Minggu, 09 Maret 2014

[Sejarah Ganja Illegal] Peneliti: Ganja Obat Mujarab Sejak Ribuan Tahun

[Sejarah Ganja Illegal]
Peneliti: Ganja Obat Mujarab Sejak Ribuan Tahun

“Ganja, 12.000 tahun menyuburkan peradaban manusia”.

Petikan kalimat yang selalu terngiang mengingat sandangan status hukum ganja saat ini, berarti sudah 10.000 tahun kiprah ganja bersama manusia sebelum peradaban modern mulai mencatat waktu masehi, dan kini sudah mulai dilegalkan di beberapa negara-negara bahkan di beberapa negara bagian Amerika, termasuk Washington dan Colorado.

Otak manusia sering disebut-sebut sebagai daerah terakhir yang paling sulit untuk dijelajahi di seluruh alam semesta. Ketika hadiah nobel diberikan kepada Camillo Golgi dan Ramon Cajal pada tahun 1906, umat manusia masih jauh dari memahami bagaimana cara kerja sistem syaraf.

Nobel yang diberikan pun kontroversial karena kedua ilmuwan tadi masih mengemukan pendapat yang masing-masingnya berbeda tentang struktur syaraf manusia.

Kedatangan mikroskop elektron pada dekade 1950-an baru memberi titik terang dengan menguatkan pendapat Cajal dan rekannya Sherrington bahwa sel syaraf adalah satuan kerja terkecil yang menyusun sistem syaraf manusia.

Ganja Miliki Molekul Misterius “Endocannabinoid”

Hingga tahun 1990-an awal, seluruh ahli syaraf di dunia masih berpikir bahwa sinyal pada otak manusia dewasa hanya bergerak dalam satu arah saja, dari sel syaraf pre-sinaptik ke sel syaraf post-sinaptic.

Struktur Neuron

Namun penemuan di awal tahun 90-an oleh ilmuwan di Universitas Maryland di Amerika dan Universitas Rene Descartes di Paris mengisyaratkan adanya mekanisme baru dalam cara sel syaraf berkomunikasi dengan satu sama lain.

Caranya, yaitu dari sel syaraf pos-sinaps kembali ke sel syaraf pre-sinaps dengan menggunakan jasa molekul “pembawa pesan” yang bernama neurotransmitter, yaitu senyawa organik endogenus membawa sinyal di antara neuron.

Neurotransmiter terbungkus oleh vesikel sinapsis, sebelum dilepaskan bertepatan dengan datangnya potensial aksi.

Jalur kedua dalam arah komunikasi ini diberi nama DSI (depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition) atau dikenal juga dengan istilah retrogade signalling. Selama ini komunikasi dua arah antara sel syaraf diketahui hanya terjadi saat sel saraf masih dalam taraf perkembangan.

Identitas molekul pembawa pesan ini menjadi misteri hingga akhirnya pada tahun 2001, ilmuwan dari Universitas California, San Fransisco dan ilmuwan dari Universitas Kanazawa, Jepang secara terpisah namun bersamaan menemukan bahwa molekul anandamide dan molekul 2-AG yang merupakan endocannabinoid sebagai molekul misterius ini.

Molekul endocannabinoid merupakan molekul pembawa pesan yang khusus menempel pada reseptor cannabinoid.

Reseptor cannabinoid sendiri merupakan salah satu reseptor jenis G-protein terbanyak di otak, reseptor ini ditemukan dengan kepadatan tinggi di bagian-bagian seperti korteks cerebral, hipokampus, hipotalamus, otak kecil (cerebellum), basal ganglia, batang otak, tulang belakang dan amygdala.

Istilah “cannabinoid” sendiri berasal dari tanaman ganja atau “cannabis” yang menghasilkan berbagai molekul aktif (sampai saat ini baru diketahui 60 jenis molekul) yang disebut fitocannabinoid atau cannabinoid dari tanaman.

Tanaman ganja adalah satu-satunya spesies tanaman yang diketahui sampai saat ini menghasilkan molekul cannabinoid, keberadaan reseptor cannabinoid yang melimpah di berbagai bagian otak manusia membuat efek ganja begitu kompleks pada kesadaran manusia.

Tanaman Obat Legendaris di Dunia

Sebelum Raphael Mechoulam yang merupakan ilmuwan dari Israel menemukan bahwa otak manusia juga menghasilkan molekul yang sama persis fungsinya dengan molekul cannabinoid dari tanaman ganja, ganja telah menjadi tanaman obat-obatan yang paling legendaris di dunia.

Ganja sudah dikenal sebagai tanaman obat dan pemulih kesehatan sejak ribuan tahun yang lampau.

Ganja pernah disebut sebagai tanaman obat dengan kegunaan terbanyak di dunia (Christian Rätsch, 2001).

Catatan mengenai ganja dalam sejarah muncul pertama kali dalam kitab pengobatan tertua di dunia, pen’ tsao ching yang berasal dari Cina.

Kitab ini merupakan kumpulan dari catatan-catatan yang dibuat oleh kaisar Shen Nung yang hidup pada masa 2900 SM.

Ganja juga disebut sebagai satu dari lima tanaman suci dalam Atharva Veda, salah satu kitab suci umat Hindu (Aldrich, 1977), sementara di Persia ganja disebut dalam kitab Zend-Avesta pada urutan pertama dari 10000 (sepuluh ribu) jenis tanaman berkhasiat obat.

Sejak Dulu Ganja Adalah Tanaman Obat

Sejarah yang panjang dari khasiat tanaman ganja bukan hanya isapan jempol dari masa lampau. Ilmuwan di seluruh dunia saat ini mulai menemukan betapa pentingnya peranan reseptor cannabinoid dan molekul endocannabinoid dalam tubuh manusia.

• Cannabinoid berperan pada sistem reproduksi (Park, McPartland & Glass, 2003)

• Pemulihan stress dan menjaga keseimbangan dalam tubuh (Di Marzo V, Melck D, Bisogno T, De Petrocellis L, 1998)

• Perlindungan sel syaraf (Panikashvili D, Mechoulam R, Beni SM, Alexandrovich A, Shohami E, 2005)

• Reaksi terhadap stimulus rasa sakit (Cravatt BF, Lichtman AH, 2004)

• Regulasi aktifitas motorik (Van der Stelt M, Di Marzo V, 2003)

• Mengontrol fase-fase tertentu pada pemrosesan memori (Wotjak CT, 2005)

• Berperan dalam modulasi respon kekebalan dan imunitas tubuh (Klein TW, Newton C, Larsen K, Lu L, Perkins I, Nong L, Friedman H, 2003; Massa F, Marsicano G, Hermann H, Cannich A, Monory K, Cravatt BF, Ferri GL, Sibaev A, Storr M, Lutz B, 2004)

• Bahkan berpengaruh juga dalam sistem kardiovaskular dan pernafasan dengan mengatur detak jantung, tekanan darah dan fungsi saluran pernafasan (Mendizabal VE, Adler-Graschinsky E, 2003)

Sifat Melupakan

Dalam mekanisme pemrosesan informasi dalam otak manusia, cannabinoid dan endocannabinoid diketahui memainkan peranan yang sangat penting.

Ketika ditemukan bahwa jalur baru pengiriman sinyal dalam otak ini juga terjadi pada otak manusia dewasa, implikasinya memicu banyak penemuan baru di dunia neurosains.

People of the Hadza ethnic group in north-central Tanzania smoking cannabis

Endocannabinoid kemudian diketahui berperan dalam proses long-term potentiation atau penguatan sinaps antar sel syaraf, sebuah proses yang penting dalam menyimpan informasi baru yang diterima oleh otak.

Pada tahun 2003, Giovanni Marsicano dari Institut Psikiatri Max Planck di Munich menemukan satu lagi peran penting molekul endocannabinoid dan reseptornya dalam salah satu proses kognitif paling penting pada otak mamalia, yaitu proses melupakan.

Giovanni menemukan bahwa tikus-tikus percobaannya yang kekurangan reseptor cannabinoid (CB1) lebih sulit melupakan rasa takut dan sakit yang muncul dari stimulus kejutan listrik yang dipasangkan dengan stimulus suara dibandingkan dengan tikus-tikus dengan jumlah reseptor CB1 yang normal.

Walaupun stimulus suara sudah tidak lagi dipasangkan dengan stimulus listrik, tikus-tikus yang kekurangan reseptor CB1 tetap menampilkan rasa takut dan rasa sakit walau hanya diberi stimulus suara. Melupakan ternyata merupakan proses kognitif yang sangat penting pada otak manusia.

Abnormalitas jumlah reseptor CB1 atau produksi molekul endocannabinoid telah menjadi hipotesis banyak ilmuwan sebagai penyebab atau faktor penting yang berpengaruh dalam kondisi-kondisi seperti stress paska trauma, fobia dan rasa sakit yang kronis.

The Hash, Marihuana & Hemp Museum is a museum located in De Wallen, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Lebih penting lagi, melupakan, juga merupakan proses yang vital ketika seseorang ingin mengingat sesuatu karena otak manusia sebenarnya menyerap semua informasi dan stimulus yang diterima lewat indera.

Tanpa mekanisme melupakan, atau gangguan pada prosesnya, manusia akan kesulitan mengingat sesuatu karena tidak tahu mana yang harus diingat dari begitu banyaknya informasi dan stimulus yang masuk ke otak.

Demikianlah sedikit cerita mengenai molekul pembawa pesan bernama endocannabinoid yang ternyata juga dihasilkan oleh hanya satu spesies tanaman di muka bumi, yaitu ganja.

Tanaman yang sepanjang sejarah telah menjadi zat terlarang yang paling banyak dikonsumsi oleh manusia di seluruh dunia sampai saat ini dimana jumlah pemakainya justru merupakan terbanyak sepanjang zaman. (Global Cannabis Regulation Model, 2004).

Informasi Penulis: Kong Ali adalah seorang pengagum ajaran marxisme-leninisme yang percaya bahwa tanaman ganja bisa menjadi salah satu jalan revolusi industri dan budaya. (ruangpsikologi/wikipedia/neuropsikologi ganja by: Kong Ali)

Memacu Kreatifitas

Relative size of varieties of Cannabis

Selain diklaim sebagai pereda rasa sakit, dan pengobatan untuk penyakit tertentu (termasuk kanker), banyak juga pihak yang menyatakan adanya lonjakan kreativitas dalam berpikir serta dalam berkarya (terutama pada para seniman dan musisi).

Berdasarkan penelitian terakhir, hal ini (lonjakan kreativitas), juga dipengaruhi oleh jenis ganja yang digunakan. Salah satu jenis ganja yang dianggap membantu kreativitas adalah hasil silangan modern “Cannabis indica” yang berasal dari India dengan “Cannabis sativa” dari Barat. Jenis ganja silangan inilah yang tumbuh di Indonesia.

