight loss in patients with AIDS. Marketed as a capsule, Marinol was originally placed in Schedule II."
1986 - Anti-Drug Abuse Act Increases Penalties for Marijuana Possession and Dealing
President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, instituting mandatory sentences for drug-related crimes. In conjunction with the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, the new law raised federal penalties for marijuana possession and dealing, basing the penalties on the amount of the drug involved. Possession of 100 marijuana plants received the same penalty as possession of 100 grams of heroin. A later amendment to the Anti-Drug Abuse Act established a "three strikes and you're out" policy, requiring life sentences for repeat drug offenders, and providing for the death penalty for "drug kingpins."
Sep. 6, 1988 - DEA Judge Francis Young Recommends Marijuana Be Placed in Schedule II
"The evidence in this record clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record."
Dec. 30, 1989 - DEA Administrator Overrules Francis Young and Orders That Cannabis Remain a Schedule I Controlled Substance
"In December 1989, DEA Administrator Jack Lawn overruled the decision of one administrative law judge [Francis Young] who had agreed with marijuana advocates that marijuana should be moved from Schedule I to Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act. This proposed rescheduling of marijuana would have allowed physicians to prescribe the smoking of marijuana as a legal treatment for some forms of illness.
Administrator Lawn maintained that there was no medicinal benefit to smoking marijuana... [and] that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance."
1990 - Scientists Discover Cannabinoid Receptors
Miles Herkenham, Senior Investigator at the National Institute of Mental Health, and his research team discover the cannabinoid receptor system in 1990. The discovery helps scientists understand the pharmacological effects of cannabinoids, which occur when the THC in marijuana binds with the cannabinoid receptors in the brain.
1991 - Court Ruling Highlights Application of Medical Necessity Defense
In Jenks v. State of Florida (1991), the Florida First District Court of Appeals rules on the application of a medical necessity defense in response to criminal prosecution. In the case of medical marijuana, the patient must be suffering from a medically recognized disease or illness, which is causing a symptom for which there is no effective treatment other than marijuana.
June 1991 - Federal Government Suspends IND Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Program
"A federal program that has provided free marijuana to the seriously ill is being phased out by Health and Human Services officials who have concluded it undercuts official Bush administration policy against the use of illegal drugs, according to HHS officials.
While a small number of patients already receiving marijuana will continue to do so, new applicants will be encouraged to try synthetic forms of delta-9-THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, rather than the weed itself, according to a new policy directive signed by James O. Mason, chief of the Public Health Service...
'If it's perceived that the Public Health Service is going around giving marijuana to folks, there would be a perception that this stuff can't be so bad,' said Mason. 'It gives a bad signal.'...
While only six people had received marijuana under the program, the FDA has received 28 applications in the past year, and was concerned that it would be swamped with hundreds more in coming months, officials said."
July 1991 - 53% of Oncologists Surveyed Say Cannabis Should Be Available by Prescription
"A random-sample, anonymous survey of the members of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) was conducted in spring 1990 measuring the attitudes and experiences of American oncologists concerning the antiemetic use of marijuana in cancer chemotherapy patients.
A surprising proportion of respondents (432, 44%) said they had recommended marijuana to at least one patient...
Six hundred eight respondents (63%) agreed with the statement affirming the efficacy of marijuana in the treatment of emesis... and 77 respondents (8%) disagreed...
Of the 599 respondents with opinions, 53% favored making marijuana available by prescription."
Nov. 5, 1991 - First Medical Marijuana Initiative Passed in San Francisco
"The first medical marijuana initiative appeared in the city of San Francisco as Proposition P, which passed with an overwhelming 79% of the vote on Nov. 5, 1991. Proposition P called on the State of California and the California Medical Association to 'restore hemp medical preparations to the list of available medicines in California,' and not to penalize physicians 'from prescribing hemp preparations for medical purposes.'"
1992 - Scientists Discover First Endocannabinoid
"Twenty-eight years after discovering THC, in 1992, Dr. Mechoulam, along with Dr. William Devane and Dr. Lumir Hanus, identified the brain's first endogenous cannabinoid (or endocannabinoid) - the brain's natural version of THC -which they called 'anandamide,' from the Sanskrit word 'ananda,' which means 'eternal bliss' or 'supreme joy.'
Vigorous exercise stimulates the release of anandamide, and the sense of euphoric well-being that comes with a healthy workout - what jogging enthusiasts refer to as a 'runner's high' - is due to elevated levels of endocannabinoids. The endocannabinoid system in the brain is also believed to help mediate emotions, consolidate memory, and coordinate movement."
Mar. 19, 1992 - IND Compassionate Use Program Officially Terminated; 13 Existing Patients Continue to Get Government Marijuana
"In March 1992, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services decided that NIDA would not provide marijuana for single-patient INDs except to those patients who were receiving marijuana at the time...When the program was terminated, 27 additional single-patient INDs that had received FDA approval were canceled and the patients were not supplied with marijuana."
Mar. 1993 - American Medical Student Association Unanimously Endorses Rescheduling of Marijuana
Feb. 18, 1994 - Final Decision in 1972 Court Battle over Marijuana Rescheduling Keeps Marijuana in Schedule I
Mid-July 1994 - Assistant Secretary of Health Announces Final Decision Not to Reopen IND Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Program
"As you may recall, in 1992, the Assistant Secretary of Health in the Bush Administration, Dr. James Mason, shut down the FDA's Single Patient IND Program (Compassionate Access) for medical marijuana patients because it was growing too large, too visible, too expensive and too time- consuming for the FDA to administer. Over the course of the last year, the current Assistant Secretary of Health, Dr. Philip Lee, has been pressed by various congresspeople to review Dr. Mason's decision. In a letter sent in mid-July to Representative Barney Frank and the other congresspeople and senators who contacted him about this issue, Dr. Lee announced that he has finally reached a decision concerning his course of action... Dr. Lee indicated that he has decided not to reopen the Compassionate Access Program. According to Dr. Lee, the fatal flaw of that program was that it did not generate data that could be submitted to the FDA to either support or reject the hypothesis that smoked marijuana had a safe and efficacious medical use. Dr. Lee did not offer any government funds for research, yet indicated that only FDA-approved research could resolve this controversy."
July 10, 1995 - Second Petition to Reschedule Marijuana Filed
Nov. 5, 1996 - California Becomes First State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Jan. 30, 1997 - New England Journal of Medicine Publishes Editorial Calling for Marijuana to Be Rescheduled
Feb. 19 and 20, 1997 - NIH Says More Study Needed to Assess Potential of Medical Marijuana
Sep. 1998 - Congress Prevents Implementation of Medical Marijuana Law in DC
Oct. 29, 1998 - Presidents Ford, Carter, and Bush Urge Voters to Reject Medical Marijuana
"Prior to the [Nov. 3, 1998] election, former Presidents Ford, Carter, and Bush released a statement urging voters to reject state medical marijuana initiatives because they circumvented the standard process by which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tests medicines for safety and effectiveness. 'Compassionate medicine,' these leaders insisted, 'must be based on science, not political appeals.' Nevertheless, medical marijuana initiatives proceeded to pass in every state in which they appeared on the ballot."
