In 1970, while the effects of marijuana were still being studied by the government, Assistant Secretary of Health Roger O. Egeberg recommended that marijuana be temporarily placed in Schedule 1. Schedule 1 is the most restrictive category of drugs and is defined by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration as drugs that “have no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.” Then in 1972, the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse presented a report to congress an the public entitled "Marihuana, A Signal of Misunderstanding". The report favored legalizing marijuana and adopting other methods to discourage it. The commission concluded that "Looking only at the effects on the individual, there, is little proven danger of physical or psychological harm from the experimental or intermittent use of the natural preparations of cannabis." The commission recommended the decriminalization of simple possession, suggesting that the "actual and potential harm of use of the drug is not great enough to justify intrusion by the criminal law into private behavior".
President Richard Nixon and his administration did not implement the recommendations of the commission, and instead called for tougher law enforcement and the recognition of the dangers of marijuana. President Nixon, in his 1973 annual address to congress, put this into the context of the greater war on drugs, what he called "public enemy number one".
"No single law enforcement problem has occupied more time, effort and money in the past four years than that of drug abuse and drug addiction. We have regarded drugs as "public enemy number one," destroying the most precious resource we have--our young people--and breeding lawlessness, violence and death."First Nixon addressed the greater dangers of drug trafficking and the use of heroin, pointing to the holes in the current law enforcement. Nixon pointed out that 27% of drug violators convicted in the courts received sentences other than imprisonment, calling the situation intolerable.
"This situation is intolerable. I am therefore calling upon the Congress to promptly enact a new Heroin Trafficking Act."Finally Nixon emphasized his continued opposition to the legalization of marijuana.
"Finally, I want to emphasize my continued opposition to legalizing the possession, sale or use of marijuana. There is no question about whether marijuana is dangerous, the only question is how dangerous. While the matter is still in dispute, the only responsible governmental approach is to prevent marijuana from being legalized. I intend, as I have said before, to do just that."Today, Marijuana is still classified as a section 1 drug, but in August of 2013, the Justice Department announced that it will not sue to block laws legalizing marijuana in 20 states and he District of Columbia.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=4140
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Commission_on_Marihuana_and_Drug_Abuse
http://www.westernherald.com/opinion/article_bd14887c-dfa9-11e4-9991-a713390e3c70.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/10/27/us/marijuana-legalization-timeline.html?_r=0#/#time283_8143
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130814214515-20-marijuana-horizontal-gallery.jpg
http://sphs73reunion.org/images/remember73/events/nixon.jpg
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