Efek yang dihasilkan juga beragam terhadap setiap individu. Segolongan tertentu ada yang merasakan efek yang membuat mereka menjadi malas, sementara ada kelompok yang menjadi aktif, terutama dalam berfikir kreatif (bukan aktif secara fisik seperti efek yang dihasilkan methamphetamine).

Tidak Menyebabkan Kematian

Ganja, hingga detik ini, tidak pernah terbukti sebagai penyebab kematian maupun kecanduan. Bahkan, di masa lalu dianggap sebagai tanaman luar biasa, di mana hampir semua unsur yang ada padanya dapat dimanfaatkan untuk berbagai keperluan.

Hal ini sangat bertolak belakang dan berbeda dengan efek yang dihasilkan oleh obat-obatan terlarang dan alkohol.

Belum pernah ada penderita dan manusia yang mati akibat efek langsung dari ganja

Karena itu semua yang menyebabkan penggunanya menjadi kecanduan hingga tersiksa secara fisik, dan bahkan berbuat kekerasan maupun penipuan (aksi kriminal) untuk mendapatkan obat-obatan kimia buatan manusia itu.

Dalam penelitian ilmiah dengan metode systematic review yang membandingkan efektifitas ganja sebagai obat antiemetic didapatkan hasil ganja memang efektif sebagai obat antiemetic dibanding prochlorperazine, metoclopramide, chlorpromazine, thiethyl perazine, haloperidol, domperidone, atau alizapride.

Tetapi pengunaannya sangat dibatasi dosisnya, karena sejumlah pasien mengalami gejala efek psikotropika dari ganja yang sangat berbahaya seperti pusing, depresi, halusinasi, paranoia, dan juga arterial hypotension

Pemanfaatan Ganja Menjadi Illegal (Dilarang)

Tumbuhan ganja telah dikenal manusia sejak lama dan digunakan sebagai bahan pembuat kantung karena serat yang dihasilkannya kuat. Biji ganja juga digunakan sebagai sumber minyak.

Namun demikian, karena ganja juga dikenal sebagai sumber narkotika dan kegunaan ini lebih bernilai ekonomi, orang lebih banyak menanam untuk hal ini dan di banyak tempat disalahgunakan.

Di sejumlah negara penanaman ganja sepenuhnya dilarang. Di beberapa negara lain, penanaman ganja diperbolehkan untuk kepentingan pemanfaatan seratnya. Syaratnya adalah varietas yang ditanam harus mengandung bahan narkotika yang sangat rendah atau tidak ada sama sekali.

Belum pernah ada penderita dan manusia yang mati akibat efek langsung dari ganja.

Sebelum ada larangan ketat terhadap penanaman ganja, di Aceh daun ganja menjadi komponen sayur dan umum disajikan.

Bagi penggunanya, daun ganja kering dibakar dan dihisap seperti rokok, dan bisa juga dihisap dengan alat khusus bertabung yang disebut bong.

Juga gembar-gembor pemerintah yang seolah memiliki dasar kuat menerapkan dogma bahwa pelarangan terkait bertujuan untuk melindungi masyarakat dari “bahaya” yang tidak pernah terbukti secara gamblang.

Tak ayal gembar-gembor banyak pihak anti-narkoba ini berhasil menyembunyikan fakta-fakta ganja di balik kemasan informasi yang disebarkan oleh konspirasi ber-agenda.

Sudah saatnya semua ketahui, bahwa fakta sesungguhnya ternyata memiliki gambaran cerita yang bertolak belakang. Fakta-fakta terkait agenda konspirasi dan unsur-unsur rasisme, ketakutan, perlindungan profit raksasa industri, “Yellow journalism, keserakahan serta karir perseorangan (pada masanya) dibalik pelarangan akan (sekali lagi) penulis ulas dalam beberapa paragraf berikut:

Semenjak manusia mulai mencatatkan segala sesuatu sebagai sejarah, ganja tidak hanya legal dalam status hukum, tetapi juga tingkat pemanfaatan yang sangat besar dalam hampir segala aspek menunjukkan betapa tumbuhan ini pernah sangat penting fungsinya dalam kehidupan.

Ganja sebagai tumbuhan multi-fungsi juga bukanlah temuan baru mengingat ribuan tahun bukanlah waktu yang singkat untuk dijuluki “anak kemaren sore”.

Faktanya, status ilegal ganjalah yang lebih pantas mendapat julukan “bau kencur”, mengingat presentasi kurun waktu pelarangan tidak sampai 1% dari total masa pemanfaatan yang sudah ribuan tahun.

Ganja secara utuh telah dimanfaatkan sejak lama untuk berbagai kebutuhan seperti kain sebagai sandang, tepung dan minyak untuk pangan, temali dan lainnya untuk industri, sampai pemanfaatan bunga untuk medis hingga kebutuhan spiritual keagamaan.

Cannabis Benefits

Sejarah juga menyatakan bahwa ganja adalah tumbuhan tertua yang manusia gunakan untuk kebutuhan sandang (setelah kulit hewan).

Fakta-fakta seperti ini dan informasi belakangan sedikit memberikan kebingungan publik setelah pada awal abad ke-16 Amerika memperkenalkan tumbuhan ini beserta himbauan untuk memanfaatkannya secara massal, dan kemudian menuai kontroversi perihal penggunaannya untuk rekreasional di awal abad 19.

Undang-undang awal yang mengatur hal-hal terkait ganja tercatat di Amerika pada tahun 1619.

Undang-undang tersebut terutama mengatur dan menghimbau para petaninya untuk serentak menanam ganja. Hukum terkait terus berkembang dalam periode 200 tahun setelah itu dan terkesan lebih mengharuskan penanaman besar-besaran.

Seperti tercatat pada tahun 1763-1767 di Virginia, siapapun bisa terkena hukuman pidana dan dipenjarakan untuk tidak menanam ganja. Ya, pernah sepenting itu tumbuhan ganja untuk sebuah peradaban, sampai pada akhirnya diawal abad 19 semua tentang ganja seolah terdiskriminasi.
Secara lebih terperinci, semua berawal ketika terbukanya celah di bidang pertanian, khususnya dibagian barat Amerika.
Ketika itu tercatat awal tahun 1900-an, ketika pecahnya revolusi Meksiko dan banyak masuknya warga Meksiko ke Amerika, yang secara tidak langsung menimbulkan perang dingin antara petani kecil dan penguasa ladang-ladang besar (yang tak lagi memakai jasa petani lokal dan mengganti mereka dengan buruh Meksiko berupah jauh lebih rendah).

hemp processing plantsin US

Memanfaatkan kebiasaan buruh-buruh Meksiko dalam mengkonsumsi ganja sebagai bahan rekreasi, pihak-pihak berkepentingan pertama kali mengkambing-hitamkan ganja sebagai sesuatu yang buruk.

Hal ini kontan diikuti oleh pelarangan di beberapa kota di Amerika, seperti di Wyoming (1915), Texas (1919), Iowa, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Arkansas (1923), and Nebraska (1927).

Sebesar itu juga ternyata ketakutan para konspirator terhadap ganja sampai sering terdengar di tahun 1927 kata-kata seperti yang terucap dari senator Texas

“All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff (ganja) is what makes them crazy”.

Di bagian timur Amerika, diskriminasi terhadap ganja pun kian terasa dengan nuansa yang berbeda. Masalah seolah dibuat-buat dan ditujukan kepada kombinasi “Latin Americans” dengan “black jazz musicians”.

Ganja dan musik jazz datang dari New Orleans ke Chicago, kemudian merambah ke Harlem dimana ganja menjadi bagian tak terpisahkan dengan hits-hits kulit hitam (Louis Armstrong “Muggles”, “That Funny Reefer Man” Cab calloways, Fats Waller Viper’s Drag).

Sekali lagi diskriminasi terhadap ganja sangat pekat tercium bersamaan dengan rasisme terhadap kulit hitam.

Seperti tertulis dalam sebuah koran tahun 1934:

“Marijuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at a white woman twice”.

Begitulah kurang lebih deretan peristiwa yang secara tidak langsung menjadi dasar pelarangan ganja di Amerika. Setelah sebelumnya tahun 1914 pemerintah federal Amerika meloloskan “The Harrison Act” undang-undang/tax untuk opium dan kokain.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Harry_Jacob_Anslinger.jpg

Harry J. Anslinger (wikipedia)

Dalam Harrison Act ini, segala bentuk penggunaan opium dan kokain dikenakan tax untuk legalitas, sementara para pelanggar tax mendapatkan hukuman denda atau penjara.

Hingga akhirnya terlahir The Federal Bureau of Narcotics pada tahun 1930 dibawah kuasa Harry J. Anslinger. Disinilah, perang terhadap ganja resmi diawali.

Harry J. Anslinger, sosok picik penuh ambisi yang meng-otaki berdirinya divisi baru di bawah Department of Treasury, dan memanfaatkan badan federal ini sebagai peluang karir pribadi.

Sebuah badan pemerintah dengan kuasa penuh menangani segala bentuk narkotika, dan berwewenang menyuguhkan solusi atas segala masalah yang bisa ditetapkan seenaknya sendiri.

Tak membutuhkan waktu lama, Anslinger pun menyadari bahwa opium dan kokain saja tidaklah cukup dijadikan ajang mempercepat perkembangan badan yang dikepalainya, sehingga ganja merupakan bulan-bulanan tepat bagi Anslinger.

“Segala upaya Harry J. Anslinger dicurahkan untuk secepat mungkin menjadikan ganja sebagai sesuatu yang lebih buruk dari opium dan memberikan gelar ilegal atasnya.”

Tak lepas dari perhatiannya, fenomena rasisme dan kekerasan serta merta disangkut-pautkan dengan tumbuhan ini untuk mendapatkan perhatian bangsanya atas rekayasa-rekayasa yang dbuatnya sendiri.

Berikut beberapa rekayasa dalam kata karya Anslinger yang mencerminkan sangat besarnya kebencian dia dan sekutu-sekutunya (di artikel sebelumnya pernah dibahas hubungan dekat Anslinger dengan Hearst, Dupont, dan Melon) terhadap ganja:

“… the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”

“Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.”

“Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white man.”

“Marijuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing.”

“You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother.”

“Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.”

Ya, sebesar kebohongan-kebohongan itu pula kebencian Anslinger terhadap ganja yang tak henti-hentinya dia gembar-gemborkan.

