“Marihuanaa violent narcotican unspeakable scourgeThe real public enemy No. 1!””Its first effect is sudden violent, uncontrollable laughter; then come dangerous hallucinationsspace expandstime slows down, almost stands stillfixed ideas come next, conjuring up monstrous extravagancesfollowed by emotional disturbances, the total inability to direct thoughts, the loss of all power to resist physical emotions. Leading finally to acts of shocking violenceending often in incurable insanity.”The above quote appears at the beginning of “Reefer Madness,” which hit movie theaters in 1936 and was, along with other media and interest groups, part of the road to criminalize the drug marijuana (Cannabis sativa). The road came to an end a year later when the U.S. Congress passed “The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.” Pushed by the late Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the act required taxes, and registration, from individuals importing, producing, selling or prescribing marijuana. The tax required a yearly fee plus a fee at each point the substance was transferred. Transfer could be made to individuals not registered with a special order form and a tax rate of $100 per ounce. Under the law, an unregistered person caught with untaxed marijuana could be punished by up to five years in prison and a fine up to $2,000, or both. The bill for the Marihuana Tax Act reportedly swept swiftly through the House of Representatives and Senate with little discussion and attention, drawing only three lines in the New York Times:”President Roosevelt signed today a bill to curb traffic in the narcotic, marihuana, through heavy taxes on transactions.”Penalties stiffened when the Boggs Act was enacted in 1951.Brought forth by Congressman Hale Boggs, the new law called for imprisonment of two to five years for a first-time drug related offense, five to 10 years for second offense and 10 to 20 years for a third offense. It was also in the Boggs Act that marijuana came to be classified under the theory of the “stepping stone,” later called the “gateway drug.”In the mid-1960s, marijuana had a popularity explosion across college campuses all over the United States.Feelings on the penalties of marijuana changed, as described by a commentator in the New York Times:”Nobody cared when it was a ghetto problem. Marijuanawell, it was used by jazz musicians in the lower class, so you didn’t care if they got two-to-20 years. But when a nice, middle-class girl or boy in college gets busted for the same thing, then the whole country sits up and takes notice.”In 1970, penalties were lessened, and probation permitted, under the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, which also classified marijuana as highly addictive, with no recognized medical use.Several state legislative bodies followed suit, enacting new marijuana laws of their own. Oregon was the first to decriminalize marijuana when, in 1973, it changed the penalty for possession from a felony prison sentence to $100 civil misdemeanor fine.Today, marijuana remains illegal. The Drug Enforcement Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Justice, contends that it should stay illegal. On a Web site devoted to speaking out against drug legalization, the DEA state their position on the issue.”The DEA is unequivocally opposed to the legalization of illicit drugs including marijuana, hemp and hemp seed oil. The present social problems in the United States, including crime, health problems, and poverty, are substantial and will only be exacerbated if drugs are legalized. The arguments for legalization are a sad and bitter offering to the most vulnerable segment of our population. Legalization would increase risks and costs to individuals, families, and communities, indeed, to every part of the nation, without compensating benefits. Any proposal with the potential to do these things is unacceptable. As public policy, it is fundamentally flawed.”The DEA contend that marijuana should not be legalized in a series they call “The Ten Assertions.” The first is that crime, violence and drug use go hand-in-hand.The second assertion, the DEA claims, is we have made significant progress in reducing drug use in this country, now is not the time to abandon our efforts.”Legalization of drugs,” states the third assertion, “will lead to increased use and increased addiction levels.”Under this assertion, the DEA use the Alaska example.”Legalization was given a lengthy try when the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in 1975 that the state could not interfere with a person’s possession of marijuana in his home for personal use. Enforcement was permitted only when the quantity possessed exceed four ounces-this in a state that, because of the long, sunny days of its brief growing season, produces extremely potent marijuana.”Many people took the court’s ruling as sign to begin using. Even though the law was limited to persons 19 and over, a 1988 University of Alaska study found the state’s 12 to 17 year olds used marijuana at more the twice the national average for their age group.In 1990, Alaskans voted to recriminalize possession of marijuana. The fourth assertion states any revenues generated by taxing legalized drugs would quickly evaporate in light of the increased social costs.The DEA’s fifth assertion, with backing from the American Medical Association, states there are no compelling medical reasons to prescribe marijuana or heroin to sick people.In the sixth assertion, the DEA contend that legalization and decriminalization of drugs have been a dismal failure in other nations”Alcohol has caused significant health, social and crime problems in this country,” the DEA state in the seventh assertion, “and legalized drugs would only make this situation worse.”The eighth assertion, “Drug control spending is a minor portion of the U.S. budget, and compared to the costs of drug abuse, spending is minuscule.””Drug prohibition is working,” the ninth assertion states. The DEA stress the positive progress that has been made between 1979 and 1998.Lastly, in the 10th assertion, the DEA contend that legalization would have an adverse effect on low-income communities.The DEA goes over each assertion in greater detail on their Web site at www.usdoj.gov/dea/demand/druglegal/.