Nov. 3, 1998 - Alaska, Oregon, and Washington Become 2nd, 3rd, and 4th States to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Nov. 11, 1998 - UK House of Lords Committee Recommends Legalizing Medical Marijuana
"The Government should allow doctors to prescribe cannabis for medical use: this is the conclusion of a report by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, published today [Nov. 11, 1998].
Jan. 1997-Mar. 1999 - Institute of Medicine (IOM) Conducts Comprehensive Study on Medical Effects of Marijuana"In January 1997... the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (the federal drug czar) commissioned the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences to review the scientific evidence on the potential health benefits and risks of marijuana and its constituent cannabinoids. Begun in August 1997, IOM's 257-page report,Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base, was released in March 1999...
For the most part, the IOM Report straddled the fence and provided sound bites for both sides of the medical marijuana debate... In general, the report emphasized the need for well-formulated, scientific research into the therapeutic effects of marijuana and its cannabinoid components on patients with specific disease conditions."
June 2, 1999 - Alaska Makes Enrollment in State Patient Registry Mandatory
"[Alaska's] Senate Bill 94, which took effect on June 2, 1999, mandates all patients seeking legal protection under this act to enroll in the state patient registry and possess a valid identification card. Patients not enrolled in the registry will no longer be able to argue the 'affirmative defense of medical necessity' if they are arrested on marijuana charges."
July 1999 - Marinol Moved to Schedule III to Increase Availability to Patients
Aug. 1999 - Health Canada Announces Funding for Medical Research on Marijuana
Nov. 2, 1999 - Maine Becomes Fifth State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Maine becomes the fifth state to legalize medical marijuana when ballot initiative Question 2 is passed with 61% of the vote on Nov. 2, 1999. The law "provides a simple defense, which means the burden is on the state to prove that a patient’s medical use or possession was not authorized by statute."
June 14, 2000 - Hawaii Becomes Sixth State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
"Hawaii broke new ground in 2000, when it became the first state to enact a law to remove criminal penalties for medical marijuana users via a state legislature. Hawaii's governor [Ben Cayetano]... submitted the original bill and signed the final measure into law on June 14, [2000]..."
Senate Bill 862 was passed by a vote of 32-18 in the House and 13-12 Senate, making Hawaii the sixth state to legalize medical marijuana."
Nov. 7, 2000 - Colorado and Nevada Become Seventh and Eighth States to Legalize Medical Marijuana
"Fifty-four percent of voters [in Colorado] approved Amendment 20 on November 7, 2000, which amends the state’s constitution to recognize the medical use of marijuana. The law took effect on June 1, 2001. It removes state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who possess written documentation from their physician... The law establishes a confidential state-run patient registry that issues identification cards to qualifying patients...
Sixty-five percent of voters [in Nevada] approved Question 9 on November 7, 2000, which amends the states' constitution to recognize the medical use of marijuana. The law took effect on October 1, 2001. The law removes state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who have 'written documentation' from their physician... The law establishes a confidential state-run patient registry that issues identification cards to qualifying patients."
May 14, 2001 - Supreme Court Rules "There Is No Medical Necessity Exception to the Controlled Substances Act"
The Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, organized to distribute marijuana to qualified patients for medical purposes, was sued by the US government to force the Cooperative to cease operations. A district court rejected the Cooperative's defense that the marijuana was medically necessary, but its rejection was overturned by the Ninth Circuit.
On May 14, 2001, the US Supreme Court rules 8-0 that "there is no medical necessity exception to the Controlled Substances Act's prohibitions on manufacturing and distributing marijuana."
Oct. 1, 2001 - Nevada Medical Marijuana Law Amended to Create State Registry
Nevada creates a state registry for patients whose physicians recommend medical marijuana and tasks the Department of Motor Vehicles with issuing identification cards. According to Assembly Bill 453, no state money will be used for the program, which will be funded entirely by donations.
Jan. 2002 - Only Study on IND Patients Finds That Medical Marijuana Improves Their Quality of Life
The only study conducted on the FDA's IND Program determines that "NIDA cannabis is shipped to patients in labeled metal canisters containing 300 cigarettes, and material is frequently two or more years old upon receipt... A close inspection of the contents of NIDA-supplied cannabis cigarettes reveals them to be a crude mixture of leaf with abundant stem and seed components."
The study concludes that "cannabis smoking, even of a crude, low-grade product, provides effective symptomatic relief of pain, muscle spasms, and intraocular pressure elevations..." and that "clinical cannabis patients are able to reduce or eliminate other prescription medicines and their accompanying side effects."
According to the study, "clinical cannabis provides an improved quality of life in these patients... The side effect profile of NIDA cannabis in chronic usage suggests some mild pulmonary risk."
The authors of the study recommend reopening the Compassionate IND program or amending laws to allow access to clinical cannabis.
Sep. 2002 - DC Court Blocks Proposed Medical Marijuana Initiative
"Proposed legislation to allow marijuana for medical purposes was… blocked in Washington, DC. In September of 2002, a federal appeals court overturned, without providing any rationale, a previous court ruling that had cleared the way for a medical marijuana initiative to be considered by voters in an election. Interestingly, this was the second time that the measure had been blocked in DC. In 1998, voters approved a medical marijuana initiative by a vote of 69% to 31%, but Congress prevented the law from going into effect."
Oct. 29, 2002 - Court Rules in Conant v. Walters That Gov't Cannot Revoke Physician Licenses Solely for Recommending Medical Marijuana
July 23, 2003 - US House of Representatives Rejects Amendment to Stop Federal Raids on Medical Marijuana Patients
Aug. 26, 2003 - First Canadian Patient to Receive Government-grown Marijuana
Canadian HIV-patient Jari Dvorak, age 62, becomes the first Canadian patient to receive government-grown marijuana. The program is in response to an Ontario court order for the Canadian government to make a legal supply of marijuana available to authorized patients.
He is "one of several hundred Canadians authorized to use medical marijuana for pain, nausea and other symptoms of catastrophic or chronic illness." Qualified patients are approved through Health Canada, and the marijuana is distributed through the patients' physicians.
Sep. 1, 2003 - Dutch Pharmacies to Supply Medical Marijuana
"More than 2,000 pharmacies in the Netherlands are legally obliged from today [Sep. 1, 2003] to stock medical cannabis and dispense advice to users on the merits of brewing the mixture of dried parts of the hemp plant as a tea. They are also expected to provide instruction on how to become high by using it in combination with an inhaler."
