NORML wants to legalize pot. Fantastic!

NORML wants to tax pot. That's a big mistake!

1937 Marihuana Tax Act

Feds made marijuana illegal by taxing it! A sneaky trick!

If marijuana is legalized and allowed to be taxed again either the Federal government or a state government could used the same tax law trick to make marijuana illegal again.

In 1914 the Federal government made most drugs illegal not by outlawing them, but taxing them. This was done with the

1914 Harrison Narcotics Tax Act

1937 Marihuana Tax Act

Here is a couple of snips I took from the internet about the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act which the Feds used to make pot illegal. For useless information the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act was declared unconstitutional in 1969 in a case where LSD guru Timothy Leary was busted. The 1937 Marihuana Tax Act has been replaced by the Controlled Substances Act as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 and Controlled Substances Act.

In the United States, the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, Pub. 238, 75th Congress, 50 Stat. 551 (Aug. 2, 1937), was a significant bill on the path that led to the criminalization of cannabis. It was introduced to U.S. Congress by Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger.

The Act did not itself criminalize the possession or usage of hemp, marijuana, or cannabis, but levied a tax equaling roughly one dollar on anyone who dealt commercially in cannabis, hemp, or marijuana.

The deceptive nature of that apparent purpose of the Marihuana Tax Act begins to come into focus when the reader reaches the penalty provisions of the Act: five years' imprisonment, a $2,000 fine, or both seem rather excessive for evading a sum (provided for by the purchase of a Treasury Department tax stamp) that, even if collected, would produce only a minute amount of government revenue.

The message becomes entirely clear when, having finished the short text of the Act itself, one proceeds to the sixty-odd pages of administrative and enforcement procedures established by the infamous Regulations No. 1. That regulation, calls for a maze of affidavits, depositions, sworn statements, and constant Treasury Department police inspection in every instance that marijuana is bought, sold, used, raised, distributed, given away, and so on. Physicians who wish to purchase the one-dollar tax stamp so that they might prescribe it for their patients are forced to report such use to the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in sworn and attested detail, revealing the name and address of the patient, the nature of his ailment, the dates and amounts prescribed, and so on. If a physician for any reason fails to do so immediately, both he and his patient are liable to imprisonment-and a heavy fine. Obviously, the details of that regulation make it far too risky for anyone to have anything to do with marijuana in any way whatsoever.

For useless information in 1969 in Leary v. United States, (like Timothy Leary the LSD guru) part of the Act was ruled to be unconstitutional as a violation of the Fifth Amendment, since a person seeking the tax stamp would have to incriminate him/herself. In response the Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 and Controlled Substances Act. The 1937 Act was repealed by the 1970 Act.

1914 Harrison Narcotics Tax Act

Feds made drugs illegal by taxing them! A sneaky trick!

The chief proponent of the measure was Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, a man of deep prohibitionist and missionary convictions and sympathies.

The 1914 Harrison Narcotics Tax Act appears to be concerned about the marketing and taxing opiates. The law specifically provided that manufacturers, importers, pharmacists, and physicians prescribing narcotics should be licensed to do so, at a moderate fee

However a clause applying to doctors allowed distribution "in the course of his professional practice only." This clause was interpreted after 1917 to mean that a doctor could not prescribe opiates to an addict, since addiction was not considered a disease.

A number of doctors were arrested and some were imprisoned. The medical profession quickly learned not to supply opiates to addicts. In 1919, the Supreme Court ruled in Doremus that the Harrison Act was constitutional and in Webb that physicians could not prescribe narcotics solely for maintenance.

The impact of diminished supply was obvious by mid-1915. A 1918 commission called for sterner law enforcement. Congress responded by tightening up the Harrison Act - the importation of heroin for any purpose was banned in 1924.

The 1914 Harrison Narcotics Tax like the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act has largely been superseded by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970,

Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970

Replaced Marihuana Tax Act & Harrison Narcotics Tax Act

Controlled substances are divided into five schedules (or classes) on the basis of their potential for abuse, accepted medical use, and accepted safety under medical supervision.

Substances in Schedule I have a high potential for abuse, no accredited medical use, and a lack of accepted safety.

From Schedules II to V, substances decrease in potential for abuse.

The schedule a substance is placed in determines how it must be controlled. Prescriptions for drugs in all schedules must bear the physician's federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) license number, but some drugs in Schedule V do not require a prescription.

Controlled Substances Act (CSA)

The act also provides a mechanism for substances to be controlled, added to a schedule, decontrolled, removed from control, rescheduled, or transferred from one schedule to another.

Proceedings to add, delete, or change the schedule of a drug or other substance may be initiated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

In politically incorrect English this means the drug war cops can decide which drugs to make illegal. And the more drugs that are illegal provide more jobs for the drug war cops.

The DEA also may begin an investigation of a drug at any time based upon information received from law enforcement laboratories, state and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies, or other sources of information.

Once the DEA has collected the necessary data, the DEA Administrator, by authority of the Attorney General, requests from the HHS a scientific and medical evaluation and recommendation as to whether the drug or other substance should be controlled or removed from control.

Under certain circumstances, the Government may temporarily schedule a drug without following the normal procedure. An example is when international treaties require control of a substance. In addition, 21 U.S.C. § 811(h) allows the Attorney General to temporarily place a substance in Schedule I "to avoid an imminent hazard to the public safety". Thirty days' notice is required before the order can be issued, and the scheduling expires after a year; however, the period may be extended six months if rulemaking proceedings to permanently schedule the drug are in progress. In any case, once these proceedings are complete, the temporary order is automatically vacated.