Kampanye mengkambinghitamkan ganja oleh Anslinger ini serta merta mendapatkan segala dukungan yang diperllukan dari pihak-pihak yang tak kalah kuat dari FBN. Seperti salah satu bantuan yang datang dari William Randolf Hearst, penguasa media cetak saat itu. Hearst memiliki segudang alasan untuk membanatu Anslinger dalam kampenye anti ganjanya.

Pertama, dia sangat membenci orang-orang Meksiko. Kedua, membuat berita berisi kebohongan terkait warga meksiko dan ganja “The devil” sebagai sumber malapetaka membuat koran-korannya laris, dan membuatnya tetap kaya raya.

Utamanya, dia telah sejak lama berinvestasi besaar-besaran dalam kayu hutan untuk industri kertas dan media cetaknya, dan tidak ingin melihat perkembangan industri kertas dari serat ganja sebagai kompetitornya. Berikut beberapa contoh kebohongan medianya:

Dikutip dari San Fransisco Examiner:
line up

“Marihuana makes fiends of boys in thirty days — Hashish goads users to bloodlust. By the tons it is coming into this country — the deadly, dreadful poison that racks and tears not only the body, but the very heart and soul of every human being who once becomes a slave to it in any of its cruel and devastating forms…. Marihuana is a short cut to the insane asylum. Smoke marihuana cigarettes for a month and what was once your brain will be nothing but a storehouse of horrid specters. Hasheesh makes a murderer who kills for the love of killing out of the mildest mannered man who ever laughed at the idea that any habit could ever get him….”

Dan satu lagi dari dari koran yang terbit secara nasional:

“Users of marijuana become STIMULATED as they inhale the drug and are LIKELY TO DO ANYTHING. Most crimes of violence in this section, especially in country districts are laid to users of that drug. Was it marijuana, the new Mexican drug, that nerved the murderous arm of Clara Phillips when she hammered out her victim’s life in Los Angeles?… THREE-FOURTHS OF THE CRIMES of violence in this country today are committed by DOPE SLAVES — that is a matter of cold record.”

Berita-berita miring tersebut tercetak tanpa bukti dan sumber yang kuat, dan senantiasa tercetak di halaman utama dalam periode yang lama.

Seolah membenarkan pribahasa “The more the merrier“, Anslinger dan Hearst juga serta merta mendapatkan dukungan dari pihak raksasa lain, kali ini datang dari rajanya industri kimia Dupont. Selain juga dukungan dari perusahaan-perusahaan farmasi yang tak kalah berkuasa.

Cannabis sativa from Vienna Dioscurides, 512 AD

Dupont, pada saat itu baru saja mempatenkan nylon, dan kerakusan membuat mereka menutup segala kemungkinan ganja menjadi saingan. Sama halnya dengan industri-industri farmasi, mereka tidak mau juga pasarnya menanam obat-obatan sendiri dan berhenti membeli produk mereka.

Akhirnya, semua konspirasi di atas berujung kerucut kepada akar semua pelarangan ganja yang berkedok “The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937“, yang telah secara terencana dipersiapkan oleh konspirasi Anslinger dan kawan-kawan.

Dari sini jugalah nama besar Ganja/Cannabis/Hemp seolah dilupakan dan ditiadakan, untuk sebuah julukan baru penuh cela Marijuana.

Segala bentuk pemanfaatan tumbuhan ganja (secara utuh) yang dulu pernah sangat disarankan seolah tak pernah terjadi di bawah kungkungan julukan barunya, marijuana. Sampai detik ini.

Hari-Hari Terakhir Ganja Bergelar Legal

Peristiwa besar apa kiranya yang membuat jangka waktu selama itu seolah tak pernah terjadi? Sejak kapan pula ganja menyandang status hukum ilegal?

Bersumber dari buku “The Emperor Wears No Clothes” karya mendiang Jack Herer, tertulislah tulisan rangkum berikut ini:

Berawal dari konspirasi raksasa-raksasa industri Amerika di akhir abad 19, gejala intimidasi terhadap ganja mulai tercium ketika Dupont (salah satu raksasa industri saat itu), memonopoli industri bahan peledak berbahan “Hemp Hurds” dengan cara membeli dan mengkonsolidasikan beberapa perusahaan kecil yang sedang berkembang. Usaha ini mereka lakukan setelah menyadari potensi ganja dan pasarnya, bahkan dalam industri dinamit.

Hasilnya, Dupont pun berjaya di industri ini dan menjadi perusahaan terbesar yang memasok 40% stock amunisi kepada sekutu-sekutunya saat perang dunia pertama.

Hal ini juga lantas mengisi berita di Popular Mechanics ’38 yang menyatakan “Thousands of tons of hemp hurds are used every year by one large powder company for the manufacture of dynamite and TNT.”

Mykayla sembuh dari kanker karena ganja

Tidak berhenti di situ, pada akhir tahun 1920 Dupont melanjutkan konsolidasi ke arah pemerintah federal Amerika dan berhasil menguasai sebagian besar industri textile dalam negeri.

Berawal dari monopoli ini, para peneliti dan ahli kimia Dupont menemukan potensi kandungan selulosa ganja sesungguhnya jauh di atas pengetahuan umum sebelumnya.

Pada saat itu tidak ada yang lebih paham dari para peneliti Dupont, bahwa 77% bagian pohon ganja adalah sumber selulosa (bahan kertas, plastik, rayon) alami terbaik.

Tak heran jika pada pertengahan tahun 1930, ditemukannya teknologi mekanik baru pemisah serat ganja dan mesin pemisah selulosa dengan harga terjangkau oleh petani/industri kecil ganja membuat Dupont serta raksasa industri lainnya kebakaran jenggot.

Terlebih pada saat yang sama di tahun 1937, Dupont baru saja mematenkan proses produksi plastik berbahan minyak bumi dan batubara sebagai bisnis mereka. Juga industri sulfat kimia baru untuk memproses pembuatan kertas dari kayu hutan.

Kemajuan industri-industri kecil ganja ini sangat mungkin merugikan 80% bisnis kertas, plastik sintetis, dan minyak bumi raksasa-raksasa ini.

Bukan hanya Dupont yang merasakan pentingnya ganja dieliminasi dari lahan industri mereka, Andrew Mellon dari The Mellon Bank of Pittsburgh sebagai banker di belakang Dupont dan William Randolph Hearst dari Hearst Paper Manufacturing merasakan ketakutan yang sama.

Ganja dapat dibuat menjadi bahan bakar kendaraan bermotor.

Terlebih Randolph Hearst, yang sebenarnya menyadari ancaman dari ganja terhadap industri kertasnya lebih awal. Selain pabrik kertas dari kayu, Hearst, yang juga mengepalai perusahaan percetakan dan penerbit koran sudah melakukan intimidasi terhadap ganja sejak 1898.
Dimulai setelah ditemukannya 800.000 hektar ladang ganja di area hutan kayu miliknya di Meksiko. Nyaris 3 dekade setelahnya, Hearst menjadikan ganja sebagai kambing hitam di setiap halaman utama korannya.
Salah satu contohnya adalah, ketika Hearst mengklaim bahwa hampir seluruh kekerasan, perkosaan oleh kulit hitam terhadap kulit putih dilatarbelakangi oleh ganja.

Hasilnya, ratusan ribu kulit hitam dan orang-orang meksiko dipenjara karena isu ini.

Korannya jugalah yang mempopulerkan kata “Marijuana” sebagai kutukan terhadap ganja melalui pengulangan-pengulangan berjangka panjang di setiap halaman utamanya, sehingga berhasil menghapuskan kata “Hemp” dan nama ilmiah asli ganja “Cannabis“.

Berdasarkan ketakutan terhadap ancaman serupa inilah akhirnya diadakan pertemuan rahasia pertama oleh para “mandor” industri dan banker-bankernya tahun 1931 untuk menyatukan kekuatan melawan ganja, “The environmentally-sane natural source“. Pertemuan ini dihadiri oleh Dupont, Hearst, dan Andrew Mellon yang saat itu memiliki kuasa di pemerintahan federal (Secretary of The Treasury).

Hasil dari konsolidasi antara para raksasa ini adalah diangkatnya Harry J. Anslinger (keponakan ipar Andrew Mellon) sebagai kepala Federal Bureau of Narcotic and Dangerous Drug (FBNDD) yang pada saat itu mendadak dibentuk.

Semenjak saat itu sampai 1937, banyak pertemuan rahasia dilakukan terkait rancangan undang-undang untuk ganja, sampai akhirnya “Marijuana Tax Act” diresmikan pemerintah Amerika pada tanggal 2 Agustus 1937.

Dalam masa jabatannya ini (31 tahun), Anslinger sangat gencar menyebarkan propaganda buruk tentang ganja atas nama marijuana (Harry Anslinger’s Personal Gore Files).

Banyak pihak-pihak independent seperti ilmuan-ilmuan universitas membantah tudingan-tudingan buruk anslinger yang tidak beralasan.

Alhasil, undang-undang baru yang melarang segala penelitian tentang ganja (tanpa seijin pribadi Anslinger) dikeluarkan sebagai reaksi sangkala-sangkalan itu.

Semakin dalam terkubur sejak saat itu nama Cannabis atau Hemp dibawah julukan barunya yang penuh cemar, Marijuana.

Dan terus berlanjut hingga kini sandangan hukum ganja semenjak diberlakukannya Marijuana Tax Act 1937.

Begitulah kiranya rangkuman hari-hari terakhir ganja bergelar LEGAL… lalu menjadi ILLEGAL.

Untuk bacaan selengkapnya, silakan dibaca di The Emperor Wears No Clothes chapter ke-4, halaman 25-39 dan juga mengenai Marijuana Tax Act: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marihuana_Tax_Act_of_1937

* Awalnya, Marijuana Tax Act ini tidak sepenuhnya mengilegalkan, dengan mengenakan pajak U$.1 per ounce, dan U$.100 per ounce jika pemiliknya tidak teregistrasi. Faktanya, banyak penyelewengan hukum yang seringkali menyebabkan hukuman penjara sampai 5 tahun atau denda yang berlipat-lipat hingga U$.2000. Lalu apa bedanya dengan sekarang?

Legalisasi Ganja Bisa Untuk Eksperimen Kualitas Kesehatan

Selama ini di berbagai negara terjadi perdebatan mengenai legalisasi ganja. Banyak kekhawatiran tentang efek negatif ganja, tapi di sisi lain banyak yang menyatakan ganja baik bagi kesehatan.

Para ahli mengatakan, ada beberapa dampak negatif saat ganja digunakan untuk kesenangan atau non-medis. Namun kekhawatiran itu dianggap tak memiliki cukup bukti.

