Marihuana Tax Act of 1937

The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, Pub.L. 75–238 (https://uslaw.li

nk/citation/us-law/public/75/238), 50 Stat. 551 (http://legislink.or Marijuana Tax Act of 1937
g/us/stat-50-551), enacted August 2, 1937, was a United States Act
that placed a tax on the sale of cannabis. The H.R. 6385 act was
drafted by Harry Anslinger and introduced by Rep. Robert L.
Doughton of North Carolina, on April 14, 1937. The Seventy-fifth
United States Congress held hearings on April 27, 28, 29th, 30th,
and May 4, 1937. Upon the congressional hearings confirmation, the
H.R. 6385 act was redrafted as H.R. 6906 and introduced with
House Report 792. The Act is now commonly referred to, using the
modern spelling, as the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act. This act was Other 1937 Marijuana Tax
short titles Act
overturned in 1969 in Leary v. United States, and was repealed by
Congress the next year.[1] Taxation of Marijuana
Long title An Act to impose an
occupational excise
tax upon certain
Contents dealers in marijuana,
to impose a transfer
Background
tax upon certain
Operation of the act dealings in marijuana,
Etymology and to safeguard the
revenue there from by
The La Guardia Committee Report registry and
See also recording.
Acronyms MTA
References
(colloquial)
Further reading Enacted by the 75th United
External links States Congress
Effective October 1, 1937
Citations
Background Public law 75-238 (http://www.dr
uglibrary.org/Schaffer/
Regulations and restrictions on the sale of cannabis sativa as a drug hemp/taxact/mjtaxact.
began as early as 1906 (see Legal history of cannabis in the United htm)
States). The head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), Harry J. Statutes at 50 Stat. 551 (http://le
Anslinger, alleged, in the 1930s, the FBN had an increase of reports Large gislink.org/us/stat-50-
of people using marijuana.[2] He had also, in 1935, support from 551)
president Franklin D. Roosevelt for adoption of the Uniform State Legislative history
Narcotic Act, state laws included regulations of cannabis.[3]
Introduced in the House as
The total production of hemp fiber in the United States in 1933 H.R. 6906 by Robert L.
decreased to around 500 tons per year. Cultivation of hemp began to Doughton (D–NC) on May 11,
increase in 1934 and 1935, but production remained low compared 1937
with other fibers.[4][5][6]
Committee consideration by
House Ways and Means
 S Interested parties note the aim Committee, Senate Committee
of the Act was to reduce the on Finance
hemp industry through Signed into law by President
excessive taxation[7][8][9] largely Franklin D. Roosevelt on August
as an effort of businessmen 2, 1937
Andrew Mellon, Randolph United States Supreme Court
Hearst, and the Du Pont cases
family.[7][9] The same parties
argue with the invention of the Struck down by U.S. Supreme
Hemp, bast with fibers. The stem, decorticator, hemp was an Court in Leary v. United States on
May 19, 1969
which can become hemp hurds, in economical replacement for
the middle. paper pulp in the newspaper
industry.[7][10] Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst
realized cheap, sustainable, and easily-grown hemp threatened his
extensive timber holdings. Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury and the wealthiest man in the US, invested
heavily in the Du Pont family's new synthetic fiber, nylon, to compete with hemp.[7] 1916, United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) chief scientists Jason L. Merrill and Lyster H. Dewey created a paper,
USDA Bulletin No. 404 "Hemp Hurds as Paper-Making Material", in which they concluded this paper
from the woody inner portion of the hemp stem broken into pieces, the 'hemp hurds', was "favorable in
comparison with those used with pulp wood".[11] Dewey and Merrill believed hemp hurds were a
sustainable source for paper production. The concentration of cellulose in hemp hurds is generally
around 35%.[12] Manufacture of paper -- on equipment designed to use wood-pulp -- with hemp as a raw
material shows hemp lacks the qualities needed to become a major competitor to the traditional paper
industry. 2003, 95% of the hemp hurds in the EU were used for animal bedding, almost 5% were used as
building material.[13] Spokes-models from DuPont and many industrial titans dispute a link between
their government minions promoting petroleum-based nylon over sustainable hemp. They complain the
purpose of developing nylon was to produce a fiber competitive with silk and rayon.[14][15][16]

The American Medical Association (AMA) opposed the taxation because the tax was imposed on
physicians prescribing cannabis, retail pharmacists selling cannabis, and medical cannabis
cultivation/manufacturing. The AMA proposed cannabis instead be added to the Harrison Narcotics Tax
Act.[17] The taxation 'law' was passed despite objections of the American Medical Association. Dr.
William Creighton Woodward, legislative counsel for the AMA, objected to the taxation on the grounds
the bill was written by Du Pont lawyers without the legally-binding time to prepare their opposition to
the bill.[18] He doubted their claims about marijuana addiction, violence, and overdosage; he further
asserted because the word Spanish word Marijuana was largely unknown at the time, the medical
profession did not realize they were losing cannabis. "Marijuana is not the correct term ... Yet the burden
of this bill is placed heavily on the doctors and pharmacists of this country."[18]