The CSA also creates a closed system of distribution for those authorized to handle controlled substances. The cornerstone of this system is the registration of all those authorized by the DEA to handle controlled substances. All individuals and firms that are registered are required to maintain complete and accurate inventories and records of all transactions involving controlled substances, as well as security for the storage of controlled substances. [sounds like a jobs program for somebody!]

Schedule I drugs with no medical use

• gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB)
• 12-Methoxyibogamine, Ibogaine.
• Marijuana
• Heroin, Diacetylmorphine
• nicomorphine (Vilan), dextromoramide (Palfium), ketobemidone (Ketalgin), dihydromorphine (Paramorfan), piritramide (Dipidolor), diacetyldihydromorphine (Paralaudin), dipipanone (Wellconal), phenadoxone (Heptalgin) and many others.
• benzylmorphine (Peronine), nicocodeine (Tusscodin), Dihydrocodeinone enol acetate, tilidine (Valoron), meptazinol (Meptid), propiram (Algeril), acetyldihydrocodeine
• Pholcodine
• MDMA, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, Ecstasy
• Psilocybin
• Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD"
• Peyote
• Mescaline
• Methaqualone (Quaalude, Sopor, Mandrax
• 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine (STP / DOM)
• Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG / "The Clear")
• 2C-T-7 (Blue Mystic / T7), a psychotropic entheogen;
• 2C-B (Nexus / Bees / Venus / Bromo Mescaline)
• Cathinone (β-ketoamphetamine), Khat
• AMT (alpha-methyltryptamine
• Bufotenin (5-OH-DMT)
• Benzylpiperazine (BZP)
• DXO, active metabolite of Dextromethorphan

Some Schedule II drugs

• Cocaine
• Methylphenidate (Ritalin and Concerta) & Dexmethylphenidate (Focalin)
• Opium and opium tincture (laudanum)
• Methadone
• Oxycodone (semi-synthetic opioid; active ingredient in Percocet, OxyContin, and Percodan)
• Fentanyl, levorphanol, opium, or oxymorphone;
• Morphine
• Mixed Amphetamine Salts under brand name Adderall
• Dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine) Dextromethamphetamine (Desoxyn)
• Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
• Codeine
• Hydrocodone
• Secobarbital (Seconal)
• Pethidine (USAN: Meperidine; Demerol)
• Phencyclidine (PCP);
• Short-acting barbiturates, such as pentobarbital
• Nabilone (Cesamet)
• Tapentadol (Nucynta)

Source

1914 Harrison Narcotics Tax Act

Full Text of the 1914 Harrison Narcotics Tax Act

Public Acts of the Sixty-Third Congress of the United States

Woodrow Wilson, President; Thomas R. Marshall, Vice-President; James P. Clarke, President of the Senate pro tempore; Claude A. Swanson, Acting President of the Senate pro tempore, December 21 to 23, 29 to 31, 1914, and January 2, 1915; Nathan P. Bryan, Acting President of the Senate pro tempore, January 22, 1915; Champ Clark, Speaker of the House of Representatives

Chap 1.

An Act To provide for the registration of, with collectors of internal revenue, and to impose a special tax on all persons who produce, import, manufacture, compound, deal in, dispense, sell, distribute, or give away opium or coca leaves, their salts, derivatives, or preparations, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that on and after the first day of March, nineteen hundred and fifteen, every person who produces, imports, manufactures, compounds, deals in, dispenses, distributes, or gives away opium or coca leaves or any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, or preparation thereof, shall register with the collector of internal revenue of the district, his name or style, place of business, and place or places where such business is to be carried on: Provided, that the office, or if none, then the residence of any person shall be considered for purposes of this Act to be his place of business. At the time of such registry and on or before the first of July annually thereafter, every person who produces, imports, manufactures, compounds, deals in, dispenses, distributes, or gives away any of the aforesaid drugs shall pay to the said collector a special tax at the rate of $1 per annum: Provided, that no employee of any person who produces, imports, manufactures, compounds, deals in, dispenses, distributes, or gives away any of the aforesaid drugs, acting within the scope of his employment, shall be required to register or to pay the special tax provided by this section: Provided further, That officers of the United States Government who are lawfully engaged in making purchases of the above-named drugs for the various departments of the Army and Navy, the Public Health Service, and for Government hospitals and prisons, and officers of State governments or any municipality therein, who are lawfully engaged in making purchases of the above-named drugs for State, county, or municipal hospitals or prisons, and officials of any Territory or insular possession, or the District of Columbia or of the United States who are lawfully engaged in making purchases of the above-named drugs for hospitals or prisons therein shall not be required to register and pay the special tax as herein required.

It shall be unlawful for any person required to register under the terms of this Act to produce, import, manufacture, compound, deal in, dispense, sell, distribute, any of the aforesaid drugs without having registered and paid the special tax provided for in this section.

That the word "person" in this Act shall be construed to mean and include a partnership, association, company, or corporation, as well as a natural person; and all provisions of existing law relating to special taxes, so far as applicable, including the provisions of section thirty-two hundred and forty of the Revised Statutes of the United States are hereby extended to the special tax herein imposed.

That the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall make all needful rules and regulations for carrying the provisions of this Act into effect.

