EXCERPTS from an interesting 1975 court decision.

United States of America v. Steve A. Walton No. 74-1790 Cite as 514 F.2d
201 (1975)

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Before BAZELON, Chief Judge, and TAMM and ROBB, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the Court filed by Chief Judge BAZELON.

"....We first note the concession by Walton's expert that all the species
of marijuana possess the toxic agent 'tetrahydrocannabinol," popularly
known as THC. It is conceded that the "hallucinogenic" or euphoric effects
produced by this agent led to the Congressional ban on possession,
importation and distribution of marijuana. The most cursory reading of the
legislative history of the various provisions outlawing marijuana permit no
other conclusion." [202]

"The law under which Walton was convicted was enacted as part of the
Controlled Substances Act of 1970, but the definition of marijuana in that
Act was carried forward without comment from the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.
Looking at the legislative history of this latter law, we find that the
definition of marijuana was intended to include those parts of marijuana
which contain THC and to exclude those parts which do not." [203]

.."the clear purpose of the law is to proscribe the euphoric effect of
THC..." [204]

END


Senator Robert LaFollette (1945) "....if you read those (hearings from
the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act)....the Senate committee was very much concerned
to be certain that in enacting this drastic piece of legislation they
weren't putting the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in a position to wipe out
this legitimate hemp industry."

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