Terlepas dari segala macam perdebatan, para ahli menilai legalisasi ganja di Colorado dan Washington di Amerika Serikat bisa digunakan untuk eksperimen mengenai kualitas kesehatan masyarakat. Dengan demikian para peneliti bisa mengumpulkan informasi akan kerugian atau manfaat dari diberlakukannya legalisasi ganja di AS.

Sejumlah pembeli memadati meja konter untuk membeli berbagai macam produk berbahan ganja yang dijual di toko penjulan ganja legal Medicine Man di Denver, Colorado (1/1/14). (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Pada bulan Januari 2014, undang-undang legalisasi ganja itu sudah disahkan di dua negara bagian tersebut. Dengan aturan ini, orang dewasa berusia di atas 21 tahun bisa memiliki dan membeli ganja seberat 1 ons untuk kesenangan atau fungsi non-medis.

Sebenarnya, hingga sekarang belum banyak penelitian dari topik kerugian atau manfaat dari legalisasi ganja. Bahkan ini berlaku juga di negara-negara yang sudah melegalkan ganja.

“Ini adalah pertanyaan empiris, dan akhirnya kita akan memiliki data untuk menilai itu,” kata Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, Wakil Direktur Research Center Drug Policy, di RAND Corporation, dilansir dari Livescience.

Menurut Pacula, legalisasi ganja berpotensi memiliki dampak negatif. Ganja disebut Pacula bisa merusak memori, koordinasi, dan persepsi, dan dapat mempengaruhi kemampuan mengemudi. Ini tentu membahayakan keselamatan publik.

Beberapa studi juga telah mengungkap, mengemudi setelah beberapa jam menggunakan ganja berpotensi menyebabkan kecelakaan hingga dua kali lipat.

Penelitian ini dilakukan oleh Guosha Li, epidemiologist di Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, yang melakukan penelitian penggunaan ganja saat mengemudi.

Penggunaan ganja dalam waktu lama juga dapat meningkatkan risiko kerusakan mental. Baru-baru ini ada studi yang menemukan hubungan antara penggunaan ganja di masa remaja, akan berdampak terhadap IQ yang rendah di masa depan.

Meski begitu, banyak juga ilmuwan yang mengatakan ganja memiliki dampak positif bagi kesehatan. Itu sebabnya ganja masih bisa digunakan untuk kepentingan medis di sejumlah negara atau negara bagian yang belum lakukan legalisasi ganja.

Misalnya saja, mengutip laman Bussiness Insider, psikiater Tod H Mikuriya telah berikan rekomendasi kepada pasiennya untuk terapi menggunakan ganja sejak tahun 1960an.

Menurut Mikuriya, lebih dari 200 penyakit bisa diatasi dengan terapi ganja. Di antaranya dalah insomnia, gagap, dan premenstrual syndrome (PMS) bahkan penyakit kanker.

Bahkan National Cancer Institute sependapat dengan Mikuriya. Lembaga itu mengatakan ganja bisa digunakan untuk mengatasi efek samping dari kemoterapi, mencegah nausea (mual) dan muntah, meningkatkan nafsu makan, mengurangi rasa sakit, dan meningkatkan kualitas tidur.

Bussiness Insider pun menyebut manfaat lain ganja bagi kesehatan. Di antaranya adalah mencegah kebutaan akibat glukoma, mengendalikan penyakit epilepsi, dan mengurangi rasa cemas berlebihan. Adapun zat kimia cannabidiol di ganja dianggap bisa mencegah penyebaran kanker, dan zat aktif THC bisa mengurangi dampak penyakit Alzheimer.

Variabel Lain
Menurut Pacula berbagai studi yang mempelajari efek negatif dari ganja itu dilakukan pada populasi tertentu. Obyek penelitian seringkali merupakan orang-orang yang cenderung menggunakan obat-obat terlarang, dan bukan populasi secara keseluruhan.

Ia menambahkan, efek yang dihasilkan pada kesehatan masyarakat tergantung seberapa sering menggunakan ganja.

Faktor lain yang patut dipertimbangkan untuk jadi variabel penelitian adalah penggunaan yang dilakukan secara bersamaan dengan alkohol (yang berpotensi meningkatkan kerusakan), potensi obat-obatan terlarang lain, dan jumlah remaja yang menggunakan.

Pacula pun beralasan, sangat masuk akal jika UU legalisasi ganja akan meningkatkan penggunaan ganja oleh remaja, meski belum jelas seberapa besar peningkatan itu.

Legalisasi ganja juga dapat memiliki dampak jatuhnya harga obat-obatan terlarang. Ini tentu berpotensi meningkatkan penggunaan obat-obatan terlarang, terutama di kalangan remaja.

Variabel lain yang belum diketahui adalah potensi obat-obatan terlarang lain untuk digunakan dalam fungsi non-medis. Potensi ini dapat bermacam-macam, dan potensi yang paling berbahaya adalah kerusakan mental.

“Ketika kita memiliki banyak pengetahuan tentang itu, maka akan bisa diketahui apakah tingkat kesehatan masyarakat itu akan bertambah baik atau makin berkurang,” ucap Pacula. (adi/vivanews)

Ganja Untuk Pengobatan Telah Legal di 18 Negara Bagian di Amerika Serikat, Termasuk Washington DC dan Colorado

Kepemilikan mariyuana akan dilegalkan di negara bagian Washington, satu bulan setelah para pemilih mengambil opsi tersebut.

Mulai Kamis (6/12/2012) tengah malam waktu Pantai Barat AS (15.00 WIB), siapa saja yang berusia 21 tahun ke atas dapat membawa hingga 28,4 gram kanabis, meskipun menghisapnya di muka umum tetap merupakan pelanggaran kejahatan.

Ganja sudah dinyatakan legal untuk keperluan medis di negara itu sejak 1998.

Washington dan Colorado memilih untuk melegalkan mariyuana, meski hukum federal AS tetap menyatakan hal itu sebagai kejahatan. Namun, tidak ada tempat untuk membeli mariyuana di negara bagian itu selama satu tahun.

Hingga saat ini juga masih belum jelas bagaimana aparat akan menangani liberalisasi UU Narkotika di Washington dan Colorado.

Meski hukum AS secara keseluruhan masih melarang penggunaan ganja, banyak yang menggelar pesta ganja.

Ratusan orang berkumpul pada tengah malam di Space Needle, menara futuristik yang mendominasi langit malam. Mereka merayakan ‘kemerdekaan’ baru ini.

“Akhirnya anda bisa merokok ganja tanpa berpikir hal tersebut tindakan kriminal. Tak ada bedanya seperti minum bir, tak lagi dikatakan berbahaya,” ujar seorang perokok ganja, Calvin Lee.

Hal ini menyusul referendum pada 6 November lalu untuk melegalkan konsumsi ganja pribadi untuk tujuan rekreasi.

Federal

Setiap keputusan untuk menyerang negara bagian dengan hukum narkotika liberal dapat mempengaruhi rencana Washington untuk menaikkan pendapatan pajak dari pasar mariyuana yang berlisensi dan terkontrol. “Kami berada di lautan bebas,” kata Jaksa Wilayah Seattle City Pete Holmes dalam sebuah konferensi pers, Rabu.

“Kami berjuang dengan larangan ini selama satu abad,” kata Holmes menurut Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

“Akan butuh waktu untuk menggantikan sistem yang teratur dan berlisensi.”

Pendukung undang-undang Washington bersikeras mereka tidak menyarankan atau mensyaratkan siapa pun untuk melanggar hukum federal.

Namun, seorang jaksa federal regional di negara bagian itu, Jenny Durkan, mengatakan pada Post-Intelligencer bahwa “menanam, menjual, atau memiliki mariyuana dalam jumlah berapa pun tetap ilegal di bawah hukum federal,” tanpa mempedulikan hukum negara bagian apa yang diterapkan di Washington.

Mariyuana masih berada di kategori sama dengan kokain, heroin, dan methamphetamine, kata Durkan, yang menambahkan bahwa hanya Kongres yang dapat mengubah peruntukannya. (BBC Indonesia / Egidius Patnistik / Kompas)

Pemerintah Uruguay Mulai Jualan Ganja

Para penghisap ganja di Uruguay sekarang tidak perlu lagi sembunyi-sembunyi menghisap ganja. Pasalnya, pemerintah negara itu telah melegalkan ganja dan bahkan memproduksinya untuk dikonsumsi rakyatnya pada bulan Oktober 2012 lalu.

Diberitakan Daily Mail, pemerintah Uruguay akan memasok ganja untuk para pengguna dan hal ini diatur dalam hukum negara tersebut.

Dalam peraturan baru, ganja akan diatur peredarannya dan dibatasi penggunaannya oleh pemerintah. Untuk setiap paketnya seberat 40 gram, atau bisa dibuat 20 batang rokok ganja, Uruguay mematok harga sekitar Rp.332 ribu.

Para pembeli hanya boleh membeli satu paket setiap bulannya. Mereka akan ditandai dengan kartu barcode yang akan diserahkan setiap membeli. Jadi setiap bulan, rakyat boleh membeli maksimal 20 batang ganja.

Untuk memenuhi permintaan para pemadat, pemerintahan Presiden Uruguay Jose Mujica juga berencana menggarap perkebunan ganja seluas 150 hektar. Selain itu, pemerintah juga akan menerapkan standar kualitas agar ganja yang dijual tidak murahan. (vivanews / Daily Mail / dan berbagai sumber luar dan dalam negeri).

(Data dikumpulkan sejak 6 Desember 2012 oleh Indo Crop Circles Official, dirilis pada 3 Desember 2014)

Kamus Kecil:

Cannabinoid = Kelompok senyawa terpenophenolic yang terdapat dalam tanaman Cannabis sativa L dan diproduksi secara alami dalam sistem saraf dan sistem kekebalan tubuh hewan dan manusia. Ada tiga jenis senyawa cannabinoid : fitocannabinoid yang dihasilkan secara alami oleh tanaman ganja, endogenous cannabinoid atau endocannabinoid yang diproduksi alami oleh tubuh manusia dan hewan; serta cannabinoid sintetis, senyawa serupa yang dihasilkan di dalam laboratorium. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid)

Sinaps = Sambungan khusus dimana sel saraf (neuron) saling mengirimkan sinyal ke satu sama lain dan juga sel non-saraf seperti sel otot dan kelenjar.