Oct. 7, 2003 - US Government Receives Cannabinoids Patent
"In 1938, Canada prohibited cannabis cultivation. The aim there was... to prevent the leisure use of marijuana. Doctors were still permitted to prescribe tincture of cannabis, but the bureaucracy that came with every prescription discouraged many from offering it to patients."
1942 - Marijuana Removed from US Pharmacopeia
"Marijuana was removed from the US Pharmacopeia in 1942, thus losing its remaining mantle of therapeutic legitimacy."
1938-1944 - LaGuardia Report Concludes Marijuana Less Dangerous Than Commonly Thought
In 1938, New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia requests that the New York Academy of Medicine conduct an investigation of marijuana. The 1944 report, titled "The Marihuana Problem in the City of New York," but commonly referred to as the "LaGuardia Report," concludes that many claims about the dangers of marijuana are exaggerated or untrue.
1951 - Boggs Act Establishes Minimum Prison Sentences for Simple Possession
"In 1951, Congress established mandatory minimum prison sentences for drug crimes. Named for its sponsor, Representative Hale Boggs (D-La.), the Boggs Act imposed two-to-five year minimum sentences for first offenses, including simple possession. The Act made no distinction between drug users and drug traffickers for purposes of sentencing.
1956 - Inclusion of Marijuana in Narcotics Control Act Leads to Stricter Penalties for Marijuana Possession
Congress includes marijuana in the Narcotics Control Act of 1956, which results in stricter mandatory sentences for marijuana-related offenses. A first-offense marijuana possession carries a minimum sentence of 2-10 years with a fine of up to $20,000.
1961 - UN Convention Provides Basis for Future Federal Prohibition of Marijuana
The 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs establishes the following rule in Article 49: "The use of cannabis for other than medical and scientific purposes must be discontinued as soon as possible but in any case within twenty-five years..."
1964 - THC, Main Psychoactive Component of Cannabis, First Identified and Synthesized
In 1964 Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is the first to identify delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as the main psychoactive component of cannabis. He is also the first to synthesize THC.
1968 - University of Mississippi Becomes Official Grower of Marijuana for Federal Government
"Since about 1968 the University of Mississippi has held a registration from the DEA or its predecessor agency to cultivate marijuana for government use and research activities
Apr. 8, 1968 - President Johnson Creates Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD)
"The dramatic increase in the use of marihuana and other drugs during the latter 1960's was a matter of high public visibility. In response, President Johnson offered Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1968. This reorganization was effective on April 8, 1968 and placed the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (of Treasury) and the Bureau of Drug Abuse Control (of FDA) in the Department of Justice and designated it the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs."
Nov. 1, 1968 - UK Wootton Report Finds Cannabis Is Less Dangerous Than Alcohol, Other Drugs
The Nov. 1, 1968 Wootton Report, written by the UK government's Advisory Committee on Drug Dependence, finds that "the long term consumption of cannabis in moderate doses has no harmful effects... Cannabis is less dangerous than the opiates, amphetamines and barbiturates, and also less dangerous than alcohol..."
The report's influence is seen in future British drug policies that reduce penalties for possession of marijuana by 50%.
1970 - Controlled Substances Act Classifies Marijuana as a Drug with "No Accepted Medical Use"
Congress passes the Controlled Substance Act as part of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. This law establishes a "singles system of control for both narcotic and psychotropic drugs for the first time in US history." The CSA creates five Schedules to classify substances. Marijuana is placed in Schedule 1, which are drugs "classified as having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision."
1970 - NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) Founded
NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, is founded in 1970 as a nonprofit public-interest advocacy group whose mission is to end marijuana prohibition.
1971 - UK Introduces Drug Classification System
The 1971 UK Misuse of Drugs Act introduces a drug classification system and sentencing guidelines. Cannabis is put in Class B, the middle of three classes.
May 1, 1971 - Nixon Says He Will Not Legalize Marijuana Despite Shafer Commission
In a televised news conference on May 1, 1971, responding to question about the White House Conference on Youth, which had voted to legalize marijuana, President Nixon said:
"As you know, there is a Commission that is supposed to make recommendations to me about this subject; in this instance, however, I have such strong views that I will express them. I am against legalizing marijuana. Even if the Commission does recommend that it be legalized, I will not follow that recommendation... I can see no social or moral justification whatever for legalizing marijuana. I think it would be exactly the wrong step. It would simply encourage more and more of our young people to start down the long, dismal road that leads to hard drugs and eventually self-destruction."
June 17, 1971 - President Nixon Declares War on Drugs
At a June 17, 1971 press conference, President Nixon said:
"America's public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive.
I have asked the Congress to provide the legislative authority and the funds to fuel this kind of an offensive. This will be a worldwide offensive dealing with the problems of sources of supply, as well as Americans who may be stationed abroad, wherever they are in the world...
I have brought Dr. [Jerome H.] Jaffe into the White House, directly reporting to me [as Special Consultant to the President for Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs], so that we have not only the responsibility but the authority to see that we wage this offensive effectively and in a coordinated way."
1972 - National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse ("Shafer Commission") Recommends Decriminalizing Marijuana
"Possession of marihuana for personal use would no longer be an offense, but marihuana possessed in public would remain contraband subject to summary seizure and forfeiture. Casual distribution of small amounts of marihuana for no remuneration, or insignificant remuneration not involving profit would no longer be an offense."
1972 - NORML Petitions DEA to Reschedule Marijuana
In 1972, NORML files an administrative petition with the DEA. "NORML's petition called on the federal government to reclassify marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule II drug so that physicians could legally prescribe it. Federal authorities initially refused to accept the petition until mandated to do so by the US Court of Appeals in 1974, and then refused to properly process it until again ordered by the Court in 1982...
Fourteen years after NORML's initial petition, in 1986, the DEA finally held public hearings on the issue before an administrative law judge. Two years later Judge Francis Young ruled [in the matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition, Docket No. 86-22] that the therapeutic use of marijuana was recognized by a respected minority of the medical community, and that it met the standards of other legal medications."
The final ruling in the case was made Feb 18 1994.
1973 - Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Established
The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNND) and the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE) are merged to form the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
1974 - NIDA Established, Placed in Charge of Contracts to Grow Marijuana for Research Purposes
The University of Mississippi is contracted by NIDA to grow either 1.5 or 6.5 acres of cannabis, or to not grow any at all, depending on research demand.
1976 - Marijuana Decriminalized in the Netherlands
"In 1976, the Netherlands adopted de facto decriminalization [of cannabis]. Under Dutch law, possession remains a crime, but the national policy of the Ministry of Justice is to not enforce that law. After 1980, a system of 'coffee shops' evolved in which the purchase of small quantities of cannabis by adults was informally tolerated and was then formally permitted in shops that were licensed."
Nov. 24, 1976 - Federal Court Rules Robert Randall's Use of Marijuana a "Medical Necessity"
"In November, 1976, a Washington, DC man [Robert Randall] afflicted by glaucoma employed the little-used Common Law Doctrine of Necessity to defend himself against criminal charges of marijuana cultivation (US v. Randall). On November 24, 1976, federal Judge James Washington ruled Randall's use of marijuana constituted a 'medical necessity...'