Sec. 2

That it shall be unlawful for any person to sell, barter, exchange, or give away any of the aforesaid drugs except in pursuance of a written order of the person to whom such article is sold, bartered, exchanged, or given, on a form to be issued in blank for that purpose by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Every person who shall accept any such order, and in pursuance thereof shall sell, barter, exchange, or give away any of the aforesaid drugs shall preserve such order for a period of two years in such a way as to be readily accessible to inspection by any officer, agent, or employee of the Treasury Department duly authorized for that purpose, and the State, Territorial, district, municipal and insular officials named in Section five of this Act. Every person who shall give an order as herein provided to any other person for any of the aforesaid drugs shall, at or before the time of giving of such order, make or cause to be made, a duplicate thereof on a form to be issued in blank for that purpose by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and in the case of the acceptance of such order , shall preserve such duplicate for said period of two years in such a way as to be readily accessible to inspection by the officers, agents, employees, and officials herein mentioned. Nothing contained in this section shall apply -

(a) To the dispensing or distribution of any of the aforesaid drugs to a patient by a physician, dentist, or veterinary surgeon registered under this Act in the course of his professional practice only: Provided, That such physician, dentist, or veterinary surgeon shall keep a record of all such drugs dispensed or distributed, showing the amount dispensed or distributed, the date, and the name and address of the person to whom such drugs are dispensed or distributed; except such as may be dispensed or distributed to a patient upon whom such physician, dentist, or veterinary surgeon shall personally attend; and such record shall be kept for a period of two years from the date of dispensing or distributing such drugs, subject to inspection, as provided in this Act.

(b) To the sale, dispensing, or distributing of any of the aforesaid drugs by a dealer to a consumer under under and in pursuance of a written prescription issued by a physician, dentist, or veterinary surgeon registered under this Act. Provided, however, That such prescription shall be dated as of the day on which signed and shall be signed by the physician, dentist, or veterinary surgeon who shall have issued the same: And provided further, That such dealer shall preserve such prescription for a period of two years from the day on which such prescription is filled in such a way as to be readily accessible by the officers, agents, employees, and officials hereinbefore mentioned.

(c) To the sale, exportation, shipment, or delivery of any of the aforesaid drugs by any person within the United States or any Territory or the District of Columbia or any of the insular possessions of the United States to any person in any foreign country, regulating their entry in accordance with such regulations for importation thereof into such foreign country as are prescribed by said country, such regulations to be promulgated from time to time by the Secretary of State of the United States.

(d) To the sale, barter, exchange, or giving away of any of the aforesaid drugs to any officer of the United States Government, or any State, territorial, district, county, or municipal or insular government lawfully engaged in making purchases thereof for various departments of the Army and Navy, the Public Health Service, and for Government, State, territorial, district, county, or municipal, or insular hospitals and prisons.

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall cause suitable forms to be prepared for the purposes mentioned above, and shall cause the same to be distributed to collectors of internal revenue for sale by them to those persons who shall have registered and paid the special tax as required by section one of this Act, in their districts, respectively; and no collector shall sell any of such forms to any persons other than a person who has registered and paid the special tax as required by section one of this Act in his district. The price at which said forms shall be sold by collectors shall be fixed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, but shall not exceed the sum of $1 per hundred. Every collector shall keep an account of the number of forms sold by him, the names of the purchasers, and the number of forms sold to each of such purchasers. Whenever any collector shall sell any of such forms, he shall cause the name of the purchaser thereof to be plainly stamped thereon before delivering the same; and no person other than such purchaser shall use any of said forms bearing the name of such purchaser for the purpose of procuring any of the aforesaid drugs, or furnish any of the forms bearing the name of such purchaser to any person with intent thereby to procure the shipment or delivery of any of the aforesaid drugs. It shall be unlawful for any person to obtain by means of said order forms any of the aforesaid drugs for any purpose other than the use, sale, or distribution thereof by him in the conduct of a lawful business in said drugs or in the legitimate practice of his profession.

The provisions of this Act shall apply to the United States, the District of Columbia, the Territory of Alaska, the Territory of Hawaii, the insular possessions of the United States, and the Canal Zone. In Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands the administration of this Act, the collection of said special tax, and the issuance of the order forms specified in section two shall be performed by the appropriate internal revenue officers of these governments, and all revenues collected hereunder in Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands shall accrue intact to the governments thereof, respectively. The courts of first instance in the Philippine Islands shall possess and exercise jurisdiction in all cases arising under this Act in said islands. The President is authorized and directed to issue such executive orders as will carry into effect in the Canal Zone the intent and purpose of this Act by providing for the registration and the imposition of a special tax upon all persons in the Canal Zone who produce, import, compound, deal in, dispense, sell, distribute, or give away opium or coca leaves, their salts, derivatives, or preparations.

Sec. 3

That any person who shall be registered in any internal revenue district under the provisions of section one of this Act shall, whenever required to do so by the collector of the district, render to the said collector a true and correct statement or return, verified by affadavit, setting forth the quantity of aforesaid drugs received by him in said internal revenue district during such period immediately preceding the demand of the collector, not exceeding three months, as the said collector may fix and determine; the names of the persons from whom said drugs were received; the quantity in each instance of the quantity received from each of such persons, and the date received.

Sec. 4

That it shall be unlawful for any person who shall not have registered and paid the special tax as required by section one of this Act to send, ship, carry, or deliver any of the aforesaid drugs from any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, or any insular possession of the United States, to any person in any other State or Territory or the District of Columbia or any insular possession of the United States: Provided, that nothing contained in this section shall apply to common carriers engaged in transporting the aforesaid drugs, or to any employee acting within the scope of his employment, of any person who shall have registered and paid the special tax as required by section one of this Act, or to any person who shall deliver such drug which has been prescribed or dispensed by a physician, dentist, or veterinary surgeon required to register under the terms of this Act, who has been employed to prescribe for the particular patient receiving such drug, or to any United States, State, county, municipal, District, territorial, or insular officer or official acting within the scope of his official duties.