Sinaps memungkinkan sel saraf untuk membentuk sirkuit pada sistem saraf pusat. Sinaps sangat penting bagi kalkulasi biologis yang mendasari persepsi dan pikiran. Sinaps juga menghubungkan sistem saraf dengan sistem lain pada tubuh serta mengontrolnya. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_synapse)

Pre-sinaptik = Berhubungan dengan ujung yang mengirimkan sinyal pada sinaps.
(biology-online.org/dictionary/Presynaptic)

Post-sinaptik = Terletak setelah sinaps, atau terdapat pada tempat dimana sinaps sudah dilewati oleh sinyal. (http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/postsynaptic)

Retrograde signalling = Dalam neurosains, retrogade signalling adalah fenomena dimana sinyal bergerak dari sel saraf postsinaptik ke sel saraf presinaptik. Endocannabinoid diketahui memainkan peran dalam retrogade signalling, dengan molekul yang disintesis pada sel saraf postsinaptik dan bekerja pada sel saraf presinaptik. Retrogade signalling juga berperan dalam LTP (long term potentiation), sebuah mekanisme yang diperkirakan mendasari proses belajar dan pembentukan memori, walaupun hal ini masih kontroversial. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrograde_signaling)

Long-term potentiation = Dalam neurosains, long-term potentiation (LTP) adalah bentuk jangka panjang dari plastisitas sinaptik. Secara khusus, ini adalah peningkatan jangka panjang dalam komunikasi antara dua neuron yang dihasilkan dari merangsang keduanya secara bersamaan. Neuron berkomunikasi lewat sinaps, dan secara teoritis memori diperkirakan dibentuk oleh modifikasi sinaps ini; sehingga LTP dipertimbangkan sebagai mekanisme selular yang mendasari proses belajar dan pembentukan memori. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_potentiation)

Daftar pustaka:

- Nicoll, Roger A., Alger, Bradley E. 2004. Brain’s Own Marijuana. Scientific American.

- Purves, Dale. 2004. Neuroscience 3rd Edition.

- Sinauer Associates, Inc. USA.

- Riedel, Gernot & Platt, Bettina. 2004. From Messengers to Molecules: Memories Are Made of These.

- Eurekah.com & Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

- Ancient Marijuana History

- Cannabis, Hemp, Marijuana Timeline History

Nama-Nama Varietas Ganja, Alphabetical Order (Berikut Foto)

Klik kanan pada mouse dan Open in new Window :

A – D

E – M

N – P

S – Z

Marijuana Timeline History

10,000 BC to 1-BC


10,000 BC	Cannabis Hemp has been grown for at least the last 12,000 years for fiber (textiles and paper) and food.

8,000 BC	Earliest Known Use of Cannabis in China and Taiwan. Prehistoric evidence of people using the cannabis plant for fiber

5500 BC	Earliest known depiction of cannabis hemp in existence from Kyushu Island, Japan

4500 BC	China: Hemp is used for rope and fishnets

6000 BC	Cannabis seeds used as food in China.

3500 BC	The Egyptians use hemp rope and scaffolding to construct pyramids over 5,000 years ago, perhaps with alien help.

2737 BC	Pharmacopoeia of Shen Neng, the first recorded use of cannabis for medical use. Shen Neng prescribed marijuana tea for the treatment of ailments and is referred to as a “superior” herb.

2700 BC	A Shaman is buried with cannabis in the Gobi Desert. Argued to be the earliest proof of cannabis for psychoactive use.

2000 BC	In Egypt, cannabis is used to treat sore eyes. 1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse – Appendix, Chapter One, Part I

1600 BC	Medical marijuana referenced in Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek, and Roman Writings. According to the Hebrew University

1500 BC	Scythians cultivation of cannabis. They invent the scythe for harvesting cannabis.

1450 BC	God gives Moses instructions on making the Holy Anointing Oil Exodus 30:23 containing 6 pounds of cannabis

1400 BC	Cultural and religious use of cannabis, and charas or hashish used by Hindus in India

1200 BC	Hindu sacred text Arthava-Veda names Cannabis “Sacred Grass” one of the five sacred plants of India.
	Cannabis is used medicinally and ritually as an offering to Shiva in India.

1000 BC	Bhang, a cannabis preparation (a drink, generally mixed with milk) is used in India to treat a wide variety of human illnesses.

700 BC	A 2,700-year-old man buried with 2 pounds of Sincemilia marijuana stash. Discovered 2011 in Turpan, China.
	Scythian tribes leave cannabis seeds as offerings in royal tombs.

621 BC	Cannabis suppressed in the Hebrew temples under King Josiah

600 BC	Zoroaster, the Persian prophet, lists cannabis is #1 of 10,000 medicinal plants in his book Zend-Avesta.
	Zend-Avesta speaks of cannabis having intoxicating resin.
	Zarathustra, refers to bhang as “good narcotic” (Vendidad or The Law Against Demons)

500 BC	Gautama Buddha said to have survived by eating hempseed and rice.
	Assyrians and the Babylonians, using Cannabis in their temple incense
	Scythians spread cannabis through Europe

400 BC	Evidence of cannabis smoking in Mongolia

450 BC	Herodotus records Scythians and Thracians as consuming cannabis and making fine linens of hemp.
	Herodotus reports on both ritual and recreation use of Cannabis by the Scythians
	Herodotus describes the Scythians of central Asia throwing hemp onto heated stones under canvas: ‘as it burns, it smokes like incense and the smell of it makes them drunk’.

300 B.C.	Carthage and Rome struggle for political and commercial power over hemp and spice trade routes

100 BC	Chinese make paper from hemp

1-BC to 1000 AD


45 AD	St Mark establishes the Ethiopian Coptic Church. Some claim that marijuana as a sacrament has a lineage descending from the Essenes, who are considered to be responsible for the Dead Sea Scrolls.

70 AD	Physician Penadius Dioscorides wrote about the medical properties of cannabis in “De Materia Medica”.

80 AD	Cultivation of cannabis hemp becomes common in the Roman Empire

100 AD	Pliny reports of cannabis industrial uses and wrote a manual on it’s cultivation

200 AD	A Chinese physician, Hoa-Tho, prescribes cannabis as an analgesic in surgical procedures.

400 AD	Cannabis cultivation reaches Britian

500 AD	First botanical drawings of cannabis
	The Jewish Talmud mentions the euphoriant properties of Cannabis. (Abel 1980)

680 AD	Cannabis use spreads across the middle east with the expansion of Islamic faith.

800 AD	Mohammed allows cannabis but forbids the use of alcohol

1000 AD	The recreational use of hashish well documented in the Arabic world

1001 AD to 1799

1090 AD	Nizari Imaili sect of the Shiite schism of the Islamic religion was founded, later to be known as the Hashshashin.

1150 AD	Moslems start Europe’s first paper mill using hemp. Paper is made from hemp for next 750 years, including Bibles.

1155 AD	Religious Cannabis used in Persia by Haydar, founder of the Sufi Hyderi sect. Haydar is buried in Cannabis leaves.

1200 AD	During the Crusades, the Hashshashin was attributed to hashish use – hashish got a bad reputation.

1256	The Hashshasin sect is broken up when Persia is conquered by the Mongols.

1271 AD	Marco Polo wrote about the Old Man of the Mountains in Persia. The story of the Hashshashin, (Assassins), known for their consumption of hashish and ruthless cruelty.

1378 AD	Ottoman Emir Soudoun Scheikhouni issues one of the first edicts against the eating of hashish.

1400 AD	Cannabis Hemp flowers used a folk medicine in Europe.

1456 AD	Johan Gutenberg prints the Bible on cannabis hemp paper.

1484 AD	Under Inquisitor Pope Innocent VIII Persecution of so called witches began in Europe. Cannabis was demonized as being used in witchcraft. Malleus Maleficarum (‘The Witches Hammer’) was used as a guide to inquisitors. Pope Innocent VIII labels cannabis as an “unholy sacrament of the Satanic mass” and issues a papal ban on cannabis medicines.

1492 AD	Cannabis first brought to North America by Columbus.

1533 AD	King Henry VIII issues a royal proclamation imposing a fine on farmers not using some of the land for hemp production. The navy required large amounts of hemp.

1549	Angolan slaves bring cannabis to the sugar plantations in Brazil.

1538 AD	English botanist William Turner praised cannabis hemp as a medicine in his book “New Herbal”.

1554 AD	The Spanish grow hemp in Peru.

1563 AD	English Queen Elizabeth I requires land owners with over 60 acres to grow hemp or be fined 5 pounds.

1564 AD	King Philip of Spain orders hemp grown throughout his empire

1606	First experimental planting of hemp in Canada by Louis Herbert, founder of Quebec.

1619	1619: First law in America concerning Indian hemp (Cannabis indica). Growing cannabis becomes mandatory in Virginia requiring every farmer to grow hemp.
	Hemp was allowed to be exchanged as legal tender in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.
	Explorers find “wilde hempe” in North America in 1619

1621	The book, “Anatomy of Melancholy”, by English clergyman Robert Burton claims cannabis is a treatment for depression.

1631	Hemp used as money throughout American colonies.

1637	Hartford Connecticut Court orders all families plant one teaspoon of cannabis seeds.

1718	Irish spinners and weavers arrive in Boston, and with spun hemp gave birth to the American textile industry.

1763	New English Dictionary says cannabis root applied to skin eases inflammation.

1770	Hashish becomes a major trade item between Central Asia and South Asia.

1776	Declaration of Independence drafted on hemp paper.

1783	Cannabis reclassified into two main species, sativa and indica, by French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.

1791	President Jefferson calls hemp a necessity and urges farmers to grow hemp instead of tobacco.

1794	George Washington writes, “Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!”

1800 to 1900


1800	Cotton gins make cotton fiber cheaper than hemp.

1809	Hashish production expands from Russian Turkestan into Yarkand in Chinese Turkestan.
	Antoine Sylvestre de Sacy, reveals the etymology of the words “assassin” and “hashishin”

1830’s	Rapid increase in hemp machinery production during this decade

1839	First modern English medical article on cannabis written by William O’Shaughnessy, while working in the service of the British in India
	Homeopathy journal ‘American Provers Union’ publishes first report on effects of cannabis.

1840	Cannabis tinctures, medicinal preparations, and opium were available in most pharmacies in America
	Work of physicians O’Shaughnessy, Aubert-Roche, and Moreau de Tours draw wide attention to cannabis.
	Abraham Lincoln on prohibition “Prohibition… goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control mans’ appetite through legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not even crimes… A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our Government was founded”

1841	Dr. W.B. O’Shaughnessy, writes “On the Preparation of the Indian Hemp or Ganja” introduces cannabis to western science.

1842	O’Shaughnessy reports that tetanus could be arrested and cured when treated with extra large doses of cannabis.
	Work of physicians O’Shaughnessy, Aubert-Roche, and Moreau de Tours draw wide attention to cannabis.

