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The History of Medicinal Cannabis
Background
As early as 2737 B.C., the mystical Emperor Shen Neng of China was prescribing
marijuana tea for the treatment of gout, rheumatism, malaria and, oddly enough, poor
memory. The drug's popularity as a medicine spread throughout Asia, the Middle East
and down the eastern coast of Africa, and certain Hindu sects in India used marijuana
for religious purposes and stress relief. Ancient physicians prescribed marijuana for
everything from pain relief to earache to childbirth.
In terms of American history, it was reported that in 1492 Christopher Columbus
brought cannabis as rope of hemp into the New World. In 1619, Jamestown colony law
declared that all settlers were required to grow cannabis. George Washington grew
cannabis for fiber production at Mount Vernon as his primary crop.
By the late 18th century, early editions of American medical journals showed
recommendations of hemp seeds and roots for the treatment of inflamed skin,
incontinence and venereal disease. Irish doctor William O'Shaughnessy first
popularized marijuana's medical use in England and America. As a physician with the
British East India Company, he found marijuana eased the pain of rheumatism and was
helpful against discomfort and nausea in cases of rabies, cholera and tetanus.
The change in American attitudes toward marijuana came at the end of
the 19th century, when between 2% and 5% of the U.S. population was
unknowingly addicted to morphine, a popular secret ingredient in patent
medicines. To prevent more of the country from morphine addiction, the
government introduced the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906, creating the
Food and Drug Administration. While it didn't apply to marijuana and
merely brought the distribution of opium and morphine under a doctors'
control, the regulation of chemical substances was a major shift in
American drug policy.
It wasn't until 1914 that drug use was defined as a crime, under the Harrison Act. To
get around states' rights issues, the act used a tax to regulate opium- and coca-derived
drugs; it levied a tax on nonmedical uses of the drugs that was much higher than the
cost of the drugs themselves, and punished anyone using the drugs without paying the
tax. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 made possession or transfer of cannabis illegal
throughout the United States under federal law, excluding medical and industrial uses,
in which an expensive excise tax was required. Annual fees for the tax were $24 for
importers, manufacturers, and cultivators of cannabis, $1 annually for medical and
research purposes, and $3 annually for industrial uses. Detailed cannabis sale logs were
required to keep record of cannabis sales. Cannabis could be sold to any person who
has previously paid the tax at $1 per ounce or fraction thereof; however, it was $100
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per ounce or fraction thereof if sold to any person who had not registered and paid the
special tax.
With an exception during World War II,
when the government planted huge
hemp crops to supply naval rope needs
and make up for Asian hemp supplies
controlled by the Japanese, marijuana
was criminalized and harsher penalties
were applied. In the 1950s Congress
passed the Boggs Act and the Narcotics
Control Act, which laid down mandatory
sentences for drug offenders, including
marijuana possessors and distributors.
In 1969, the Supreme Court held the Marijuana Tax Act to be unconstitutional since it
violated the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. In response, Congress
repealed the Marijuana Tax Act and passed the Controlled Substances Act as Title II of
the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970.
Despite an easing of marijuana laws in the 1970s, the Reagan Administration's get-
tough drug policies the following decade applied to marijuana as well. Still, the long-
term trend has been toward relaxation. Since California became the first state to
legalize medical marijuana in 1996, more than a dozen states have followed.
In October 2009, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. directed federal prosecutors to
back away from pursuing cases against medical marijuana patients, signaling a broad
policy shift that drug reform advocates interpret as the first step toward legalization of
the drug. The government's top lawyer said that in the 14 states with some provisions
for medical marijuana use, federal prosecutors should focus only on cases involving
higher-level drug traffickers, money launderers or people who use the state laws as a
cover.