Judge Washington dismissed criminal charges against Randall. Concurrent with this judicial determination, federal agencies responding to a May, 1976 petition filed by Randall, began providing this patient with licit, FDA-approved access to government supplies of medical marijuana. Randall was the first American to receive marijuana for the treatment of a medical disorder."
1978 - Federal Government IND Compassionate Use Program Supplies Patients with Marijuana
"NIDA also supplies cannabis to seven patients under single patient so-called 'compassionate use' Investigational New Drug Applications (IND). In 1978, as part of a lawsuit settlement by the Department of Health and Human Services, NIDA began supplying cannabis to patients whose physicians applied for and received such an USID from the FDA."
1978 - New Mexico Passes First State Law Recognizing Medical Value of Marijuana
1980 - Marinol, a Synthetic Version of THC, and Smoked Marijuana Tested on Cancer Patients
"In 1980, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) began experimental distribution of a new drug called Marinol, an oral form of THC (the primary active ingredient in marijuana), to cancer patients in San Francisco. Simultaneously, six states conducted studies comparing smoked marijuana to oral THC in cancer patients who had not responded to traditional antivomiting medication. These state-sponsored studies revealed that thousands of patients found marijuana safer and more effective than synthetic THC. Meanwhile, the NCI experiments showed that some patients responded well to Marinol... Confronted with two different medical recommendations, the government chose to dismiss the state studies and give Marinol the green light."
1981 - Legal Medical Marijuana Patients Form Organization to Help Others Obtain Access
"In 1981, Bob Randall, the first legal medical marijuana patient under the IND program and Alice [O'Leary, his wife] formed an organization called the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics or ACT, of which I was a charter member. Our goal was to help other patients and their doctors file Compassionate Care Protocols, and to guide them through the government maze."
1981-1985 - US Gov Sells Marinol Patent to Unimed and FDA Approves It for Treatment of Nausea
"In 1981, the government agreed to sell the Marinol patent to Unimed, and Unimed applied to the FDA for permission to market the pill as a treatment for nausea. In November 1984, the FDA rejected Unimed's application because clinical tests that had been done on the drug were deficient. But Unimed hustled up some more data, and by June 1985, the FDA delivered its approval. A year later, the DEA gave it a green light."
May 1985 - Marinol Approved by FDA
"Made by Unimed, Marinol is the trade name for dronabinol, a synthetic form of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), one of the principal psychoactive components of botanical marijuana. It was approved in May 1985 for nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy in patients who fail to respond to conventional antiemetic treatments. In December 1992, it was approved by FDA for the treatment of anorexia associated with weight loss in patients with AIDS. Marketed as a capsule, Marinol was originally placed in Schedule II."
1986 - Anti-Drug Abuse Act Increases Penalties for Marijuana Possession and Dealing
President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, instituting mandatory sentences for drug-related crimes. In conjunction with the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, the new law raised federal penalties for marijuana possession and dealing, basing the penalties on the amount of the drug involved. Possession of 100 marijuana plants received the same penalty as possession of 100 grams of heroin. A later amendment to the Anti-Drug Abuse Act established a "three strikes and you're out" policy, requiring life sentences for repeat drug offenders, and providing for the death penalty for "drug kingpins."
Sep. 6, 1988 - DEA Judge Francis Young Recommends Marijuana Be Placed in Schedule II
"The evidence in this record clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record."
Dec. 30, 1989 - DEA Administrator Overrules Francis Young and Orders That Cannabis Remain a Schedule I Controlled Substance
"In December 1989, DEA Administrator Jack Lawn overruled the decision of one administrative law judge [Francis Young] who had agreed with marijuana advocates that marijuana should be moved from Schedule I to Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act. This proposed rescheduling of marijuana would have allowed physicians to prescribe the smoking of marijuana as a legal treatment for some forms of illness.
Administrator Lawn maintained that there was no medicinal benefit to smoking marijuana... [and] that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance."
1990 - Scientists Discover Cannabinoid Receptors
Miles Herkenham, Senior Investigator at the National Institute of Mental Health, and his research team discover the cannabinoid receptor system in 1990. The discovery helps scientists understand the pharmacological effects of cannabinoids, which occur when the THC in marijuana binds with the cannabinoid receptors in the brain.
1991 - Court Ruling Highlights Application of Medical Necessity Defense
In Jenks v. State of Florida (1991), the Florida First District Court of Appeals rules on the application of a medical necessity defense in response to criminal prosecution. In the case of medical marijuana, the patient must be suffering from a medically recognized disease or illness, which is causing a symptom for which there is no effective treatment other than marijuana.
June 1991 - Federal Government Suspends IND Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Program
"A federal program that has provided free marijuana to the seriously ill is being phased out by Health and Human Services officials who have concluded it undercuts official Bush administration policy against the use of illegal drugs, according to HHS officials.
While a small number of patients already receiving marijuana will continue to do so, new applicants will be encouraged to try synthetic forms of delta-9-THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, rather than the weed itself, according to a new policy directive signed by James O. Mason, chief of the Public Health Service...
'If it's perceived that the Public Health Service is going around giving marijuana to folks, there would be a perception that this stuff can't be so bad,' said Mason. 'It gives a bad signal.'...
While only six people had received marijuana under the program, the FDA has received 28 applications in the past year, and was concerned that it would be swamped with hundreds more in coming months, officials said."
July 1991 - 53% of Oncologists Surveyed Say Cannabis Should Be Available by Prescription
"A random-sample, anonymous survey of the members of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) was conducted in spring 1990 measuring the attitudes and experiences of American oncologists concerning the antiemetic use of marijuana in cancer chemotherapy patients.
A surprising proportion of respondents (432, 44%) said they had recommended marijuana to at least one patient...
Six hundred eight respondents (63%) agreed with the statement affirming the efficacy of marijuana in the treatment of emesis... and 77 respondents (8%) disagreed...
Of the 599 respondents with opinions, 53% favored making marijuana available by prescription."
Nov. 5, 1991 - First Medical Marijuana Initiative Passed in San Francisco
"The first medical marijuana initiative appeared in the city of San Francisco as Proposition P, which passed with an overwhelming 79% of the vote on Nov. 5, 1991. Proposition P called on the State of California and the California Medical Association to 'restore hemp medical preparations to the list of available medicines in California,' and not to penalize physicians 'from prescribing hemp preparations for medical purposes.'"
1992 - Scientists Discover First Endocannabinoid
"Twenty-eight years after discovering THC, in 1992, Dr. Mechoulam, along with Dr. William Devane and Dr. Lumir Hanus, identified the brain's first endogenous cannabinoid (or endocannabinoid) - the brain's natural version of THC -which they called 'anandamide,' from the Sanskrit word 'ananda,' which means 'eternal bliss' or 'supreme joy.'