1843	Le Club des Hachichins, or Hashish Eater’s Club, established in Paris.

1854	“The US Dispensary of 1854 lists cannabis compounds as suggested remedies for a multitude of medical problems

1845	Jacques-Joseph Moreau de Tours documents physical and mental benefits of cannabis.

1847	Founding of AMA at Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia (Founder is Nathan Davis)

1849	Chinese bring opium smoking to America with the California Gold Rush

1850	“Medical use of cannabis declines as other medications come into wide use.”
	US census of 1850 records 8,327 cannabis plantations of over 2,000 acres each.

1854	Bayard Taylor essay “Visions of Hashish”.

1856	British tax ganja and charas trade in India.

1857	Fitz Hugh Ludlow publishes “The Hasheesh Eater” which made hashish to be considered more dangerous and addictive than opium.
	Smith Brothers of Edinburgh market cannabis indica extracts.
	John Bell, MD, Boston, reports on the effects of cannabis in control of mental and emotional disorders

1858	Moreau de Tours reports several case histories of manic and depressive disorders treated with hashish.

1860	First governmental commission study of cannabis and hashish, The Committee on Cannabis Indica of the Ohio State Medical Society. It catalogues medical conditions for which cannabis is beneficial including: chronic bronchitis, muscular spasms, epilepsy, infantile convulsions, palsy, uterine hemorrhage, dysmenorrhea, hysteria, neuralgia, nervous rheumatism, mania, whooping cough, asthma, alcohol withdrawal and loss of appetite.

1865	The demand for hemp decreases. After the Civil war, cotton becomes more valuable as export

1868	The Emir of Egypt makes the possession of cannabis a capital offence.
	The Pharmacy Act in the US declares pharmacists and chemists to be the overseers of drugs.

1869	A.C. Kimmens writes “Tales of Hashish”

1870	Cannabis listed in US Pharmacopoeia as a medicine.

1870	First reports of hashish smoking in Greece
	South Africa passes a law forbidding the smoking, use or possession of cannabis hemp by Indian workers.

1876	Hashish served at American Centennial Exposition.

1877	Kerr reports on Indian ganja (Cannabis) and charas (Hashish) trade.
	The Sultan of Turkey makes cannabis illegal

1883	Hashish smoking parlors become popular in every major U.S. city. In 1883 there are 500 such parlors in New York City alone.

1890	Greek Department of Interior prohibits importation, cultivation and use of hashish.
	Hashish made illegal in Turkey.

1893	70,000 to 80,000 kg of hashish legally imported into India from Central Asia annually.

1893-1894	The India Hemp Drugs Commission issues a 3500 page report on cannabis. In summary cannabis produced virtually no evils, and if the governor wanted to restrict its use, the best way to do so would be by taxation. The Commission reports the use of cannabis as an analgesic, a restorer of energy, a hemostat, an ecbolic, an anti-diarrhetic, as an aid in treating hay fever, cholera, dysentery, gonorrhea, diabetes, impotence, urinary incontinence, testicular swelling, and other ailments.

1895	First known use of the name “marijuana” for cannabis, by Pancho Villa’s supporters in Sonora, Mexico.

1898	Sir William Osler, professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins, stated in his 1898 discussion of migraine headaches that marijuana “is probably the most satisfactory remedy” for that condition.

1900 – 1950


1906	The Pure Food and Drug Act required that certain special drugs, including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, morphine, and cannabis, be accurately labeled with contents and dosage.

1910	US is introduced to recreational use of cannabis. After the Mexican Revolution, Mexicans immigrating to the United States brought cannabis smoking with them and introduce the American public to recreational cannabis use.
	African-American “reefer” use reported in Jazz Clubs in New Orleans, said to be influencing white people.
	Newspaper tycoon Randolph Hearst has 800,000 acres of prime Mexican Timberland seized from him by Villa and his men.
	Mexicans smoking marijuana in Texas.

1911	South Africa bans cannabis.
	Commonwealth of Massachusetts becomes first state to ban cannabis in the United States
	Hindus reported to be using ganja in San Francisco.

1912	Hague Conference; second international meeting on drugs. 46 nations discuss opium, morphine, cocaine, heroin and cannabis. Required parties to confine the manufacture, sale and use of opium, heroin, morphine and cocaine to medical and legitimate purposes. Cannabis is not included.
	“Essay on Hasheesh” by Victor Rolson. Possibility of putting controls on hashish use raised.
	First suggestions that cannabis should be banned internationally, at the First Opium Conference.

1914	The Harrison Narcotic Act prohibited possession of narcotics unless properly prescribed by a physician, in the US

1915	Utah & California outlaw cannabis

1916	Expansion of hemp to replace uses of timber by industry called for by USDA Bulletin 404

1919	Texas outlaws cannabis.

1920	Alcohol is prohibited throughout the USA, by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
	DuPont experiments with petrochemicals.

1923	South African delegate at League of Nations calls for international controls on cannabis, claiming that it makes mine workers less active. Britain insists on further research.
	Nevada, Oregon and Washington outlaw cannabis without a prescription.
	Opium and Drug Act of 1923. Canada criminalized the use of marijuana as part of the , before the use of the drug had been reported in that country.

1924	Second International Opiates conference. Egyptian delegate claims serious problems are associated with hashish use and calls for immediate international controls. Sub-committee listens to Egypt and Turkey. Cannabis declared a narcotic.
	Louisiana outlaws cannabis use without a prescription
	Cannabis Ruderalis identified by Lamarck.

1925	International Opium Convention Bans the use of Indian hemp except for authorized medical and scientific purposes

1926	Lebanese hashish production prohibited in 1926.

1927	New York outlaws cannabis without a prescription.
	Colorado and Montana outlaw marijuana without a prescription

1928	UK Dangerous Drugs Act becomes law and makes cannabis illegal.

1930	Creation of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) later to become the DEA. Harry J. Anslinger appointed the first Commissioner of the FBN and remained in that post until 1962.
	Marijuana possession outlawed in Panama
	CBD (Cannabidiol) in cannabis is identified
	1930 Henry Ford makes his motor cars out of hemp with hemp paint and hemp fuel.
	Louis Armstrong arrested in Los Angeles for possession of cannabis in 1930.

1931	Interest in hemp soared with Henry Ford’s Hemp Car and of a new decorticator machine taking the amount of time to harvest an acre of hemp down to 1-1.5 hours. Hemp paper explored. New machines invented to break hemp, process the fibre and convert the pulp or hurds into paper, plastics etc.

1932	Uniform State Narcotic Act; Concern about the rising use of marijuana creates pressure on the federal government to take action; the Federal Bureau of Narcotics encourages state governments to adopt the Uniform State Narcotic Act.

1933	Alcohol was re-legalized, and emphasis switched from alcohol to drug use.
	Thirty three states have cannabis laws in place, by 1933.

1934	Anslinger refers to “ginger-haired niggers” in FBI official circulars.

1934	Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act in due to the lack of restrictions in the Harrison Act of 1914. Initially, only nine states adopted the uniform state statute.

1935	President Roosevelt pushes support for the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act in a message on Columbia radio network in March 1935. Many more states signed on to the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act as result.
	Harry J. Anslinger of the FBN, launches a nationwide media campaign declaring that marijuana causes temporary insanity, crime, suicide, murder, death. The advertisements The propaganda campaign was a success for the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act as all states signed on
	Chinese government moves to end all Cannabis cultivation and charas traffic in Yarkand
	Hashish production become illegal in Chinese Turkestan.

1936	“Reefer Madness” is produced by French director, Louis Gasnier;
	Marihuana (1936) AKA Marihuana: The Devil’s Weed is produced
	The Motion Pictures Association of America bans the showing of any narcotics in films.
	The Conference for the Suppression of the Illicit Traffic in Dangerous Drugs. Addressed the criminality of trafficking.
	William Randolph Hearst’s newspaper empire fuels a tabloid journalism propaganda campaign against marijuana starting around 1936. Hearst run papers wrote articles about marijuana crazed Negroes raping white women and playing voodoo-satanic jazz music.

1937	forty-six of the forty-eight states as well as the District of Columbia had laws against marijuana.
	Marijuana Tax Act. The Act levied a tax of roughly one dollar on anyone who dealt commercially in cannabis, hemp, or marijuana. The Act was based on the Machine Gun Transfer Act which made it illegal to pass on machine guns without a government stamp – there being no such stamps available. By applying this strategy to marijuana, Anslinger was able to effectively ban hemp without contravening constitutional rights. Calls flowering cannabis tops a narcotic. Declared unconstitutional in 1969 in U.S. vs Timothy Leary.
	DuPont files patents for nylon, plastics and a new bleaching process for paper.

1938	The February edition of US magazine Popular Mechanics (written before the Marijuana Transfer Tax was passed) declares ‘Hemp – the New Billion Dollar Crop.’

1939 to 1945	World War II, or the Second World War lasting from 1939 to 1945
	1939 AD : LaGuardia Report started

1941	Cannabis dropped from the American Pharmacopoeia.
	Popular Mechanics Magazine reveal details of Henry Ford’s plastic car made using Cannabis and fuelled from Cannabis. Henry Ford continued to illegally grow Cannabis for some years after the Federal ban, hoping to become independent of the petroleum industry.
	1941 President Franklin Roosevelt signs an executive order that allow for emergency hemp production for industrial uses during War World II

1942	U.S. Department of Agriculture launched its Hemp for Victory program. It encouraging farmers to plant hemp, gave out seeds, and granting draft deferments to those who would stay home and grow hemp. The Film “Hemp for Victory” is produced in 1942 by the USDA. All American farmers were required to see the film, sign a paper saying that they had viewed the film, and read a booklet on the matter. After the war the USDA and Library of Congress denied the creation or existence of such a film but copies were in existance.

1943	By 1943 American farmers registered in the USDA program harvested 375,000 acres of hemp.
	Medical products derived from cannabis were removed from the US Formulary and physicians could no longer prescribe it.

1944	La Guardia Report. New York Mayor LaGuardia’s Marijuana commission reports that Cannabis causes no violence at all and cites other positive results.
	Anslinger responds by denouncing LaGuardia and threatens doctors with prison sentences if they dare carry out independent research on Cannabis.

1945	As soon as the war concluded, the Roosevelt administration re-banned industrial hemp production, stopped subsidizing its production and teaching farmers how to cultivate it.
	Facing stiff federal penalties, industrial hemp farmers had to plow under their hemp crops and pharmacists had to have all cannabis-related medicines off of store shelves.

1945	Newsweek reports over 100,000 Americans use cannabis.
	Legal hashish consumption continues in India
	1945-1955 Hashish use in Greece flourishes again.

