Over the past few decades, the legalization of Cannabis has become one the most debated legislative topics. As of now, Marijuana is a schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970. Congress passed this act to regulate the manufacturing, possession, and use of certain substances to prevent drug abuse and dependence. In addition, the act strengthened the existing authority of law enforcement entities. The CSA created a system where substances would be grouped into five schedules based on certain criteria, such as potential for abuse or potential medical benefits. Marijuana was grouped into schedule I, which includes substances that have the following findings: 1) “The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse”, 2) “The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States”, and 3) “There is a lack of accepted safety for use of …show more content…
Their efforts culminated in the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which added an extra requirement to do business, farmers who cultivated hemp needed a tax stamp, physicians for prescribing cannabis, and pharmacists for selling cannabis. The act did explicitly criminalize the possession or use of cannabis but it did levy penalties for those who did not pay the tax or receive the tax stamp. The goal of the legislation was to effectively make it too expensive to sell or possess the drug and if they failed to act in accordance with the law they could be incarcerated. In 1969, the Marijuana Tax Act was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and repealed by Congress the following year. However, the Congress passed the CSA the same year officially prohibiting cannabis use nationally classifying it as a dangerous schedule I