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Harry Anslinger, U.S. Commissioner of Narcotics (testifying in 1937 to Congress
on why Marihuana should be made illegal).
Year: 1937 Marihuana Tax Act
signed (effective October 1, 1937)
Full Text of the Marihuana Tax Act as passed in 1937
Introduction (in italics) by David Solomon
The popular and therapeutic uses of hemp preparations are not categorically
prohibited by the provisions of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. The apparent
purpose of the Act is to levy a token tax of approximately one dollar on all
buyers, sellers, importers, growers, physicians, veterinarians, and any other
persons who deal in marijuana commercially, prescribe it professionally, or
possess it.
The deceptive nature of that apparent purpose begins to come into focus when
the reader reaches the penalty provisions of the Act: five years' imprisonment,
a $2,000 fine, or both seem rather excessive for evading a sum (provided for by
the purchase of a Treasury Department tax stamp) that, even if collected, would
produce only a minute amount of government revenue. (Fines and jail sentences
were f urther increased to the point of the cruel and unusual in subsequent
federal drug legislation that incorporated the Marijuana Tax Act. It is now
possible under the later version of the Act to draw a life sentence for selling
just one marihuana cigarette to a minor.) One might wonder, too, why a small
clause, amounting to an open-ended catchall provision, was inserted into the
Act, authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to grant the Commissioner (then
Harry Anslinger) and agents of the Treasury Department's Bureau of Narcotics
absolute administrative regulatory, and police powers in the enforcement of the
law. The message becomes entirely clear when, having finished the short text of
the Act itself, one proceeds to the sixty-odd pages of administrative and
enforcement procedures established by the infamous Regulations No. 1. That
regulation, not fully reproduced here, calls for a maze of affidavits,
depositions, sworn statements, and constant Treasury Department police
inspection in every instance that marijuana is bought, sold, used, raised,
distributed, given away, and so on. Physicians who wish to purchase the
one-dollar tax stamp so that they might prescribe it for their patients are
forced to report such use to the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in sworn and
attested detail, revealing the name and address of the patient, the nature of
his ailment, the dates and amounts prescribed, and so on. If a physician for any
reason fails to do so immediately, both he and his patient are liable to
imprisonment-and a heavy fine. Obviously, the details of that regulation make it
far too risky for anyone to have anything to do with marijuana in any way
whatsoever.
Regulations No. 1 was more than an invasion of the traditional right of
privacy between patient and physician; it was a hopelessly involved set of rules
that were obviously designed not merely to discourage but to prohibit the
medical and popular use of marijuana. In addition to the Marihuana Tax Act and
Regulations No. 1, the Bureau of Narcotics prepared a standard bill for
marihuana that more than forty state legislatures enacted. This bill made
possession and use of marihuana illegal per se, and so reinforced the federal
act.
U. S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT
BUREAU OF NARCOTICS
REGULATIONS No. 1
RELATING TO THE
IMPORTATION, MANUFACTURE, PRODUCTION
COMPOUNDING, SALE, DEALING IN, DISPENSING
PRESCRIBING, ADMINISTERING, AND
GIVING AWAY OF
MARIHUANA
UNDER THE
ACT OF AUGUST 2, 1937
PUBLIC, No. 238, 75TH CONGRESS
NARCOTIC-INTERNAL REVENUE REGULATIONS
JOINT MARIHUANA REGULATIONS MADE BY THE
COMMISSIONER OF NARCOTICS AND THE
COMMISSIONER OF
INTERNAL REVENUE WITH THE APPROVAL OF
THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
EFFECTIVE DATE, OCTOBER 1, 1937
LAW AND REGULATIONS RELATING TO THE IMPORTATION, MANUFACTURE, PRODUCTION,
COMPOUNDING, SALE, DEALING IN, DISPENSING, PRESCRIBING, ADMINISTERING, AND
GIVING AWAY OF MARIHUANA
THE LAW
(Act of Aug. 2, 1937, Public 238, 75th Congress)
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled, That when used in this Act,
(a) The term "person" means an individual, a partnership, trust, association,
company, or corporation and includes an officer or employee of a trust,
association, company, or corporation, or a member or employee of a partnership,
who, as such officer, employee, or member, is under a duty to perform any act in
respect of which any violation of this Act occurs.