Vigorous exercise stimulates the release of anandamide, and the sense of euphoric well-being that comes with a healthy workout - what jogging enthusiasts refer to as a 'runner's high' - is due to elevated levels of endocannabinoids. The endocannabinoid system in the brain is also believed to help mediate emotions, consolidate memory, and coordinate movement."
Mar. 19, 1992 - IND Compassionate Use Program Officially Terminated; 13 Existing Patients Continue to Get Government Marijuana
"In March 1992, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services decided that NIDA would not provide marijuana for single-patient INDs except to those patients who were receiving marijuana at the time...When the program was terminated, 27 additional single-patient INDs that had received FDA approval were canceled and the patients were not supplied with marijuana."
Mar. 1993 - American Medical Student Association Unanimously Endorses Rescheduling of Marijuana
Feb. 18, 1994 - Final Decision in 1972 Court Battle over Marijuana Rescheduling Keeps Marijuana in Schedule I
Mid-July 1994 - Assistant Secretary of Health Announces Final Decision Not to Reopen IND Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Program
"As you may recall, in 1992, the Assistant Secretary of Health in the Bush Administration, Dr. James Mason, shut down the FDA's Single Patient IND Program (Compassionate Access) for medical marijuana patients because it was growing too large, too visible, too expensive and too time- consuming for the FDA to administer. Over the course of the last year, the current Assistant Secretary of Health, Dr. Philip Lee, has been pressed by various congresspeople to review Dr. Mason's decision. In a letter sent in mid-July to Representative Barney Frank and the other congresspeople and senators who contacted him about this issue, Dr. Lee announced that he has finally reached a decision concerning his course of action... Dr. Lee indicated that he has decided not to reopen the Compassionate Access Program. According to Dr. Lee, the fatal flaw of that program was that it did not generate data that could be submitted to the FDA to either support or reject the hypothesis that smoked marijuana had a safe and efficacious medical use. Dr. Lee did not offer any government funds for research, yet indicated that only FDA-approved research could resolve this controversy."
July 10, 1995 - Second Petition to Reschedule Marijuana Filed
Nov. 5, 1996 - California Becomes First State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Jan. 30, 1997 - New England Journal of Medicine Publishes Editorial Calling for Marijuana to Be Rescheduled
Feb. 19 and 20, 1997 - NIH Says More Study Needed to Assess Potential of Medical Marijuana
Sep. 1998 - Congress Prevents Implementation of Medical Marijuana Law in DC
Oct. 29, 1998 - Presidents Ford, Carter, and Bush Urge Voters to Reject Medical Marijuana
"Prior to the [Nov. 3, 1998] election, former Presidents Ford, Carter, and Bush released a statement urging voters to reject state medical marijuana initiatives because they circumvented the standard process by which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tests medicines for safety and effectiveness. 'Compassionate medicine,' these leaders insisted, 'must be based on science, not political appeals.' Nevertheless, medical marijuana initiatives proceeded to pass in every state in which they appeared on the ballot."
Nov. 3, 1998 - Alaska, Oregon, and Washington Become 2nd, 3rd, and 4th States to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Nov. 11, 1998 - UK House of Lords Committee Recommends Legalizing Medical Marijuana
"The Government should allow doctors to prescribe cannabis for medical use: this is the conclusion of a report by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, published today [Nov. 11, 1998].
Jan. 1997-Mar. 1999 - Institute of Medicine (IOM) Conducts Comprehensive Study on Medical Effects of Marijuana"In January 1997... the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (the federal drug czar) commissioned the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences to review the scientific evidence on the potential health benefits and risks of marijuana and its constituent cannabinoids. Begun in August 1997, IOM's 257-page report,Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base, was released in March 1999...
For the most part, the IOM Report straddled the fence and provided sound bites for both sides of the medical marijuana debate... In general, the report emphasized the need for well-formulated, scientific research into the therapeutic effects of marijuana and its cannabinoid components on patients with specific disease conditions."
June 2, 1999 - Alaska Makes Enrollment in State Patient Registry Mandatory
"[Alaska's] Senate Bill 94, which took effect on June 2, 1999, mandates all patients seeking legal protection under this act to enroll in the state patient registry and possess a valid identification card. Patients not enrolled in the registry will no longer be able to argue the 'affirmative defense of medical necessity' if they are arrested on marijuana charges."
July 1999 - Marinol Moved to Schedule III to Increase Availability to Patients
Aug. 1999 - Health Canada Announces Funding for Medical Research on Marijuana
Nov. 2, 1999 - Maine Becomes Fifth State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Maine becomes the fifth state to legalize medical marijuana when ballot initiative Question 2 is passed with 61% of the vote on Nov. 2, 1999. The law "provides a simple defense, which means the burden is on the state to prove that a patient’s medical use or possession was not authorized by statute."
June 14, 2000 - Hawaii Becomes Sixth State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
"Hawaii broke new ground in 2000, when it became the first state to enact a law to remove criminal penalties for medical marijuana users via a state legislature. Hawaii's governor [Ben Cayetano]... submitted the original bill and signed the final measure into law on June 14, [2000]..."
Senate Bill 862 was passed by a vote of 32-18 in the House and 13-12 Senate, making Hawaii the sixth state to legalize medical marijuana."
Nov. 7, 2000 - Colorado and Nevada Become Seventh and Eighth States to Legalize Medical Marijuana
"Fifty-four percent of voters [in Colorado] approved Amendment 20 on November 7, 2000, which amends the state’s constitution to recognize the medical use of marijuana. The law took effect on June 1, 2001. It removes state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who possess written documentation from their physician... The law establishes a confidential state-run patient registry that issues identification cards to qualifying patients...
Sixty-five percent of voters [in Nevada] approved Question 9 on November 7, 2000, which amends the states' constitution to recognize the medical use of marijuana. The law took effect on October 1, 2001. The law removes state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who have 'written documentation' from their physician... The law establishes a confidential state-run patient registry that issues identification cards to qualifying patients."
May 14, 2001 - Supreme Court Rules "There Is No Medical Necessity Exception to the Controlled Substances Act"
The Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, organized to distribute marijuana to qualified patients for medical purposes, was sued by the US government to force the Cooperative to cease operations. A district court rejected the Cooperative's defense that the marijuana was medically necessary, but its rejection was overturned by the Ninth Circuit.
On May 14, 2001, the US Supreme Court rules 8-0 that "there is no medical necessity exception to the Controlled Substances Act's prohibitions on manufacturing and distributing marijuana."
Oct. 1, 2001 - Nevada Medical Marijuana Law Amended to Create State Registry
Nevada creates a state registry for patients whose physicians recommend medical marijuana and tasks the Department of Motor Vehicles with issuing identification cards. According to Assembly Bill 453, no state money will be used for the program, which will be funded entirely by donations.