Sec. 5

That the duplicate-order forms and the prescriptions required to be preserved under the provisions of section two of this Act, and the statements or returns filed in the office of the collector of the district, under the provisions of section three of this Act, shall be open to inspection by officers, agents, and employees of the Treasury Department duly authorized for that purpose; and such officials of any State or Territory, or of any organized municipality therein, or of the District of Columbia, or any insular possession of the United States as shall be charged with the enforcement of any law or municipal ordinance regulating the sale, prescribing, dispensing, dealing in, or distribution of the aforesaid drugs. Each collector of internal revenue is hereby authorized to furnish, upon written request, certified copies of any of the said statements or returns filed in his office to any of such officials of any State or Territory, or organized municipality therein, or of the District of Columbia, or any insular possession of the United States, as shall be entitled to inspect said statements or returns filed in the office of the said collector, upon the payment of a fee of $1 for each one hundred words in the copy or copies so requested. Any person who shall disclose the information contained in the said statements or returns or in the said duplicate-order forms, except as herein expressly provided, and except for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this Act, or for the purpose of enforcing any law of any State or Territory, or the District of Columbia, or any insular possession of the United States, or ordinance of any organization or municipality therein, regulating the sale, prescribing, dispensing, dealing in, or distribution of the aforesaid drugs shall, on conviction, be fined or imprisoned as provided by section nine of this Act. And collectors of internal revenue are hereby authorized to furnish upon written request, to any person, a certified copy of the names of any and all persons who may be listed in their respective collection district as special tax-payers under the provisions of this Act, upon payment of a fee of $1 per hundred names or fraction thereof in the copy so requested.

Sec. 6

That the provisions of this Act shall not be construed to apply to the sale, distribution, or giving away, dispensing, or possession of preparations and remedies which do not contain more than two grains of opium, or more than one-fourth of a grain of morphine, or more than one-eighth of grain of heroin, or more than one grain of codeine, or any salt or derivative of them in one fluid ounce, or, if a solid or semi-solid preparation, in one avoirdupois ounce, or to liniments, ointments, and other preparations which contain cocaine or any of its salts or alpha or beta eucaine or any of their salts or any synthetic substitute for them: Provided, that such remedies and preparations are sold, distributed, given away, dispensed, or possessed as medicines and not for the purpose of evading the intentions and provisions of this Act. The provisions of this Act shall not apply to decocainized coca leaves or preparations made therefrom, or to other preparations of coca leaves which do not contain cocaine.

Sec. 7

That all laws relating to the assessment, collection, remission, and refund of internal revenue taxes, including section thirty-two hundred and twenty-nine of the Revised Statutes of the United States, so far as applicable to and not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby extended and made applicable to the special taxes imposed by this Act.

Sec. 8

That it shall be unlawful for any person not registered under the provisions of this Act, and who has not paid the special tax provided for by this Act, to have in his possession or under his control any of the aforesaid drugs; and such possession or control shall be presumptive evidence of a violation of this section, and also a violation of the provisions of section one of this Act: Provided, That this section shall not apply to any employee of a registered person, or to a nurse under the supervision of a physician, dentist, or veterinary surgeon registered under this Act, having such possession or control by virtue of his employment or occupation and not on his own account; or to the possession of any of the aforesaid drugs which has or have been prescribed in good faith by a physician, dentist, or veterinary surgeon registered under this Act; or to any United States, State, county, municipal, district, Territorial or insular officer or official who has possession of any of said drugs, by reason of his official duties, or to a warehouseman holding possession for a person registered and who has paid taxes under this Act; or to common carriers engaged in transporting such drugs; Provided further, that it shall not be necessary to negative any of the aforesaid exemptions in any complaint, information, indictment or other writ or proceeding laid or brought under this Act; and the burden of proof of any such exemption shall be upon the defendant.

Sec. 9

That any person who violates or fails to comply with any of the requirements of this Act shall, on conviction, be fined not more than $2,000 or be imprisoned not more than five years, or both, in the discretion of the court.

Sec. 10

That the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, is authorized to appoint such agents, deputy collectors, inspectors, chemists, assistant chemists, clerks, and messengers in the field and in the Bureau of Internal Revenue in the District of Columbia as may be necessary to enforce the provisions of this Act.

Sec. 11 That the sum of $150,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be, and hereby is, appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act.

Sec. 12

That nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to impair, alter, amend, or repeal any of the provisions of the Act of Congress approved June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and six entitled "An act for preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated, or misbranded, or poisonous, or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for regulating traffic therein, and for other purposes" and any amendment thereof, or of the Act approved February ninth, nineteen hundred and nine entitled, "An act to prohibit the importation and use of opium for other than medicinal purposes" and any amendment thereof.

Source

THE MARIHUANA TAX ACT OF 1937

Full Text of the Marihuana Tax Act as passed in 1937

REGULATIONS No. 1

RELATING TO THE IMPORTATION, MANUFACTURE, PRODUCTION COMPOUNDING, SALE, DEALING IN, DISPENSING PRESCRIBING, ADMINISTERING, AND GIVING AWAY OF MARIHUANA UNDER THE ACT OF AUGUST 2, 1937 PUBLIC, No. 238, 75TH CONGRESS NARCOTIC-INTERNAL REVENUE REGULATIONS

JOINT MARIHUANA REGULATIONS MADE BY THE COMMISSIONER OF NARCOTICS AND THE COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY

EFFECTIVE DATE, OCTOBER 1, 1937

LAW AND REGULATIONS RELATING TO THE IMPORTATION, MANUFACTURE, PRODUCTION, COMPOUNDING, SALE, DEALING IN, DISPENSING, PRESCRIBING, ADMINISTERING, AND GIVING AWAY OF MARIHUANA

THE LAW

(Act of Aug. 2, 1937, Public 238, 75th Congress)

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That when used in this Act,

(a) The term "person" means an individual, a partnership, trust, association, company, or corporation and includes an officer or employee of a trust, association, company, or corporation, or a member or employee of a partnership, who, as such officer, employee, or member, is under a duty to perform any act in respect of which any violation of this Act occurs.