1948	Robert Mitchum arrested for cannabis.
	1948 Anslinger now says cannabis users are peaceful and that cannabis could be used during a communist invasion, to weaken American will to fight.
	1948 United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights

1949	The anti-cannabis propaganda film “Wild Weed” is produced (1949). Also known as “She Shoulda Said ‘No’!”. A chorus girl’s career is ruined and her brother is driven to suicide when she starts smoking marijuana.

1950 – 2000


1951	UN Bulletin of Narcotic Drugs states over 200 million cannabis users in the world.
	Congress passes the Boggs Act. Set mandatory sentences for drug-related offenses, including marijuana.

1955	Hemp farming outlawed again in US.

1956	Narcotics Control Act of 1956. The acts made a first time cannabis possession offense a minimum of two to ten years with a fine up to $20,000,

1961	The U.N. Treaty 406 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed. Seeks to to limit the possession, use, trade in, distribution, import, export, manufacture and production of drugs exclusively to medical and scientific purposes. It Seeks to outlaw cannabis use and cannabis cultivation worldwide, and “eradicate cannabis smoking within 30 years.” The US representative is Anslinger.

1962	President Kennedy sacks Anslinger. Kennedy using cannabis as a pain relief.

1963	Kennedy assassinated.

1964	Dr. Raphael Mechoulam of the University of Tel Aviv isolates THC Delta-9, the active ingredient in cannabis
	Thelin Brothers open first US ‘Head Shop’.

1965	Allen Ginsberg convenes one of the first organized public protests against Cannabis Prohibition laws The effort later became the California-based reform organization, Amorphia.

1967	Home of Rolling Stone, Keith Richards is busted, uncovered marijuana. Richards and Mick Jagger were sentenced to prison for respectively three months and one year. The convictions were quashed on appeal.
	3,000 people hold a ‘smoke-in’ in Hyde Park..
	Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies mail out 3000 joints to addresses chosen at random from the phonebook.
	SOMA Times Petition in the UK urges legalisation of cannabis. The Beatles sign it.

1968	Creation of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. This was a merger of FBN and the Bureau of Dangerous Drugs of the Food and Drug Administration.
	UK Government Wootton Report recommends cannabis possession should not be an offence. “Having reviewed all the material available to us we find ourselves in agreement with the conclusion reached by the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission appointed by the Government of India (1893-94) and the New York Mayor’s Committee (1944 – LaGuardia) that the long-term consumption of cannabis in moderate doses has no harmful effects.”
	Campaign to stop US soldiers in Vietnam from taking cannabis – they switch to heroin.
	John Lennon arrested for cannabis possession.

1969	Amorphia is founded in Mill Valley, California. The group funds itself by selling popular rolling papers.
	James Callaghan, UK Labour Prime Minister, rejects the findings of the Wootton Report.
	George Harrison arrested for cannabis.
	Appellate court challenges to the 1937 ‘Reefer Madness’ anti-cannabis laws force the federal government to create a Controlled Substances Act and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 1970.

1970	United States Congress repealed mandatory penalties for cannabis offenses Narcotics Control Act of 1956.
	Public interest attorney R. Keith Stroup founds the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) in Washington, D.C.
	USA Marijuana Tax Act declared unconstitutional.
	Oct 27 – The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act is passed. Part II of this is the The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) becomes law. For the first time sets up a scheduling system for illicit and licit substances, classifying cannabis as a schedule I controlled substance with “a high potential for abuse and accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and not safe to use under medical supervision.
	The CSA called for a presidential commission to convene to examine cannabis policy, later to be known as the Shafer Commission.
	Social use of cannabis receives widespread acceptance despite illegality
	Policy of decriminalization sweeps across USA and Britain.
	LeDain Report (Canada) recommended that serious consideration be given to the legalization of personal possession of marijuana. It finds that cannabis use increases self-confidence, feelings of creativity and sensual awareness, facilitates concentration and self-acceptance, reduces tension, hostility and aggression and may produce psychological but not physical dependence. The report recommends that possession laws be repealed

1971	President Richard Nixon declares a “War on Drugs”.
	First political pro-reform conference, the First People’s Pot Conference, convened by NORML in Washington, D.C.
	UN Convention on Psychotopic Substances
	1971 British Misuse of Drugs Act classifies cannabis as a Class B drug with stiff sentencing. This bans the medical use of cannabis, ignoring the Wootton Report.

1972	The Nixon-appointed Shafer Commission urged use of cannabis be re-legalized, but recommendation was ignored.
	US President Richard Nixon says ‘I am against legalising marijuana’.
	Baan Commission presents report to Dutch Minister of Health and suggests that cannabis trade below a quarter of a kilo ought to be considered as a misdemeanor.
	Amorphia merges into NORML.
	NORML files first ever lawsuit to re-schedule cannabis for medical use, under the Controlled Substance Act, NORML vs. DEA.
	The Shafer Commission recommends that cannabis should be decriminalized for personal use; and that personal cultivation be allowed along with small transfers for no profit (Nixon and US Congress reject recommendations).
	NORML takes the Shafer commission findings to all fifty states encouraging adoption of state decriminalization laws.

1973	Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is formed. The DEA is tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the U.S.
	Nepal bans the Cannabis shops and charas (hand-rolled hash) export.
	Afghan government makes hashish production and sales illegal.
	In 1973, a psychiatrist who was all for the legalization of the use of marijuana for medical purposes was Tod Mikuriya MD. He approved marijuana for medical purposes for at least 9,000 patients. He revived the studies of medical marijuana and people began to look deeper into the subject.
	1973 Oregon becomes the first state to pass cannabis decriminalization legislation
	UN Convention of Psychotropic Substances: cannabis is declared a narcotic.

1974	Dr. Heath conducts government-funded Rhesus monkey study at Tulane University, touted for years as evidence that marijuana causes brain damage.
	US Senate report on Marijuana-Hashish Epidemic and its Impact on US Security claims that cannabis use cause brain damage, a-motivation and genetic and reproductive defects
	Tom Forcade creates the magazine High Times.

1975	Hundreds of Doctors call on US Government to instigate further research on Cannabis.
	December 1, The Supreme Court ruled that it was “not cruel or unusual for Ohio to sentence someone to 20 years for having or selling cannabis.
	Supreme Court of Alaska declares that ‘right of privacy’ protects Cannabis possession in the home. Limit for public possession is set at one ounce.
	Jamaica Studies reveal good health amongst prolific cannabis users. “No impairment of physiological, sensory and perceptual performance, tests of concept formation, abstracting ability, and cognitive style, and tests of memory.”
	FDA establishes Compassionate Use program for medical marijuana in 1975
	NORML helps Robert Randall of Washington, D.C. become only legal medical cannabis patient in America at that time.

1976	The Ford Administration bans independent research and research by federal health programs on the use of natural cannabis derivatives for medicine.
	Holland adopts tolerant attitude to cannabis and many coffee shops and youth centers allowed to sell cannabis.
	USA New York Times (Jan 5) declares ‘Scientists find nothing really harmful about pot’.
	DuPont declares cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco and calls for its decriminalization.
	Robert Randal becomes first American to receive Cannabis from Federal supplies under a Investigational New Drug (IND) program.
	President Jimmy Carter endorses the Shafer Commission’s findings and sends a statement to Congress on August 3 asking them to decriminalize cannabis possession in America for adults.

1977	President Carter thinks cannabis should be legalised.
	The Australian (Baume Committee) recommends treating drug use as a social / medical rather than legal problem. Also that criminal sanction of possession of cannabis be replaced by fines while retaining penalties for possession of hashish, oil and purified THC.
	The New South Wales Joint Parliamentary Committee upon Drugs recommends eliminating criminal sanctions for personal use of cannabis, implementing bond and probation penalties for first offenders and expunging records upon successful completion of these punishments. Also suggest retaining penalties for trafficking in cannabis.

1980	Paul McCartney arrested for cannabis and spends 10 days in prison in Japan.
	Costa Rica study reports good health in cannabis users.
	President Reagan is elected to the White House (along with his wife Nancy’s anti-cannabis crusade) and ends the era of decriminalization
	Eleven states have decriminalized marijuana possession (AK, OR, CA, CO, NE, MN, MS, OH, NC, NY and ME).


1981	The Coptic Study claims ‘No harm to human brain or intelligence’ through cannabis use.

1982	An Analysis of Marijuana Policy, National Research Council of the National Academy of Science, concludes that prohibition is only preferable to a policy of complete prohibition of supply and use”

1983	The USA government (Reagan / Bush) orders American Universities to destroy all 1966-76 research work on cannabis.
	In the UK over 20,000 convictions for possession.

1986	Anti-Drug Abuse Act – Mandatory Sentences: President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, instituting mandatory sentences for drug-related crimes.
	A later amendment to the Anti-Drug Abuse Act established a three strikes and you’re out policy, requiring life sentences for repeat drug offenders
	UK Drug Trafficking Offences Act introduced to enable confiscation of assets from drug dealers

1987 AD	The USA Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy says: “Cannabis can be used on an episodic but continual basis without evidence of social or psychic dysfunction.
	Moroccan government cracks down upon Cannabis cultivation in lower elevations of Rif Mountains

1988	1988 – DEA administrative law Judge finds after thorough hearings that marijuana has clearly established medical use and should be reclassified as a prescriptive drug.
	September 6, 1988: DEA chief administrative judge, Francis Young, rules the US government should allow the medicinal use of cannabis. He says “Marijuana in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substance known to man”.
	DEA rejects Young Report. His recommendation is ignored.
	The Reagan administration and Department of Justice appealed DEA administrative law judge Young’s ruling seeking to uphold a total ban on cannabis—even for sick, dying or sense-threatened medical patients whose physicians recommend cannabis as a safe and non-toxic therapeutic agent.
	20 December : UN Convention against illicit traffic in narcotic and psychotropic substances, Vienna, includes cannabis
	In the UK 23,229 people arrested for cannabis offences.

1989	President George Bush declares a renewed war on drugs in a nationally televised speech. Creates the Office of National Drug Control. Marijuana is one of the drugs targeted.
	shops selling smoking apparatus outlawed.
	Urine testing introduced.
	Worldwide prohibition entices organised crime to take control of the cannabis market and make huge profits
	Price – per – ounce cannabis worth more than gold.
	Secretary of State James A Baker reports global war on narcotic production is ‘clearly not being won’.
	1989: St. Louis Medical University determines that the human brain has receptor sites for THC to which no other known compounds will bind..
1989	“The AMA opposes legalization of the sale and possession of marijuana, and recommends that it be prohibited for public use and also supports the modification of state laws to reduce the severity of penalties for possession of marijuana. The AMA recommends that personal possession of insignificant amounts be considered a misdemeanor and advocates increased research into the effects of marijuana.”
	December 30, 1989: Drug Enforcement Agency Director John Lawn orders that cannabis remain on the Schedule One narcotics list, reserved for drugs which have no known medical use.

