National Commission on Marijuana and Drug

After his election Nixon created the President s National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. In 1970, Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the first comprehensive narcotics control law since 1914. The CSA systematically arranged drugs in schedules according to an assessment of addictive potential, dangerousness of effects, and pervasiveness of abuse. 

As U.S. involvement in Vietnam increases, a growing number of GIs are exposed to the temptations of cheap marijuana and heroin. On their return, some veterans help swell the growing numbers of street drug addicts. In his campaign for the presidency, Richard Nixon calls for a war on drugs. Soon after his election he forms the President s National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. 

Laws about marijuana have been the subject of controversy for many years. When marijuana use spread to the middle class in the 1960s and 1970s, public attitudes toward it softened. In 1970, President Richard Nixon created the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. In 1972, the Commission issued its report, "Marijuana A Signal of Misunderstanding." This report recommended the elimination of criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana.,—... 

After the enactment of the CSA there followed a period of uncertainty as the use of illicit drugs increased. Because of conflicts between the philosophy of enforcement and that of treatment or toleration, a presidential National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (NCMDA) was established in 1972. Its task was to report within a year on marijuana, its highest priority, and within 2 years on drug abuse in general. The committee s first report recommended that possession of small amounts of marijuana should be decriminalized (i.e., a finable offense not subject to incarceration). The final report appeared in March 1973 and reconfirmed its original recommendation. Despite these recommendations, President Nixon remained opposed to decriminalization. 

Ellinwood, E.H., Jr. Amphetamine and stimulant drugs. In Drug Use in America Problem in Perspective. Seeond report of the National Commission on Marijuana and Dmg Abuse, Vol. I. Washington, DC ... 

Probably the most comprehensive of later studies on marijuana is the First Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, appropriately titled "Marihuana —... 

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