(b) The term "marihuana" means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds, or resin- but shall not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination.

(c) The term "producer" means any person who (1) plants, cultivates, or in any way facilitates the natural growth of marihuana; or (2) harvests and transfers or makes use of marihuana.

(d) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Treasury and the term "collector means collector of internal revenue.

(e) The term "transfer" or "transferred" means any type of disposition resulting in a change of possession but shall not indude a transfer to a common carrier for the purpose of transporting marihuana.

(a) Every person who imports, manufactures, produces, compounds, sells, deals in, dispenses, prescribes, administers, or gives away marihuana shall ( 1 ) within fifteen days after the effective date of this Act, or (2) before engaging after the expiration of such fifteen-day period in any of the above mentioned activities, and (3) thereafter, on or before July 1 of each year, pay the following special taxes respectively:

(1) Importers, manufacturers, and compounders of marihuana, $24 per year.

(2) Producers of marihuana (except those included within subdivision (4) of this subsection), $1 per year, or fraction thereof, during which they engage in such activity.

(3) Physicians, dentists, veterinary surgeons, and other practitioners who distribute, dispense, give away, administer, or prescribe marihuana to patients upon whom they in the course of their professional practice are in attendance, $1 per year or fraction thereof during which they engage in any of such activities.

(4) Any person not registered as an importer, manufacturer, producer, or compounder who obtains and uses marihuana in a laboratory for the purpose of research, instruction, or analysis, or who produces marihuana for any such purpose, $1 per year, or fraction thereof, during which he engages in such activities.

(5) Any person who is not a physician, dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner and who deals in, dispenses, or gives away marihuana, $3 per year: Provided, That any person who has registered and paid the special tax as an importer, manufacturer, compounder, or producer, as required by subdivisions ( 1 ) and (2) of this subsection, may deal in, dispense, or give away marihuana imported, manufactured, compounded, or produced by him without further payment of the tax imposed by this section.

(b) Where a tax under subdivision (1) or (5) is payable on July 1 of any year it shall be computed for one year; where any such tax is payable on any other day it shall be computed proportionately from the first day of the month in which the liability for the tax accrued to the following July 1.

(c) In the event that any person subject to a tax imposed by this section engages in any of the activities enumerated in subsection (a) of this section at more than one place, such person shall pay the tax with respect to each such place.

(d) Except as otherwise provided, whenever more than one of the activities enumerated in subsection (a) of this section is carried on by the same person at the same time, such person shall pay the tax for each such activity, according to the respective rates prescribed.

(e) Any person subject to the tax imposed by this section shall, upon payment of such tax, register his name or style and his place or places of business with the collector of the district in which such place or places of business are located.

(f) Collectors are authorized to furnish, upon written request, to any person a certified copy of the names of any or all persons who may be listed in their respective collection districts as special taxpayers under this section, upon payment of a fee of $1 for each one hundred of such names or fraction thereof upon such copy so requested.

(a) No employee of any person who has paid the special tax and registered, as required by section 2 of this Act, acting within the scope of his employment, shall be required to register and pay such special tax.

(b) An officer or employee of the United States, any State, Territory, the District of Columbia, or insular possession, or political subdivision, who, in the exercise of his official duties, engages in any of the activities enumerated in section 2 of this Act, shall not be required to register or pay the special tax, but his right to this exemption shall be evidenced in such manner as the Secretary may by regulations prescribe.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person required to register and pay the special tax under the provisions of section 2 to import, manufacture, produce, compound, sell, deal in, dispense, distribute, prescribe, administer, or give away marihuana without having so registered and paid such tax.

(b) In any suit or proceeding to enforce the liability imposed by this section or section 2, if proof is made that marihuana was at any time growing upon land under the control of the defendant, such proof shall be presumptive evidence that at such time the defendant was a producer and liable under this section as well as under section 2.

It shall be unlawful for any person who shall not have paid the special tax and registered, as required by section 2, to send, ship, carry, transport, or deliver any marihuana within any Territory, the District of Columbia, or any insular possession, or from any State, Territory, the District of Columbia, any insular possession of the United States, or the Canal Zone, into any other State, Territory, the District of Columbia, or insular possession of the United States: Provided, That nothing contained in this section shall apply to any common carrier engaged in transporting marihuana; or to any employee of any person who shall have registered and paid the special tax as required by section 2 while acting within the scope of his employment; or to any person who shall deliver marihuana which has been prescribed or dispensed by a physician, dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner registered under section 2, who has been employed to prescribe for the particular patient receiving such marihuana; or to any United States, State, county, municipal, District, Territorial, or insular officer or official acting within the scope of his official duties.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person, whether or not required to pay a special tax and register under section 2, to transfer marihuana, except in pursuance of a written order of the person to whom such marihuana is transferred, on a form to be issued in blank for that purpose by the Secretary.

(b) Subject to such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, nothing contained in this section shall apply:

( 1 ) To a transfer of marihuana to a patient by a physician, dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner registered under section 2, in the course of his professional practice only: Provided, That such physician, dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner shall keep a record of all such marihuana transferred, showing the amount transferred and the name and address of the patient to whom such marihuana is transferred, and such record shall be kept for a period of two years from the date of the transfer of such marihuana, and subject to inspection as provided in section 11.

(2) To a transfer of marihuana, made in good faith by a dealer to a consumer under and in pursuance of a written prescription issued by a physician, dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner registered under section 2: Provided, That such prescription shall be dated as of the day on which signed and shall be signed by the physician, dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner who issues the same; Provided further, That such dealer shall preserve such prescription for a period of two years from the day on which such prescription is filled so as to be readily accessible for inspection by the officers, agents, employees, and officials mentioned in section 11.