Jan. 2002 - Only Study on IND Patients Finds That Medical Marijuana Improves Their Quality of Life
The only study conducted on the FDA's IND Program determines that "NIDA cannabis is shipped to patients in labeled metal canisters containing 300 cigarettes, and material is frequently two or more years old upon receipt... A close inspection of the contents of NIDA-supplied cannabis cigarettes reveals them to be a crude mixture of leaf with abundant stem and seed components."
The study concludes that "cannabis smoking, even of a crude, low-grade product, provides effective symptomatic relief of pain, muscle spasms, and intraocular pressure elevations..." and that "clinical cannabis patients are able to reduce or eliminate other prescription medicines and their accompanying side effects."
According to the study, "clinical cannabis provides an improved quality of life in these patients... The side effect profile of NIDA cannabis in chronic usage suggests some mild pulmonary risk."
The authors of the study recommend reopening the Compassionate IND program or amending laws to allow access to clinical cannabis.
Sep. 2002 - DC Court Blocks Proposed Medical Marijuana Initiative
"Proposed legislation to allow marijuana for medical purposes was… blocked in Washington, DC. In September of 2002, a federal appeals court overturned, without providing any rationale, a previous court ruling that had cleared the way for a medical marijuana initiative to be considered by voters in an election. Interestingly, this was the second time that the measure had been blocked in DC. In 1998, voters approved a medical marijuana initiative by a vote of 69% to 31%, but Congress prevented the law from going into effect."
Oct. 29, 2002 - Court Rules in Conant v. Walters That Gov't Cannot Revoke Physician Licenses Solely for Recommending Medical Marijuana
July 23, 2003 - US House of Representatives Rejects Amendment to Stop Federal Raids on Medical Marijuana Patients
Aug. 26, 2003 - First Canadian Patient to Receive Government-grown Marijuana
Canadian HIV-patient Jari Dvorak, age 62, becomes the first Canadian patient to receive government-grown marijuana. The program is in response to an Ontario court order for the Canadian government to make a legal supply of marijuana available to authorized patients.
He is "one of several hundred Canadians authorized to use medical marijuana for pain, nausea and other symptoms of catastrophic or chronic illness." Qualified patients are approved through Health Canada, and the marijuana is distributed through the patients' physicians.
Sep. 1, 2003 - Dutch Pharmacies to Supply Medical Marijuana
"More than 2,000 pharmacies in the Netherlands are legally obliged from today [Sep. 1, 2003] to stock medical cannabis and dispense advice to users on the merits of brewing the mixture of dried parts of the hemp plant as a tea. They are also expected to provide instruction on how to become high by using it in combination with an inhaler."
Oct. 7, 2003 - US Government Receives Cannabinoids Patent
2004 - UK Moves Cannabis to Class C, with Lower Penalties
In 2004, UK Home Secretary David Blunkett approves the reclassification of cannabis from Class B (which it had been since the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act) to Class C, which carries lower penalties for possession. The decision is based in part on advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).
Jan. 1, 2004 - California Places Limits on Medical Marijuana Possession
California's medical marijuana law is amended by Senate Bill 420. The bill requires the State Department of Health Services to "establish and maintain a voluntary program for the issuance of identification cards to qualified patients." It creates possession limits of "no more than eight ounces of dried marijuana per qualified patient" and "no more than six mature or 12 immature marijuana plants per qualified patient."
SB 420 also states that qualified patients and caregivers "who associate within the State of California in order collectively or cooperatively to cultivate marijuana for medical purposes, shall not solely on the basis of that fact be subject to state criminal sanctions."
May 26, 2004 - Vermont Becomes Ninth State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Aug. 5, 2004 - DEA Instructs HHS to Review Marijuana for Possible Rescheduling
"The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) this week instructed the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct a scientific and medical evaluation of marijuana as part of a reassessment of its scheduling under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
Nov. 2, 2004 - Montana Becomes 10th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
"Sixty-two percent of voters [in Montana] approved Initiative 148 on November 2, 2004. The law took effect that same day. It removes state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who possess written documentation from their physicians authorizing the medical use of marijuana... The law establishes a confidential state-run patient registry that issues identification cards to qualifying patients."
Dec. 18, 2004 - AARP Poll Finds That 72% of Seniors Support Medical Marijuana
June 6, 2005 - US Supreme Court Rules Congress May Ban Marijuana Use inGonzalez v. Raich
July 8 - July 18, 2005 - California Suspends Then Resumes Medical Marijuana ID Card Program
California suspends its medical marijuana ID card program on June 5, 2005 following a US Supreme Court ruling that the possession and cultivation of marijuana is a punishable federal offense in the case of Angel v. Raich.
Dec. 12, 2005 - Federal Agents Execute Widespread Raid on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in California
Jan. 1, 2006 - Oregon's Medical Marijuana Law Amended to Exclude Affirmative Defense for Exceeding Possession Limits
On Jan. 1, 2006, Senate Bill 1085 takes effect in Oregon as an amendment to the state's medical marijuana law. Qualified patients who possess cannabis in amounts exceeding the state guidelines of 24 ounces of usable marijuana and 24 plants (18 immature, 6 mature) will no longer retain the ability to argue an "affirmative defense" of medical necessity at trial. Patients who fail to register with the state, but who possess medical cannabis in amounts compliant with state law, still retain the ability to raise an "affirmative defense" at trial.
The law also redefines "mature plants" to include only those cannabis plants that are more than 12 inches in height and diameter, and establish a state-registry for those authorized to produce medical cannabis to qualified patients.
Jan. 3, 2006 - Rhode Island Becomes 11th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana after Legislature Overrides Governor's Veto
Mar. 16, 2006 - DEA Busts Marijuana-Laced Candy Manufacturers
"On March 16, 2006, DEA arrested 12 individuals on charges of distribution of marijuana. As a result of searches in the San Francisco Bay area conducted at the time of the arrests, law enforcement seized four sophisticated indoor marijuana grows, thousands of marijuana plants, a large amount of US currency, two semi-automatic weapons, one revolver, and hundreds of pot-laced candy and soft drinks. This investigation began in October 2005, when the DEA obtained information that Beyond Bomb, a manufacturer of marijuana candy in Oakland, CA, was in operation. The marijuana-laced candy and other edibles manufactured by the company mimicked the name and appearance of well known name brand candies and products, such as Stoney Ranchers, Munchy Way, Rasta Reece's. Buddafingers, and Pot Tarts."
Apr. 20, 2006 - FDA Confirms Opposition to Smoked Marijuana for Medical Purposes
June 21, 2006 - Presbyterian Church Approves Resolution to Support Medical Marijuana
On June 21, 2006, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted to support access to medical marijuana for people who have a doctor's recommendation.
"This resolution declares support for the medicinal use of cannabis sativa (also known as marijuana), and directs the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to actively urge the Federal government to amend and adopt such laws as will allow the benefits of marijuana treatment for such diseases as cancer, AIDS, and muscular dystrophy."
