Memories, reflections and myths: the American marihuana commission

The National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse was established by the Congress of the United States as a part of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. From its inception, the Commission was never given legislative power; rather its function was to study the complex issues involved in marihuana use and related social responses. Given the structures of limited time and budget, the Commission was compelled to limit its activity to separating fact from fiction, reality from myth, and to achieve a balanced judgement on the marihuana issue. The first report was an attempt to clarify the essential issues and concerns of American society regarding marihuana. This knowledge base was then utilized to formulate a reasonable societal response. At the commencement of the Commission's activities it became clear that the marihuana issue was indeed a "signal of misunderstanding". In order to clarify this polarized and politicized phenomenon, a national survey of beliefs, attitudes and experiences with marihuana was undertaken. Compelling findings regarding patterns of use from the survey will be developed in the paper. In order to effectively address the social issues involved the main thrusts of the marihuana investigation were: 1. Use of the drug and its effects; 2. The impact of marihuana use on public health and welfare, on criminal and/or aggressive behavior, and on the dominant social order. In order to formulate an appropriate social policy regarding the use and control of marihuana in the United States for 1972, the Commission collected and analyzed data on the current societal response to the worldwide use of cannabis. The paper will discuss in some detail the processes involved in obtaining and synthesizing these data. The Commission's real agony began as it attempted to formulate a proposed national policy regarding marihuana use and control. In part, this dealt with the tension existing in American society between individual liberties and the need for reasonable societal restraints. Underlying the Commission's social policy recommendations was the belief that the State is obliged to justify restraints on individual behavior. In its investigations the Commission found that the existing system of controls was not supported by the current concerns of public opinion or scientific fact. In order to express its strong concern for the irresponsible use of cannabis, the Commission chose a social control policy aimed at discouraging use. The processes of choosing and implementing this option of discouragement of use by the partial prohibition model will be explicated in the paper. A hallmark of this policy was the recommendation for decriminalization of possession of marihuana for private use. (Author' s abstract)