(3) To the sale, exportation, shipment, or delivery of marihuana by any person within the United States, any Territory, the District of Columbia, or any of the insular possessions of the United States, to any person in any foreign country regulating the entry of marihuana, if such sale, shipment, or delivery of marihuana is made in accordance with such regulations for importation into such foreign country as are prescribed by such foreign country, such regulations to be promulgated from time to time by the Secretary of State of the United States.

(4) To a transfer of marihuana to any officer or employee of the United States Government or of any State, Territorial, District, county, or municipal or insular government lawfully engaged in making purchases thereof for the various departments of the Army and Navy, the Public Health Service, and for Government, State, Territorial, District, county, or municipal or insular hospitals or prisons

(S) To a transfer of any seeds of the plant Cannabis sativa L. to any person registered under section 2.

(c) The Secretary shall cause suitable forms to be prepared for the purposes before mentioned and shall cause them to be distributed to collectors for sale. The price at which such forms shall be sold by said collectors shall be fixed by the Secretary but shall not exceed 2 cents each. Whenever any collector shall sell any of such forms he shall cause the date of sale, the name and address of the proposed vendor, the name and address of the purchaser, and the amount of marihuana ordered to be plainly written or stamped thereon before delivering the same.

(d) Each such order form sold by a collector shall be prepared by him and shall include an original and two copies, any one of which shall be admissible in evidence as an original. The original and one copy shall be given by the collector to the purchaser thereof. The original shall in turn be given by the purchaser thereof to any person who shall, in pursuance thereof, transfer marihuana to him and shall be preserved by such person for a period of two years so as to be readily accessible for inspection by any officer, agent, or employee mentioned in section 11. The copy given to the purchaser by the collector shall be retained by the purchaser and preserved for a period of two years so as to be readily accessible to inspection by any officer, agent, or employee mentioned in section 11. The second copy shall be preserved in the records of the collector.

(a) There shall be levied, collected, and paid upon all transfers of marihuana which are required by section 6 to be carried out in pursuance of written order forms taxes at the following rates:

(1) Upon each transfer to any person who has paid the special tax and registered under section 2 of this Act, $1 per ounce of marihuana or fraction thereof

(2) Upon each transfer to any person who has not paid the special tax and registered under section 2 of this Act, $100 per ounce of marihuana or fraction thereof.

(b) Such tax shall be paid by the transferee at the time of securing each order form and shall be in addition to the price of such form. Such transferee shall be liable for the tax imposed by this section but in the event that the transfer is made in violation of section 6 without an order form and without payment of the transfer tax imposed by this section, the transferor shall also be liable for such tax.

(c) Payment of the tax herein provided shall be represented by appropriate stamps to be provided by the Secretary and said stamps shall be affixed by the collector or his representative to the original order form.

(d) All provisions of law relating to the engraving, issuance, sale, accountability, cancelation, and destruction of tax-paid stamps provided for in the internal-revenue laws shall, insofar as applicable and not inconsistent with this Act, be extended and made to apply to stamps provided for in this section.

(e) All provisions of law (including penalties) applicable in respect of the taxes imposed by the Act of December 17, 1914 (38 Stat. 785; U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 26, secs. 1040-- 1061, 1383-1391), as amended, shall, insofar as not inconsistent with this Act, be applicable in respect of the taxes imposed by this Act.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person who is a transferee required to pay the transfer tax imposed by section 7 to acquire or otherwise obtain any marihuana without having paid such tax; and proof that any person shall have had in his possession any marihuana and shall have failed, after reasonable notice and demand by the collector, to produce the order form required by section 6 to be retained by him, shall be presumptive evidence of guilt under this section and of liability for the tax imposed by section 7.

(b) No liability shall be imposed by virtue of this section upon any duly authorized officer of the Treasury Department engaged in the enforcement of this Act or upon any duly authorized officer of any State, or Territory, or of any political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia, or of any insular possession of the United States, who shall be engaged in the enforcement of any law or municipal ordinance dealing with the production, sale, prescribing, dispensing, dealing in, or distributing of marihuana.

(a) Any marihuana which has been imported, manufactured, compounded, transferred, or produced in violation of any of the provisions of this Act shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture and, except as inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, all the provisions of internal-revenue laws relating to searches, seizures, and forfeitures are extended to include marihuana.

(b) Any marihuana which may be seized by the United States Government from any person or persons charged with any violation of this Act shall upon conviction of the person or persons from whom seized be confiscated by and forfeited to the United States.

(c) Any marihuana seized or coming into the possession of the United States in the enforcement of this Act, the owner or owners of which are unknown, shall be confiscated by and forfeited to the United States.

(d) The Secretary is hereby directed to destroy any marihuana confiscated by and forfeited to the United States under this section or to deliver such marihuana to any department, bureau, or other agency of the United States Government, upon proper application therefor under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary.

(a) Every person liable to any tax imposed by this act shall keep such books and records, render under oath such statements, make such returns, and comply with such rules and regulations as the Secretary may from time to time prescribe.

(b) Any person who shall be registered under the provisions of section 2 in any internal- revenue district shall, whenever required so to do by the collector of the district, render to the collector a true and correct statement or return, verified by affidavits, setting forth the quantity of marihuana received or harvested by him during such period immediately preceding the demand of the collector, not exceeding three months, as the said collector may fix and determine. If such person is not solely a producer, he shall set forth in such statement or return the names of the persons from which said marihuana was received, the quantity in each instance received from such persons, and the date when received.