(b) The term "marihuana" means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L.,
whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of
such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or
preparation of such plant, its seeds, or resin- but shall not include the mature
stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the
seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture,
or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom),
fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of
germination.
(c) The term "producer" means any person who (1) plants, cultivates, or in
any way facilitates the natural growth of marihuana; or (2) harvests and
transfers or makes use of marihuana.
(d) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Treasury and the term
"collector means collector of internal revenue.
(e) The term "transfer" or "transferred" means any type of disposition
resulting in a change of possession but shall not indude a transfer to a common
carrier for the purpose of transporting marihuana.
SEC. 2. (a) Every person who imports, manufactures, produces, compounds,
sells, deals in, dispenses, prescribes, administers, or gives away marihuana
shall ( 1 ) within fifteen days after the effective date of this Act, or (2)
before engaging after the expiration of such fifteen-day period in any of the
above mentioned activities, and (3) thereafter, on or before July 1 of each
year, pay the following special taxes respectively:
(1) Importers, manufacturers, and compounders of marihuana, $24 per year.
(2) Producers of marihuana (except those included within subdivision (4) of
this subsection), $1 per year, or fraction thereof, during which they engage in
such activity.
(3) Physicians, dentists, veterinary surgeons, and other practitioners who
distribute, dispense, give away, administer, or prescribe marihuana to patients
upon whom they in the course of their professional practice are in attendance,
$1 per year or fraction thereof during which they engage in any of such
activities.
(4) Any person not registered as an importer, manufacturer, producer, or
compounder who obtains and uses marihuana in a laboratory for the purpose of
research, instruction, or analysis, or who produces marihuana for any such
purpose, $1 per year, or fraction thereof, during which he engages in such
activities.
(5) Any person who is not a physician, dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other
practitioner and who deals in, dispenses, or gives away marihuana, $3 per year:
Provided, That any person who has registered and paid the special tax as an
importer, manufacturer, compounder, or producer, as required by subdivisions ( 1
) and (2) of this subsection, may deal in, dispense, or give away marihuana
imported, manufactured, compounded, or produced by him without further payment
of the tax imposed by this section.
(b) Where a tax under subdivision (1) or (5) is payable on July 1 of any year
it shall be computed for one year; where any such tax is payable on any other
day it shall be computed proportionately from the first day of the month in
which the liability for the tax accrued to the following July 1.
(c) In the event that any person subject to a tax imposed by this section
engages in any of the activities enumerated in subsection (a) of this section at
more than one place, such person shall pay the tax with respect to each such
place.
(d) Except as otherwise provided, whenever more than one of the activities
enumerated in subsection (a) of this section is carried on by the same person at
the same time, such person shall pay the tax for each such activity, according
to the respective rates prescribed.
(e) Any person subject to the tax imposed by this section shall, upon payment
of such tax, register his name or style and his place or places of business with
the collector of the district in which such place or places of business are
located.
(f) Collectors are authorized to furnish, upon written request, to any person
a certified copy of the names of any or all persons who may be listed in their
respective collection districts as special taxpayers under this section, upon
payment of a fee of $1 for each one hundred of such names or fraction thereof
upon such copy so requested.
SEC. 3. (a) No employee of any person who has paid the special tax and
registered, as required by section 2 of this Act, acting within the scope of his
employment, shall be required to register and pay such special tax.
(b) An officer or employee of the United States, any State, Territory, the
District of Columbia, or insular possession, or political subdivision, who, in
the exercise of his official duties, engages in any of the activities enumerated
in section 2 of this Act, shall not be required to register or pay the special
tax, but his right to this exemption shall be evidenced in such manner as the
Secretary may by regulations prescribe.
SEC. 4. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person required to register and pay
the special tax under the provisions of section 2 to import, manufacture,
produce, compound, sell, deal in, dispense, distribute, prescribe, administer,
or give away marihuana without having so registered and paid such tax.
