1937 Marijuana Tax Act

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In the United States, the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act (strictly the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act) was one of the cornerstone bills that led to the criminalization of Cannabis. It was introduced to U.S. Congress by Harry Anslinger, then Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.

The act did not itself criminalize the possession or usage of marijuana, but levied a tax equalling roughly one dollar on anyone who dealt commercially in marijuana. However, its penalty provisions were unusually severe - violations of proper procedure could result in a fine of up to $2000 and five years' imprisonment. The related paperwork was unduly complicated and byzantine. The net effect was to effectively make it too risky for anyone to deal in the substance.

One quote from the proceedings at the time of the floor vote on the bill was:

(From the Floor): "Did anyone consult with the AMA and get their opinion?"

(Representative Vinson): "Yes, we have . . . and they are in complete agreement."

This statement was not correct. The AMA (American Medical Association) had been quite unaware, until just two days before giving evidence, that the "marijuana" referred to in the bill was also the cannabis that had been prescribed as medicine for the previous 100 years.

The bill was passed on the grounds that marijuana caused "Murder, insanity and death". Today, it is generally accepted that marijuana caused none of these, and in 1951 Harry Anslinger himself claimed that he had no evidence to support that thesis. However, new reasons had emerged by then, which pushed through a bill that outdated the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.

The Act is often referred to by advocates for decriminalization of marijuana, who claim there is now very clear evidence that the act itself was based mostly on racism and wild, entirely unsupported claims.

While it is true that the marijuana laws were based largely on racism (see the histories linked below), there is little evidence that Anslinger himself made such overtly racial statements. These statements are probably statements by others that have been wrongly attributed to Anslinger, or they were made up by activists paraphrasing the reasons for the marijuana laws. See the discussion of such statements under the article on Harry Anslinger.

In 1969 in Timothy Leary v. US, this act was found to be unconstitutional since it violated the Fifth Amendment, since a person seeking the tax stamp would have to incriminate him/herself.Template:Ref In response the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 was passed.

It should be noted that, while this article uses the spelling "marijuana", in keeping with the most common spelling, the correct spelling for the Marihuana Tax Act is "Marihuana". "Marihuana" was the spelling most commonly used in Federal Government documents at the time. In keeping with prior law, it is still spelled "Marihuana" in some congressional bills such as HR 3037, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005.

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