After hearings with lawyers from Du Pont Chemicals and the Hearst Newspapers Group, the taxation
was passed on the grounds of 'differing' reports[19] and hearings.[20] Anslinger also referred to the
International Opium Convention from 1928 included cannabis as a drug not a medicine. Proving the
power of 'influential' friends, all state legislators approved identical 'laws' against improper use of
cannabis (for ex. the Uniform State Narcotic Act). By 1951, however, spokes-models from Du Pont,
Hearst et all came up with new improved rationalizations, and the Boggs Act superseded the Marihuana
Taxation Act of 1937. In August 1954, the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 was enacted, and the
Marihuana Taxation Act was included in Subchapter A of Chapter 39 of the 1954 Code.

Operation of the act

Shortly after the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act went into effect on
October 1, 1937, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Denver City
police arrested Moses Baca for possession and Samuel Caldwell for
dealing. Baca and Caldwell's arrest made them the first marijuana
convictions under U.S. federal law for not paying the marijuana
tax. Judge Foster Symes sentenced Baca to 18 months and Caldwell
to four years in Leavenworth Penitentiary for violating the 1937
Marihuana Tax Act.
Overprint marijuana revenue stamps
After the Philippines fell to Japanese forces in 1942, the from 1937
Department of Agriculture and the US Army urged farmers to grow
fiber hemp. Tax stamps for cultivation of fiber hemp began to be
issued to farmers. Without any change in the Marihuana Tax Act, 400,000 acres (1,600 km2) were
cultivated with hemp between 1942 and 1945. The last commercial hemp fields were planted in
Wisconsin in 1957.[21]

In 1967, President Johnson's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice opined,
"The Act raises an insignificant amount of revenue and exposes an insignificant number of marijuana
transactions to public view, since only a handful of people are registered under the Act. It has become, in
effect, solely a criminal law, imposing sanctions upon persons who sell, acquire, or possess
marijuana."[22]

In 1969 in Leary v. United States, part of the Act was ruled to be unconstitutional as a violation of the
Fifth Amendment, since a person seeking the tax stamp would have to incriminate him/herself.[23][24] In
response the Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug
Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970,[25] which repealed the 1937 Act.

Etymology
Although the spelling "marijuana" is common in current use, the spelling used in the Marihuana
Taxation Act is "marihuana". "Marihuana" was the spelling used in Federal documents at the time.

In addition, the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 legitimized the use of the term "marijuana" as a label for
hemp and cannabis plants and products in the US and around the world. Prior to 1937, "marijuana" was
slang; it was not included in any official dictionaries.[26] The word marijuana is probably of Mexican
origin. Mexico passed prohibition for export to the US in 1925 following the International Opium
Convention.[27] In the years leading up to the taxation act, it was in common use in the United States,
"smoked like tobacco", and called "ganjah", or "ganja".[28][29]

The La Guardia Committee Report

The only authoritative voice that opposed Anslinger's campaign against cannabis was that of New York
Mayor, Fiorello La Guardia, who appointed in 1938 a commission of investigation, and in 1944 strongly
objected to Anslinger's campaign with the La Guardia Committee.[30]

See also
Legal history of cannabis in the United States
 Hemp for Victory (1942) a United States Department of Agriculture war-time film encouraging
farmers to grow hemp suitable for U.S. Navy hawser requirements.
Reefer Madness, propagandistic film of 1936.
La Guardia Committee, the first in depth study into the effects of smoking marijuana.