(b) In any suit or proceeding to enforce the liability imposed by this
section or section 2, if proof is made that marihuana was at any time growing
upon land under the control of the defendant, such proof shall be presumptive
evidence that at such time the defendant was a producer and liable under this
section as well as under section 2.
SEC. 5. It shall be unlawful for any person who shall not have paid the
special tax and registered, as required by section 2, to send, ship, carry,
transport, or deliver any marihuana within any Territory, the District of
Columbia, or any insular possession, or from any State, Territory, the District
of Columbia, any insular possession of the United States, or the Canal Zone,
into any other State, Territory, the District of Columbia, or insular possession
of the United States: Provided, That nothing contained in this section shall
apply to any common carrier engaged in transporting marihuana; or to any
employee of any person who shall have registered and paid the special tax as
required by section 2 while acting within the scope of his employment; or to any
person who shall deliver marihuana which has been prescribed or dispensed by a
physician, dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner registered under
section 2, who has been employed to prescribe for the particular patient
receiving such marihuana; or to any United States, State, county, municipal,
District, Territorial, or insular officer or official acting within the scope of
his official duties.
SEC. 6. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person, whether or not required to
pay a special tax and register under section 2, to transfer marihuana, except in
pursuance of a written order of the person to whom such marihuana is
transferred, on a form to be issued in blank for that purpose by the Secretary.
(b) Subject to such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, nothing
contained in this section shall apply:
( 1 ) To a transfer of marihuana to a patient by a physician, dentist,
veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner registered under section 2, in the
course of his professional practice only: Provided, That such physician,
dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner shall keep a record of all
such marihuana transferred, showing the amount transferred and the name and
address of the patient to whom such marihuana is transferred, and such record
shall be kept for a period of two years from the date of the transfer of such
marihuana, and subject to inspection as provided in section 11.
(2) To a transfer of marihuana, made in good faith by a dealer to a consumer
under and in pursuance of a written prescription issued by a physician, dentist,
veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner registered under section 2: Provided,
That such prescription shall be dated as of the day on which signed and shall be
signed by the physician, dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner who
issues the same; Provided further, That such dealer shall preserve such
prescription for a period of two years from the day on which such prescription
is filled so as to be readily accessible for inspection by the officers, agents,
employees, and officials mentioned in section 11.
(3) To the sale, exportation, shipment, or delivery of marihuana by any
person within the United States, any Territory, the District of Columbia, or any
of the insular possessions of the United States, to any person in any foreign
country regulating the entry of marihuana, if such sale, shipment, or delivery
of marihuana is made in accordance with such regulations for importation into
such foreign country as are prescribed by such foreign country, such regulations
to be promulgated from time to time by the Secretary of State of the United
States.
(4) To a transfer of marihuana to any officer or employee of the United
States Government or of any State, Territorial, District, county, or municipal
or insular government lawfully engaged in making purchases thereof for the
various departments of the Army and Navy, the Public Health Service, and for
Government, State, Territorial, District, county, or municipal or insular
hospitals or prisons
(S) To a transfer of any seeds of the plant Cannabis sativa L. to any person
registered under section 2.
(c) The Secretary shall cause suitable forms to be prepared for the purposes
before mentioned and shall cause them to be distributed to collectors for sale.
The price at which such forms shall be sold by said collectors shall be fixed by
the Secretary but shall not exceed 2 cents each. Whenever any collector shall
sell any of such forms he shall cause the date of sale, the name and address of
the proposed vendor, the name and address of the purchaser, and the amount of
marihuana ordered to be plainly written or stamped thereon before delivering the
same.
(d) Each such order form sold by a collector shall be prepared by him and
shall include an original and two copies, any one of which shall be admissible
in evidence as an original. The original and one copy shall be given by the
collector to the purchaser thereof. The original shall in turn be given by the
purchaser thereof to any person who shall, in pursuance thereof, transfer
marihuana to him and shall be preserved by such person for a period of two years
so as to be readily accessible for inspection by any officer, agent, or employee
mentioned in section 11. The copy given to the purchaser by the collector shall
be retained by the purchaser and preserved for a period of two years so as to be
readily accessible to inspection by any officer, agent, or employee mentioned in
section 11. The second copy shall be preserved in the records of the collector.