Feb. 12, 2007 - DEA Administrative Law Judge Recommends Allowing New Source of Marijuana for Research
Mar. 13, 2007 - New Mexico Becomes 12th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Feb. 15, 2008 - Nation's 2nd Largest Physician Group Calls for Marijuana Reclassification and Supports Nonsmoked Forms of Medical Marijuana
In a paper released on Feb. 15, 2008, the American College of Physicians (ACP) stated its support for the use of nonsmoked forms of THC, research on the benefits of medical marijuana, review of the federal scheduling of marijuana, and exemption from criminal prosecution.
The ACP said, in part:
"Position 1: ACP supports programs and funding for rigorous scientific evaluation of the potential therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana and the publication of such findings.
Position 1a: ACP supports increased research for conditions where the efficacy of marijuana has been established to determine optimal dosage and route of delivery.
Position 1b: Medical marijuana research should not only focus on determining drug efficacy and safety but also on determining efficacy in comparison with other available treatments.Position 2: ACP encourages the use of nonsmoked forms of THC that have proven therapeutic value.
Position 3: ACP supports the current process for obtaining federal research-grade cannabis.
Position 4: ACP urges review of marijuana’s status as a schedule I controlled substance and its reclassification into a more appropriate schedule, given the scientific evidence regarding marijuana’s safety and efficacy in some clinical conditions.
Position 5: ACP strongly supports exemption from federal criminal prosecution; civil liability; or professional sanctioning, such as loss of licensure or credentialing, for physicians who prescribe or dispense medical marijuana in accordance with state law. Similarly, ACP strongly urges protection from criminal or civil penalties for patients who use medical marijuana as permitted under state laws."
May 2008 - Cannabis Returned to Class B in the UK
The UK government announces in May 2008 that it is reclassifying cannabis from Class C to its original Class B. Penalties for possession of Class B drugs include up to five years in prison, higher than the two-year penalty for Class C drugs. The reclassification goes counter to the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).
May 22, 2008 - California Court Rules Possession Limits on Medical Marijuana Unconstitutional
"The Second District of California Court of Appeals ruled [3-0 on May 22, 2008] that the state limits on medical marijuana possession and cultivation established under state law SB 420 are unconstitutional.
In the case People v. Patrick Kelly, the court overturned defendant's conviction for possessing 12 ounces of dried marijuana plants on the grounds that the prosecutor had improperly argued that the defendant was guilty because he possessed more than the 8-ounce limit established in Health & Safety Code Sec. 11362.77 and did not have a doctor's recommendation authorizing more...
Aug. 25, 2008 - California Attorney General Issues State Guidelines for Medical Marijuana
On Aug. 25, 2008, then-California Attorney General Jerry Brown issues guidelines for law enforcement and medical marijuana patients to clarify the state's laws.
Sep. 2008 - Two Pounds of Cannabis Found Buried in 2,700-year-old Chinese Tomb
"The Yanghai Tombs near Turpan, Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region, China have recently been excavated to reveal the 2700-year-old grave of a Caucasoid shaman whose accoutrements included a large cache [789 grams, or about two pounds] of cannabis...
The cannabis was presumably employed by this culture as a medicinal or psychoactive agent, or an aid to divination. To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent, and contribute to the medical and archaeological record of this pre-Silk Road culture."
Nov. 4, 2008 - Michigan Becomes 13th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Jan. 12, 2009 - DEA Rejects Judge's Ruling to Allow New Source of Marijuana for Research
Feb. 25, 2009 - US Attorney General Says Raids on Medical Marijuana Clinics Will Not Continue
Oct. 19, 2009 - US Attorney General Announces That DOJ Will Not Prioritize Prosecution of Legal Medical Marijuana Patients
On Oct. 19, 2009 the US Department of Justice(DOJ) issued a memo, known subsequently as the Ogden memo, to "provide clarification and guidance to federal prosecutors in States that have enacted laws authorizing the medical use of marijuana."
In an effort to make the most efficient use of limited resources, the DOJ announced that prosecutorial priorities should not target "individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana." Specifically, individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use medical marijuana and the caregivers who provide the medical marijuana in accordance with state law should not be the focus of federal prosecution.
The memo clarified that "prosecution of commercial enterprises that unlawfully market and sell marijuana for profit continues to be an enforcement priority." It is also explicitly stated that the memo "does not 'legalize' marijuana or provide a legal defense to a violation of federal law."
Nov. 3, 2009 - Maine's Medical Marijuana Law Amended to Provide for Dispensaries
Nov. 10, 2009 - AMA Softens Position on Scheduling of Marijuana
The American Medical Association softens its position on medical marijuana in a policy statement released Nov. 10, 2009. The statement read in part: "Our AMA urges that marijuana's status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods. This should not be viewed as an endorsement of state-based medical cannabis programs, the legalization of marijuana, or that scientific evidence on the therapeutic use of cannabis meets the current standards for a prescription drug product."
Prior to the Nov. 10, 2009 position quoted above, the AMA had recommended that marijuana be retained in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act pending the outcome of further studies.
Jan. 11, 2010 - New Jersey Becomes 14th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Jan. 21, 2010 - California Supreme Court Affirms Ruling That Possession Limits Are Unconstitutional
On Jan. 21, 2010, the California Supreme Court affirms 7-0 Second District Court of Appeals ruling in People v. Kelly. The original ruling was that the possession limits set by SB 420 violate the California constitution because the voter-approved Prop. 215 can only be amended by the voters
Feb. 17, 2010 - Iowa Board of Pharmacy Recommends Rescheduling of Marijuana
Apr. 1, 2010 - Washington Expands List of Medical Professionals Authorized to Recommend Medical Marijuana
"More medical professionals will be allowed to authorize the use of medical marijuana for qualified patients under a measure signed into law by Gov. Chris Gregoire.
Gregoire signed the bill Thursday [Apr. 1, 2010] and it takes effect June 10.It adds physician assistants, naturopaths, advanced registered nurse practitioners and others to the list of those who can officially recommend marijuana for patients under the state's medical marijuana law.
Under previous law, only physicians were allowed to write the recommendation.
The medical marijuana measure is Senate Bill 5798."
June 4, 2010 - Judge Rules against Los Angeles Marijuana Dispensaries
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant cleared the way for the ordinance to take effect Monday by denying more than a dozen requests for a temporary restraining order to bar the city from enforcing the law, which would force more than 400 shops to shutter their doors.
June 7, 2010 - Colorado Increases Oversight of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries and Physician Recommendations
Colorado's medical marijuana law is amended by HB1284 and Senate Bill 109
July 27, 2010 - US Dept of Veterans Affairs Relaxes Marijuana Rules for Vets
July 27, 2010 - Medical Marijuana Becomes Legal in DC
Nov. 2, 2010 - South Dakota Voters Reject Medical Marijuana Measure
On Nov. 2, 2010 voters in South Dakota rejected Measure 13, which sought to legalize medical marijuana for people suffering from debilitating medical conditions, 63 percent to 37 percent. Four years earlier a similar measure was voted down by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent.