References
1. For repeal, see section 1101(b)(3), Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970,
Pub. L. No. 91-513, 84 Stat. 1236, 1292 (Oct. 27, 1970) (repealing the Marihuana Tax Act which had
been codified in Subchapter A of Chapter 39 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954).
2. Harry J. Anslinger, U. S. Commissioner of Narcotics and Will Oursler : The Murderers, the story of
the narcotic gangs, Pages: 541-554, 1961 (http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/history/murd3.htm)
3. ROOSEVELT ASKS NARCOTIC WAR AID, 1935 (http://www.druglibrary.net/schaffer/History/e1930/r
ooseveltasks.htm)
4. David P. West: Fiber Wars: The Extinction of Kentucky Hemp chapter 8 (http://www.gametec.com/he
mp/fiberwars/chp8fr.html)
5. STATEMENT OF DR. A. H. WRIGHT, 1938 (http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/mhc3.ht
m)
6. H.T. NUGENT: COMMERCIALIZED HEMP (1934-35 CROP) in the STATE OF MINNESOTA (http://w
ww.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/nugent1.htm)
7. French, Laurence; Magdaleno Manzanárez (2004). NAFTA & neocolonialism: comparative criminal,
human & social justice (https://books.google.com/books?id=4ozF1Yg-c4MC&pg=PA129). University
Press of America. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-7618-2890-7.
8. Mitchell Earlywine (2005). Understanding marijuana: a new look at the scientific evidence (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=r9wPbxMAG8cC&pg=PA24). Oxford University Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-
19-518295-8.
9. Peet, Preston (2004). Under the influence: the disinformation guide to drugs (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=uC0_YznYjScC&pg=PA55). The Disinformation Company. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-932857-
00-9.
10. Sterling Evans (2007). Bound in twine: the history and ecology of the henequen-wheat complex for
Mexico and the American and Canadian Plains, 1880-1950 (https://books.google.com/books?id=_wF
kZgyuGFAC&pg=PA27). Texas A&M University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-58544-596-7.
11. Lyster H. Dewey and Jason L. Merrill Hemp Hurds as Paper-Making Material (https://www.gutenberg.
org/ebooks/17855) USDA Bulletin No. 404, Washington, D.C., October 14, 1916, p.25
12. "Hayo M.G. van der Werf : Hemp facts and hemp fiction" (https://web.archive.org/web/201107111623
33/http://www.hempfood.com/iha/iha01213.html). Hempfood.com. Archived from the original (http://w
ww.hempfood.com/iha/iha01213.html) on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
13. "Michael Karus: European Hemp Industry 2002 Cultivation, Processing and Product Lines. Journal of
Industrial Hemp Volume 9 Issue 2 2004, Taylor & Francis, London". Informaworld.com.
14. Prof. L. Trossarelli: -the history of nylon, Prof. L. Trossarelli (http://www.caimateriali.org/index.php?id
=32)
15. Wolfe, Audra J. (2008). "Nylon: A Revolution in Textiles" (https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/
magazine/nylon-a-revolution-in-textiles). Chemical Heritage Magazine. 26 (3). Retrieved 20 March
2018.
16. American Chemical Society: THE FIRST NYLON PLANT. 1995 (https://www.acs.org/content/dam/ac
sorg/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/carotherspolymers/first-nylon-plant-historical-resource.pd
f)
17. "Statement of Dr. William C. Woodward, Legislative Counsel, American Medical Association" (http://
www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/hemp/taxact/woodward.htm). Retrieved 2006-03-25.
18. Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate, 75c 2s. HR6906. Library of Congress transcript. July 12, 1937
19. The Marijuana Tax Act, Reports (http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/t10a.htm)
20. The Marijuana Tax Act (http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/taxact.htm)
21. David P. West:Hemp and Marijuana:Myths & Realities (http://www.naihc.org/hemp_information/conte
nt/hemp.mj.html)
22. Balancing the Grass Account (http://www.druglibrary.net/special/king/dhu/dhu12.htm)
23. Timothy Leary v. United States, 395 U.S. 6, 89 S. Ct. 1532 (1969) (http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffe
r/History/e1960/learyvus.htm)
24. Kriho, Laura (2013-10-31). "Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 rises from the dead - Boulder Weekly" (http://
www.boulderweekly.com/features/weed-between-the-lines/marihuana-tax-act-of-1937-rises-from-the-
dead/). Retrieved 2016-09-11.
25. Pub.L. 91–513 (https://uslaw.link/citation/us-law/public/91/513), 84 Stat. 1236 (http://legislink.org/us/s
tat-84-1236), enacted October 27, 1970
26. Webster's New International Dictionary, p. 1318, G. & C. Merriam Company (1921).
27. "MEXICO BANS MARIHUANA.; To Stamp Out Drug Plant Which Crazes Its Addicts" (https://www.nyt
imes.com/1925/12/29/archives/mexico-bans-marihuana-to-stamp-out-drug-plant-which-crazes-its.ht
ml). New York Times. New York City. December 29, 1925.
28. The American Agriculturist Family Cyclopaedia, 751 Broadway, New York, copyright:1888, by A. L.
Burt
29. Webster's New International Dictionary, 1921, published by G.& C. Merriam Co., Springfield
Massachusetts
30. The La Guardia Committee Report (http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/lag/lagmenu.ht
m)

Further reading
The Puzzle of the Social Origins of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/8000
89) John F. Galliher, Allynn Walker Social Problems, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Feb., 1977), pp. 367–376
Samuel R. Caldwell (http://www.marijuana-tax-stamps.com/samuel-caldwell.php), First Person Jailed
for the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.
William B. McAllister, "Harry Anslinger Saves the World: National Security Imperatives and the 1937
Marihuana Tax Act," The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs 33, no. 1 (Spring 2019): 37-62. (https://
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/702692)

External links
Full Text of the Marihuana Tax Act as passed in 1937 (http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxac
t/mjtaxact.htm)
Marijuana Tax Stamps: History of the Marihuana Tax Act with photos of government issued tax
stamps (http://www.herbalsmokecafe.com/marijuana-tax-stamps.html)
Full transcripts of the congressional hearings for the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 (http://www.druglibra
ry.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/taxact.htm)

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