SEC. 7. (a) There shall be levied, collected, and paid upon all transfers of
marihuana which are required by section 6 to be carried out in pursuance of
written order forms taxes at the following rates:
(1) Upon each transfer to any person who has paid the special tax and
registered under section 2 of this Act, $1 per ounce of marihuana or fraction
thereof
(2) Upon each transfer to any person who has not paid the special tax and
registered under section 2 of this Act, $100 per ounce of marihuana or fraction
thereof.
(b) Such tax shall be paid by the transferee at the time of securing each
order form and shall be in addition to the price of such form. Such transferee
shall be liable for the tax imposed by this section but in the event that the
transfer is made in violation of section 6 without an order form and without
payment of the transfer tax imposed by this section, the transferor shall also
be liable for such tax.
(c) Payment of the tax herein provided shall be represented by appropriate
stamps to be provided by the Secretary and said stamps shall be affixed by the
collector or his representative to the original order form.
(d) All provisions of law relating to the engraving, issuance, sale,
accountability, cancelation, and destruction of tax-paid stamps provided for in
the internal-revenue laws shall, insofar as applicable and not inconsistent with
this Act, be extended and made to apply to stamps provided for in this section.
(e) All provisions of law (including penalties) applicable in respect of the
taxes imposed by the Act of December 17, 1914 (38 Stat. 785; U. S. C., 1934 ed.,
title 26, secs. 1040-- 1061, 1383-1391), as amended, shall, insofar as not
inconsistent with this Act, be applicable in respect of the taxes imposed by
this Act.
SEC. 8. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person who is a transferee required
to pay the transfer tax imposed by section 7 to acquire or otherwise obtain any
marihuana without having paid such tax; and proof that any person shall have had
in his possession any marihuana and shall have failed, after reasonable notice
and demand by the collector, to produce the order form required by section 6 to
be retained by him, shall be presumptive evidence of guilt under this section
and of liability for the tax imposed by section 7.
(b) No liability shall be imposed by virtue of this section upon any duly
authorized officer of the Treasury Department engaged in the enforcement of this
Act or upon any duly authorized officer of any State, or Territory, or of any
political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia, or of any insular
possession of the United States, who shall be engaged in the enforcement of any
law or municipal ordinance dealing with the production, sale, prescribing,
dispensing, dealing in, or distributing of marihuana.
SEC. 9. (a) Any marihuana which has been imported, manufactured, compounded,
transferred, or produced in violation of any of the provisions of this Act shall
be subject to seizure and forfeiture and, except as inconsistent with the
provisions of this Act, all the provisions of internal-revenue laws relating to
searches, seizures, and forfeitures are extended to include marihuana.
(b) Any marihuana which may be seized by the United States Government from
any person or persons charged with any violation of this Act shall upon
conviction of the person or persons from whom seized be confiscated by and
forfeited to the United States.
(c) Any marihuana seized or coming into the possession of the United States
in the enforcement of this Act, the owner or owners of which are unknown, shall
be confiscated by and forfeited to the United States.
(d) The Secretary is hereby directed to destroy any marihuana confiscated by
and forfeited to the United States under this section or to deliver such
marihuana to any department, bureau, or other agency of the United States
Government, upon proper application therefor under such regulations as may be
prescribed by the Secretary.
SEC. 10. (a) Every person liable to any tax imposed by this act shall keep
such books and records, render under oath such statements, make such returns,
and comply with such rules and regulations as the Secretary may from time to
time prescribe.
(b) Any person who shall be registered under the provisions of section 2 in
any internal- revenue district shall, whenever required so to do by the
collector of the district, render to the collector a true and correct statement
or return, verified by affidavits, setting forth the quantity of marihuana
received or harvested by him during such period immediately preceding the demand
of the collector, not exceeding three months, as the said collector may fix and
determine. If such person is not solely a producer, he shall set forth in such
statement or return the names of the persons from which said marihuana was
received, the quantity in each instance received from such persons, and the date
when received. |