Nov. 2, 2010 - Arizona Becomes 15th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Mar. 1, 2011 - DEA Places Five Synthetic Cannabinoids into Schedule I, Citing "Imminent Hazard"
May 13, 2011 - Delaware Becomes 16th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Mar. 23 - May 16, 2011 - US Attorneys Send Threatening Letters to States with Legal Medical Marijuana
July 1, 2011 - Montana Law Requiring State Residency to Become a Medical Marijuana Patient Takes Effect
July 8, 2011 - DEA Denies 2002 Request to Reclassify Marijuana out of Restrictive Schedule I Category
Aug. 8, 2011 - DEA Again Rejects Craker's Application to Grow Marijuana for Government
DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart upheld her earlier decision in an Aug. 8, 2011 ruling, stating: "Lyle E. Craker, PhD (Respondent) hasrequested that I reconsider the Final Order I issued on January 7, 2009, which denied his application to become registered as a bulk manufacturer of marijuana... Respondent has failed to demonstrate that the Final Order contains any erroneous material findings of fact or conclusions of law. Accordingly, Respondent's motion for reconsideration does not provide a basis for altering the decision in the Final Order to deny his application."
Nov. 2011 - Study Finds Legal Medical Marijuana Reduces Fatal Car Accidents
Dec. 1, 2011 - Medical Marijuana Reclassification Sought by WA and RI Governors
Feb. 28, 2012 - Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Government for Its Raids on Medical Marijuana Clinics
May 11, 2012 - US Court of Appeals Hears Oral Arguments in Lyle Craker's Federal Lawsuit against the DEA
May 31, 2012 - Connecticut Becomes 17th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
July 24, 2012 - LA City Council Bans Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Unanimous Vote
Oct. 16, 2012 - Federal Court Hears Case to Change Schedule I Status of Marijuana
"The US Court of Appeals is reviewing the Drug Enforcement Administration's 2011 rejection of a 2002 petition seeking to reclassify marijuana's status in the Controlled Substances Act. Cannabis is currently a Schedule I narcotic – a classification reserved for substances with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse...Pot advocacy group Americans for Safe Access opened the hearing in Washington, DC Monday [Oct. 16, 2012] by arguing that the DEA demonstrated a 'bias' against pot by downplaying its medicinal efficacy while embellishing its alleged danger...
To varying degrees, the three-justice panel questioned whether they had the authority to overturn the DEA's rejection of the rescheduling petition...
The significance of this review is heightened by the U.S. Court of Appeals being among the most influential courts in the nation, with the power to set legal precedent in many cases."
Nov. 6, 2012 - Massachusetts Becomes 18th state to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Jan. 22, 2013 - US Appeals Court Denies Medical Marijuana Reclassification Challenge
July 23, 2013 - New Hampshire Becomes 19th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Aug. 1, 2013 - Illinois Becomes 20th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Aug. 8, 2013 - Dr. Sanjay Gupta Comes out in Favor of Medical Marijuana
"I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a schedule 1 substance because of sound scientific proof. Surely, they must have quality reasoning as to why marijuana is in the category of the most dangerous drugs that have 'no accepted medicinal use and a high potential for abuse.'
They didn't have the science to support that claim, and I now know that when it comes to marijuana neither of those things are true. It doesn't have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications...
We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that." Sanjay Gupta, MD
Aug. 29, 2013 - Justice Department Will Not Challenge State Marijuana Laws
Feb. 14, 2014 - New Federal Guidelines Allow Banks to Provide Financial Services to Legal Marijuana Sellers
Apr. 14, 2014 - Maryland Becomes 21st State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
May 29, 2014 - Minnesota Becomes 22nd State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
July 5, 2014 - New York Becomes 23rd State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Oct. 28, 2014 - US Justice Department Will Not Enforce Federal Marijuana Laws on Native American Reservations
Dec. 17, 2014 - New Law Bans Justice Department from Using Funds Against Medical Marijuana in States Where It Is Legal
May 3, 2015 - Governor of Puerto Rico Legalizes Medical Marijuana in the US Territory
June 22, 2015 - Federal Government Removes Obstacle to Marijuana Research
July 24, 2012 - LA City Council Bans Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Unanimous Vote
Oct. 16, 2012 - Federal Court Hears Case to Change Schedule I Status of Marijuana
"The US Court of Appeals is reviewing the Drug Enforcement Administration's 2011 rejection of a 2002 petition seeking to reclassify marijuana's status in the Controlled Substances Act. Cannabis is currently a Schedule I narcotic – a classification reserved for substances with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse...Pot advocacy group Americans for Safe Access opened the hearing in Washington, DC Monday [Oct. 16, 2012] by arguing that the DEA demonstrated a 'bias' against pot by downplaying its medicinal efficacy while embellishing its alleged danger...
To varying degrees, the three-justice panel questioned whether they had the authority to overturn the DEA's rejection of the rescheduling petition...
The significance of this review is heightened by the U.S. Court of Appeals being among the most influential courts in the nation, with the power to set legal precedent in many cases."
Nov. 6, 2012 - Massachusetts Becomes 18th state to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Jan. 22, 2013 - US Appeals Court Denies Medical Marijuana Reclassification Challenge
July 23, 2013 - New Hampshire Becomes 19th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Aug. 1, 2013 - Illinois Becomes 20th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Aug. 8, 2013 - Dr. Sanjay Gupta Comes out in Favor of Medical Marijuana
"I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a schedule 1 substance because of sound scientific proof. Surely, they must have quality reasoning as to why marijuana is in the category of the most dangerous drugs that have 'no accepted medicinal use and a high potential for abuse.'
They didn't have the science to support that claim, and I now know that when it comes to marijuana neither of those things are true. It doesn't have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications...
We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that." Sanjay Gupta, MD
Aug. 29, 2013 - Justice Department Will Not Challenge State Marijuana Laws
Feb. 14, 2014 - New Federal Guidelines Allow Banks to Provide Financial Services to Legal Marijuana Sellers
Apr. 14, 2014 - Maryland Becomes 21st State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
May 29, 2014 - Minnesota Becomes 22nd State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
July 5, 2014 - New York Becomes 23rd State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Oct. 28, 2014 - US Justice Department Will Not Enforce Federal Marijuana Laws on Native American Reservations
Dec. 17, 2014 - New Law Bans Justice Department from Using Funds Against Medical Marijuana in States Where It Is Legal
May 3, 2015 - Governor of Puerto Rico Legalizes Medical Marijuana in the US Territory
June 22, 2015 - Federal Government Removes Obstacle to Marijuana Research
