A Curious Relationship Carolene Fouty & Alayna Mickles - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Chronicles of America and Marijuana: A Curious Relationship Carolene Fouty & Alayna Mickles

Historical Context ● Marijuana first entered the United States through Mexican Immigrants after the Mexican Revolution in 1910. ■ Americans, of course, demonized Mexican immigrants because of their association with the drug ● Critics exaggerated the effects claiming it caused users “to commit murder, theft, and other acts of violence” ■ The film Reefer Madness was part of a propaganda campaign that claimed marijuana made users deranged ● As marijuana spread throughout the US, States used their police powers to outlaw this mind altering drug This is what it ● The first federal government action was in 1932 with the was like to buy Uniform State Narcotics Act, which urged states to make weed in the 1970s marijuana and other drugs illegal

Historical Context ( Cont. ) ● In 1937, the House of Representatives held a hearing on the issue where only the American Medical Association opposed outlawing marijuana because it created a mild intoxication ● In 1937 Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act ■ By the end of the 1930s most states and congress had criminalized marijuana ● In 1970 Nixon passed the Controlled Substances Act , which gave the federal government the ability to enforce and punish marijuana dealers and consumers as well as categorized marijuana with cocaine and heroin ● In the 1970s Gallup conducted a poll only 12% of people thought it should be legal

Current Developments ● During the 70s people’s attitude toward pot changed and a group formed the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws ● California become the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996 ● In 2012 Washington and Colorado legalized recreational marijuana ● In 2013 Gallup polls noted that most Americans supported legalizing pot

Differences Among Ideologies Republicans Democrats Libertarians (Conservatives) (Liberal) - Generally anti-legalization of - Platform opposes substance marijuana abuse, but overall the party seems - Some are pro-legalization while - Desire stricter government lenient regarding marijuana others are pro-decriminalization control over marijuana - Similar to democrats in that a - General idea is that marijuana is - Some believe the states should majority support legalization or a relatively harmless substance, determine the legality of usage decriminalization therefore inoffensive Gallup polls have found that for the last few decades, approval for the legalization of marijuana has steadily increased among the three major political associations within the United States.

Breaking News This side note is unrelated, but Canada is the second country (behind Uruguay) to make weed legal as of October 17, 2018