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Medical Use of Marijuana
In 1978, Robert Randall sued the federal government for arresting him for using
cannabis to treat his glaucoma. The judge ruled Randall needed cannabis for medical
purposes and required the Food and Drug Administration set up a program to grow
cannabis on a farm at the University of Mississippi and to distribute 300 cannabis
cigarettes a month to Randall. In 1992, George H. W. Bush discontinued the program
after Randall tried to make AIDS patients eligible for the program. At the time, thirteen
people were already enrolled and were allowed to continue receiving cannabis
cigarettes; today the government still ships cannabis cigarettes to seven people. Irvin
Rosenfeld, who became eligible to receive cannabis from the program in 1982 to treat
rare bone tumors, urged the George W. Bush administration to reopen the program;
however, he was unsuccessful.
In 1972, 1995, and 2002, petitions for cannabis rescheduling in the United States were
filed to remove cannabis from the "Schedule I" category of tightly-restricted drugs that
have no medical use, as the Controlled Substance Act allows the executive branch to
decriminalize medical and recreational use of cannabis without any action by Congress
depending on the findings of the Secretary of the United States Department of Health
and Human Services on certain scientific and medical issues specified by the Act.
DEA and NIDA opposition prevented any scientific studies of medical marijuana for
more than a decade, but in the 1990s, activists and doctors were energized by seeing
marijuana help dying AIDS patients. A study of smoked marijuana at the University of
California, San Francisco, under Dr. Donald Abrams was approved after five years.
Further research followed, particularly due to a ten million dollar research appropriation
by the California legislature. The University of California coordinates this research.
However, there are still significant barriers, unique among Schedule I substances, to
conducting medical marijuana research in the US. Many years of work remain before
sufficient research could be approved and conducted to meet the FDA's standards for
approving marijuana as a new prescription medicine.
Montana Medical Marijuana Law
The State of Montana legalized the medical use of marijuana in 2004 by a 62%
referendum vote. The Montana Medical Marijuana Program, administered by the
Department of Health and Human Services licenses and permits a patient to grow six
(6) plants and have in their possession one (1) usable ounce. The patient may also
select a caregiver, a person who may also grow six (6) plants and possess one (1)
usable ounce for that patient.
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Montana’s Medical Marijuana Industry as of July 31, 2010
A medical cannabis license is commonly known as a “green card.” There are currently
more than 20,000 patients licensed by the state of Montana. Enrollment in the program
steadily increased in the first four years of the Initiative’s passage, but has escalated
sharply in the recent months. Since November 2009, there has been a more than
100% increase in total patient count.
The Montana Department of Health and Human Services projects that the number of
medical marijuana licenses could be 50,000 by 2013. Other projections suggest that as
much as 10% of the population, or 100,000 marijuana licenses, will be issued licenses
in Montana by the year 2015.
How Medical Marijuana is Sold in Montana
Licensed patients may grow their own plants or they may designate another person as
their registered caregiver to grow on their behalf. There are currently almost 4,000
licensed caregivers in the State. The majority of caregivers (approximately 85%) are
small hobbyist growers, mom and pop operations, with four (4) or fewer patients. Just
a handful of large professional caregiver/growers, only 5% of registered caregivers,
have more than fifteen (15) patients. The current number of legal “plants in the
ground” is estimated to be less than 40% of the current demand in Montana. This
results in undesirable black market product being sold to patients.
Montanans have created a number of new business models to embrace this new
industry. These include growing co-ops, contract growing, and storefront distribution
sites. Due to Montana’s extreme climate, most medical marijuana farm facilities in
Montana are inside grow facilities. Some farm facilities produce a minimal number of
strains while others may carry between 20-25 different strains. In Montana, outside
growing results in one crop per year, while inside grows can anticipate 3 to 4 crops per
year.
Many caregivers utilize home delivery to patients. While there are some state-wide
home delivery caregiver services, most are local and regional due to the long traveling
distances within the State. Some caregivers sell medicine to patients in storefront
locations. These storefronts may ONLY serve medicine to patients who have selected a
representative of that storefront as their caregiver.
Unlike some other states, the storefront is NOT an open dispensary that can serve any
patients holding a license.
No marijuana product of any kind may cross ANY state line.