The order forms and copies thereof and the prescriptions and records required to be preserved under the provisions of section 6, and the statements or returns filed in the office of the collector of the district under the provisions of section 10 (b) shall be open to inspection by officers, agents, and employees of the Treasury Department duly authorized for that purpose, and such officers of any State, or Territory, or of any political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia, or of any insular possession of the United States as shall be charged with the enforcement of any law or municipal ordinance regulating the production, sale, prescribing, dispensing, dealing in, or distributing of marihuana. Each collector shall be authorized to furnish, upon written request, copies of any of the said statements or returns filed in his office to any of such officials of any State or Territory, or political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia, or any insular possession of the United States as shall be entitled to inspect the said statements or returns filed in the office of the.said collector, upon the payment of a fee of $1 for each 100 words or fraction thereof in the copy or copies so requested.

Any person who is convicted of a violation of any provision of this Act shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both, in the discretion of the court.

It shall not be necessary to negative any exemptions set forth in this Act in any complaint, information, indictment, or other writ or proceeding laid or brought under this Act and the burden of proof of any such exemption shall be upon the defendant. In the absence of the production of evidence by the defendant that he has complied with the provisions of section 6 relating to order forms, he shall be presumed not to have complied with such provisions of such sections, as the case may be.

The Secretary is authorized to make, prescribe, and publish all necessary rules and regulations for carrying out the provisions of this Act and to confer or impose any of the rights, privileges, powers, and duties conferred or imposed upon him by this Act upon such officers or employees of the Treasury Department as he shall designate or appoint.

The provisions of this Act shall apply to the several States, the District of Columbia, the Territory of Alaska, the Territory of Hawaii, and the insular possessions of the United States, except the Philippine Islands. In Puerto Rico the administration of this Act, the collection of the special taxes and transfer taxes, and the issuance of the order forms provided for in section 6 shall be performed by the appropriate internal revenue officers of that government, and all revenues collected under this Act in Puerto Rico shall accrue intact to the general government thereof. The President is hereby authorized and directed to issue such Executive orders as will carry into effect in the Virgin Islands the intent and purpose of this Act by providing for the registration with appropriate officers and the imposition of the special and transfer taxes upon all persons in the Virgin Islands who import, manufacture, produce, compound, sell, deal in, dispense, prescribe, administer, or give away marihuana.

If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the Act and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

This Act shall take effect on the first day of the second month during which it is enacted.

This Act may be cited as the "Marihuana Tax Act of 1937."

Order of the Secretary of the Treasury Relating to the Enforcement of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937

September 1, 1937

Section 14 of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 (act of Congress approved August 2, 1937, Public, No. 238), provides as follows:

The Secretary is authorized to make, prescribe, and publish all necessary rules and regulations for carrying out the provisions of this Act and to confer or impose any of the rights, privileges, powers, and duties conferred or imposed upon him by this Act upon such officers or employees of the Treasury Department as he shall designate or appoint.

In pursuance of the authority thus conferred upon the Secretary of the Treasury, it is hereby ordered:

1. Rights, Privileges, Powers, and Duties Conferred and imposed Upon the Commissioner of Narcotics

1. There are hereby conferred and imposed upon the Commissioner of Narcotics, subject to the general supervision and direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, all the rights, privileges, powers, and duties conferred or imposed upon said Secretary by the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, so far as such rights privileges, powers, and duties relate to:

(a) Prescribing regulations, with the approval of the Secretary, as to the manner in which the right of public officers to exemption from registration and payment of special tax may be evidenced, in accordance with section 3 (b) of the act.

(b) Prescribing the form of written order required by section 6 (a) of the act, said form to be prepared and issued in blank by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue as hereinafter provided.

(c) Prescribing regulations, with the approval of the Secretary, giving effect to the exceptions, specified in subsection (b), from the operation of subsection (a) of section 6 of the act.

(d) The destruction of marihuana confiscated by and forfeited to the United States, or delivery of such marihuana to any department, bureau, or other agency of the United States Government, and prescribing regulations, with the approval of the Secretary, governing the manner of application for, and delivery of such marihuana.

(e) Prescribing rules and regulations, with the approval of the Secretary, as to books and records to be kept, and statements and information returns to be rendered under oath, as required by section 10 (a) of the act.

(f) The compromise of any criminal liability (except as relates to delinquency in registration and delinquency in payment of tax) arising under the act, in accordance with section 3229 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (U. S. Code (1934 ed.) title 26, sec. 1661), and the recommendation for assessment of civil liability for internal- revenue taxes and ad valorem penalties under the act.

II. Rights, Privileges, Powers, and Duties Conferred and Imposed upon the Commissioner of Internal Revenue

1. There are hereby conferred and imposed upon the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, subject to the general supervision and direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, the rights, privileges, powers, and duties conferred or imposed upon said Secretary of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, not otherwise assigned herein, so far as such rights, privileges, powers, and duties relate toÙ

(a) Preparation and issuance in blank to collectors of internal revenue of the written orders, in the form prescribed by the Commissioner of Narcotics, required by section 6 (a) of the act. The price of the order form, as sold by the collector under section 6 (c) of the act shall be two cents for the original and one copy.

(b) Providing appropriate stamps to represent payment of transfer tax levied by section 7, and prescribing and providing appropriate stamps for issuance of special tax payers registering under section 2 of the act.

(c) The compromise of any civil liability involving delinquency in registration, delinquency in payment of tax, and ad valorem penalties, and of any criminal liability incurred through delinquency in registration and delinquency in payment of tax, in connection with the act and in accordance with Section 3229 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (U. S. Code (1934 ed.), title 26, sec. 1661)- the determination of liability for and the assessment and collection of special and transfer taxes imposed by the act; the determination of liability for and the assessment and collection of the ad valorem penalties imposed by Section 3176 of the Revised Statutes, as modified by Section 406 of the Revenue Act of 1935 (U. S. Code (1934 ed.) title 26, secs. 1512-1525), for delinquency in registration; and the determination of liability for and the assertion of the specific penalty imposed by the act, for delinquency in registration and payment of tax.