1990	Jack Herer, in his book ‘The Emperor Wears No Clothes’ offers $10,000 reward to anyone who can disprove his assertion that hemp can ‘save the planet’.
	Alaska recriminalizes cannabis possession
	USA voters pass regional measures to allow medicinal use of cannabis

1991	THC receptors found in the brain.
	UK 40,000 people arrested for cannabis.
	UK Judge Pickles advocates legalisation of drugs.

1992	US Investigational New Drug (IND) Program dropped.
	January 22, California Research Advisory Panel reports that prohibition has a more harmful effect on society and the individual than illegal drugs themselves.
	SA over 340,000 arrests for cannabis
	UK Government issue licenses to grow cannabis for industrial uses or scientific research
	USA President Clinton admits he smoked cannabis but did not inhale.
	Australia licenses hemp farm.
	Howard Marks admits that he smoked cannabis but never exhaled.
	17 European Cities sign Frankfurt Charter agreeing to tolerate social use of cannabis.
	USA Jim Montgomery, a paraplegic who smoked cannabis to relieve muscle spasm, busted for two ounces of marijuana in Oklahoma, arrested and sentenced to life plus 16 years.

1993	Britain eases restrictions on hemp farming. Hempcore is first British company to get a license.
	Raymond Kendall, Head of Interpol, calls for decriminalisation of cannabis.
	British Law Lord, Lord Woolf calls for legalisation of cannabis
	German High Court in Kruhe rules that cannabis prohibition is unconstitutional.
	British Home Secretary Michael Howard declares ‘War on drugs’ and increases maximum fine for possession of cannabis to £2,500.
	Over 72,000 UK citizens arrested for cannabis offences
	Canada permits a hemp farm in Ontario province
	Cannabis eradication efforts resume in Morocco.

1994	California Governor Pete Wilson vetoes popularly passed medical cannabis from the state legislature.
	Border hashish still produced in Pakistan.
	NORML looses appeal NORML vs. DEA. the US District Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. ruled in favor of the Drug Enforcement Administration. NORML chooses not to appeal to US Supreme Court.
	Germany becomes the first European country apart from Holland to decriminalize possession of ‘small quantities of cannabis for occasional use’
	Association of Cannabis Therapeutics talks to Department Of Health about possibility of Legalising Cannabis for Medical use.
	Heavy fighting between rival Muslim clans continues to upset hashish trade in Afghanistan

1995	Holland lowers the amount one can possess without prosecution to 5 grams (from 30) as a result of powerful international pressures from neighboring countries.
	UK Home secretary Michael Howard increases penalties for cannabis offenses.
	European Cannabis Consumers’ Union founded in Amsterdam.
	Cannabis Buyers Club formed by Dan Perron to distribute cannabis to the sick.
	First CHIC (Cannabis Hemp Information Club) conference in London.
	British journal of the medical profession, The Lancet, states that “The smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health”.
	European Council orders a study of drug legislation and practice in the Union.
	During the Clinton administration 1,451,000 people arrested for cannabis, 86% for possession only.
	Henrion Commission Report, the French Commission in charge of drug policy supports decriminalization of cannabis and calls for a two-year trial period of regulated retail trade in cannabis. The French Government reject these proposals.
	Introduction of hashish-making equipment and appearance of locally produced hashish in Amsterdam coffee shops.
	Lester Grinspoon, M.D. stated in a June 1995 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “urging doctors to reconsider marijuana, to take a lesson from their 19th century forbearers who used marijuana as a medicine, and to reconsider its usefulness in a modern light.”

1996	California and Arizona pass Propositions allowing the use of cannabis in the treatment of certain illnesses. California passes Proposition 215; it allows patients with AIDS, cancer and other diseases to use marijuana to alleviate pain.
	Clinton is re-elected and the FBI threaten Doctors with prosecution for prescribing marijuana as medicine.
	UK Liberal Democrats Party calls for a Royal Commission on cannabis.
	The Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence says: “All that can be said definitely is that 1) Cannabis use generally precedes the use of other illegal drugs. 2) Cannabis use does not necessarily (or even usually) lead to the use of other illicit drugs.”
	Lord McCluskey calls for consideration of decriminalization in UK.
	UK Janet Paraskeno, magistrate and director of National Youth Agency calls for ‘legalization and not decriminalization’.
	The Parliament of Luxembourg calls for a program ‘of common measures for the liberalization of cannabis and its derivatives’ along with Belgium, the Netherlands, and the harmonisation of drug laws in Benelux countries.
	Ireland announces their plans to use cannabis as fuel to replace the use of the dwindling supplies of peat
	Dutch town council at Delfzij decides to sell cannabis through their own coffee shop. They name the shop ‘Paradox’. Profits used to provide information campaigns against ‘soft drugs’ in Dutch schools.
	The Canton of Zurich calls for legalisation of cannabis.
	The Dutch close many coffee shops, bowing to pressures from Germany and France
	Australia: Victoria State Council urge decriminalization of cannabis.
	UK Crown Prosecution Service dropping cases of possession and cultivation against some ill people (MS) as ‘not in the public interest to proceed’.
	A Swiss man, Zimmermann, is given a life sentence in the Maldives, for importing three cannabis seeds, found in his luggage as he flew in from India.
	Legalize Ganja Jamaica formed
	Scottish Nationalist conference votes to allow cultivation for personal use and research into medical uses of cannabis

1997	Study at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine, concluded that long-term smokers of cannabis do not experience a greater annual decline in lung functions than non-smokers.
	The Kaiser Permanente Study (USA) – “Marijuana Use and Mortality” April 1997 American Journal of Public Health concludes “Relatively few adverse clinical effects from the chronic use of marijuana have been documented in humans. However, the criminalization of marijuana use may itself be a health hazard, since it may expose the users to violence and criminal activity.”
	A court in Texas, USA, sentences medical marijuana user, William J. Foster to 93 years imprisonment for cultivation of one plant.
	Two Swiss Cantons decide to legalize possession of cannabis in small amounts and ask the national Government to do the same.
	German State of Schlewig-Holstein legalize possession of up to 5 grams of cannabis.
	Zimmermann freed after appeals for clemency from the Swiss Government and letters from CLCIA supporters, the Maldives releases Zimmermann, the man given life for three seeds.
	USA a $2 million study to prove cannabis smoking can cause cancer fails and announces that it does not.
	McCaffrey, Director of National Drug Control Policy, resists the medical supply or cannabis in California and Arizona, threatening to prosecute Doctor’s who prescribe it.
	The UK elects a new Labour Government. Prime Minister, Tony Blair, says he will not legalize cannabis.
	USA marines use helicopters to destroy marijuana crops in Hawaii despite objections from the people.
	The British Medical Association (BMA) recommends the provision of medicinal cannabis in the UK.
	New South Wales then decriminalizes possession of cannabis – up to 5 plants, 30 grams of leaf, 3 grams of resin and 2 grams of oil.
	Paul McCartney, ex-Beatle, reconfirms his call to decriminalise cannabis.
	DEA formally asks the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct “a scientific and medical evaluation of the available data and provide a scheduling recommendation” for marijuana and other cannabinoid drugs.

1998	1998 Oregon passes the Medical Marijuana Act, allowing doctors to prescribe small amounts of marijuana to patients with debilitating medical conditions.
	Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Arizona pass medical cannabis laws and patient protections

1999	Maine voters approved a medical cannabis initiative.

After 2000


2000	Colorado voters pass Amendment 20, the Medical Use of Marijuana Act, allowing “qualified patients” to buy, possess or grow marijuana.
	Hawaii legislature passed medical cannabis legislation.
	Nevada voters approved medical cannabis initiatives.

2001	The AMA’s Council on Scientific Affairs report “Until such time as rapid-onset cannabinoid [marijuana] formulations are clinically available, our AMA affirms the appropriateness of compassionate use of marijuana and related cannabinoids in carefully controlled programs designed to provide symptomatic relief of nausea, vomiting, cachexia, anorexia, spasticity, acute or chronic pain, or other palliative effects. Such compassionate use is appropriate when other approved medications provide inadequate relief or are not tolerated, and the protocols provide for physician oversight and a mechanism to assess treatment effectiveness.”
	May 14 – United States vs. Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Coop. United States Supreme Court ruled that federal anti-drug laws do not permit an exception for medical cannabis because Congress concluded cannabis has “no currently accepted medical use” when the act was passed in 1970.
	2001- June 14 – Canada announces Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) Makes marijuana legal with doctors recommendations

2003	02/12/2003 California– Senate Bill 420, a compromise which created guidelines for patients and the law enforcement which regards to how much marijuana patients may possess and cultivate without being arrested under the penalty of law in California. A patient is allowed 6 mature or 12 immature plants and restricted to only ½ a pound of marijuana.

2004	Cannabis reclassified to a Class C drug in the UK.
	Montana voters approved a medical cannabis initiative.
	Vermont’s legislature passed medical cannabis legislation.

2005	Gonzales vs. Raich (previously Ashcroft vs. Raich), 545 U.S. 1 United States Supreme Court ruled that the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution allowed the federal government to ban the use of cannabis, including medical use. The court found the federal law valid, although the cannabis in question had been grown and consumed within a single state, and had never entered interstate commerce. Congress may ban the use of cannabis even where states approve its use for medicinal purposes.

2006	Rhode Island legislature passed medical cannabis legislation.

2007	New Mexico legislature passed medical cannabis legislation.

2008	Michigan voters approve medical cannabis initiative.
	Massachusetts voters approve a cannabis decriminalization initiative.


2009	Nov 10: The AMA urges the US federal government to “review” marijuana’s status in Schedule I vs. “retain” it in Schedule I as the AMA had formerly recommended. The new policy stated: “Our AMA urges that marijuana’s status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods. This should not be viewed as an endorsement of state-based medical cannabis programs, the legalization of marijuana, or that scientific evidence on the therapeutic use of cannabis meets the current standards for a prescription drug product.”
	2009: Cannabis reclassified back to a Class B drug in the UK

2010	New Jersey legislature passed medical cannabis legislation.
	Arizona voters approve medical cannabis initiative for the third time since 1996
	District of Columbia City Council passed medical cannabis legislation.
	Voters in California narrowly defeat a cannabis legalization initiative, 53%-47%.

2011	April 12 – Ontario, Canada Superor Court strikes down marijuana laws and gives Canadian 90 days to fix chapter issues R. v. Mernagh the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
	Delaware legislature passed medical cannabis legislation.
	Connecticut legislature passed cannabis decriminalization legislation.
	June 23, cannabis legalization bill introduced into the US Congress