The investigation and the detection, and presentation to prosecuting officers of evidence, of violations of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Narcotics and the assistants, agents, inspectors, or employees under his direction. Except as specifically inconsistent with the terms of said act and of this order, the Commissioner of Narcotics and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the assistants, agents, inspectors, or employees of the Bureau of Narcotics and the Bureau of Internal Revenue, respectively, shall have the same powers and duties in safeguarding the revenue thereunder as they now have with respect to the enforcement of, and collection of the revenue under, the act of December 17, 1914, as amended (U. S. Code (1934 ed.), title 26, sec. 1049).

In any case where a general offer is made in compromise of civil and criminal liability ordinarily compromisable hereunder by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and of criminal liability ordinarily compromisable hereunder by the Commissioner of Narcotics, the case may be jointly compromisable by those officers, in accordance with Section 3229 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (U. S. Code (1934 ed.), title 26, sec. 1661).

Power is hereby conferred upon the Commissioner of Narcotics to prescribe such regulations as he may deem necessary for the execution of the functions imposed upon him or upon the officers or employees of the Bureau of Narcotics, but all regulations and changes in regulations shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury.

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the Commissioner of Narcotics may, if they are of the opinion that the good of the service will be promoted thereby, prescribe regulations relating to internal revenue taxes where no violation of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is involved, jointly, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury.

The right to amend or supplement this order or any provision thereof from time to time, or to revoke this order or any provision thereof at any time, is hereby reserved.

The effective date of this order shall be October 1, 1937, which is the effective date of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.

STEPHEN B. GIBBONS,

Acting Secretary of the Treasury.

REGULATIONS

Introductory

The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, imposes special (occupational) taxes upon persons engaging in activities involving articles or material within the definition of "marihuana" contained in the act, and also taxes the transfer of such articles or material.

These regulations deal with details as to tax computation, procedure, the forms of records and returns, and similar matters. These matters in some degree are controlled by certain sections of the United States Revised Statutes and other statutes of general application. Provisions of these statutes, as well as of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 are quoted, in whole or in part, as the immediate or general basis for the regulatory provisions set forth. The quoted provisions are from the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 unless otherwise indicated.

Provisions of the statutes upon which the various articles of the regulations are based generally have not been repeated in the articles. Therefore, the statutory excerpts preceding the several articles should be examined to obtain complete information.

Chapter I

Laws Applicable

SEC. 7 (e) All provisions of law (including penalties) applicable in respect of the taxes imposed by the Act of December 17, 1914 (38 Stat. 785; U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 26, secs. 1040- 1061, 1383-1391), as amended, shall, insofar as not inconsistent with this Act, be applicable in respect of the taxes imposed by this Act.

ART. 1. Statutes applicable. All general provisions of the internal revenue laws, not inconsistent with the Marihuana Tax Act, are applicable in the enforcement of the latter.

Definitions

SEC. 1. That when used in this Act:

(a) The term "person" means an individual, a partnership, trust, association, company, or corporation and includes an officer or employee of a trust, association, company, or corporation, or a member or employee of a partnership, who as such officer, employee, or member is under a duty to perform . any act in respect of which any violation of this Act occurs.

(b) The term "marihuana" means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds, or resins; but shall not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination.

(c) The term "producer" means any person who ( 1 ) plants, cultivates, or in any way facilitates the natural growth of marihuana; or (2) harvests and transfers or makes use of marihuana.

(d) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Treasury and the term "collector" means collector of internal revenue.

(e) The term "transfer" or "transferred" means any type of disposition resulting in a change of possession but shall not include a transfer to a common carrier for the purpose of transporting marihuana

ART. 2. As used in these regulations:

(a) The term "act" or "this act" shall mean the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, unless otherwise indicated.

(b) The term "United States" shall include the several States, the District of Columbia, the Territory of Alaska, the Territory of Hawaii, and the insular possessions of the United States except Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It does not include the Canal Zone or the Philippine Islands.

(c) The terms "manufacturer" and "compounder" shall include any person who subjects marihuana to any process of separation, extraction, mixing, compounding, or other manufacturing operation. They shall not include one who merely gathers and destroys the plant, one who merely threshes out the seeds on the premises where produced, or one who in the conduct of a legitimate business merely subjects seeds to a cleaning process.

(d) The term "producer" means any person who induces in any way the growth of marihuana, and any person who harvests it, either in a cultivated or wild state, from his own or any other land, and transfers or makes use of it, including one who subjects the marihuana which he harvests to any processes rendering him liable also as a manufacturer or compounder. Generally all persons are included who gather marihuana for any purpose other than to destroy it. The term does not include one who merely plows under or otherwise destroys marihuana with or without harvesting. It does not include one who grows marihuana for use in his own laboratory for the purpose of research, instruction, or analysis and who does not use it for any other purpose or transfer it.

(e) The term "special tax" is used to include any of the taxes, pertaining to the several occupations or activities covered by the act, imposed upon persons who import, manufacture, produce, compound, sell, deal in, dispense, prescribe, administer, or give away marihuana.

(f ) The term "person" occurring in these regulations is used to include individual, partnership, trust, association, company, or corporation; also a hospital, college of pharmacy, medical or dental clinic, sanatorium, or other institution or entity.

(g) Words importing the singular may include the plural; words importing the masculine gender may be applied to the feminine or the neuter.

The definitions contained herein shall not be deemed exclusive.