MARIHUANA RESEARCH AND LEGAL CONTROLS, 1974

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1974

U.S. SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ALCOHOLISM AND NARCOTICS

OF THE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE,

Washington, D.C.

in room

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:05 a.m., 4232, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Harold E. Hughes (subcommittee chairman) presiding.

Present: Senators Hughes, Randolph, Schweiker, and Javits.

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HUGHES

Senator HUGHES. The Subcommittee on Alcoholism and Narcotics will come to order so that we may begin hearings on the subject of marihuana.

During these 2 days, we will address ourselves to two questions: First, where do we now stand with respect to the findings of research into the psychological and physiological effects of marihuana use; and, second, are the costs of enforcing criminal laws against the private. possession and use of marihuana justified.

During these past 10 days, marihuana has been much in the news. Ann Landers and William F. Buckley, Jr. both wrote columns suggesting that it is wrong to put people in jail for smoking it.

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia announced that his office would stop prosecuting people found in possession of small

amounts.

The Attorney General of the United States was reported to have stated in a news conference last week that he would welcome a change in the marihuana laws.

The annual conference of the National Organization for the Reform of Marihuana Laws received more press attention than has any previous activity of that organization.

The Washington Post, in its lead editorial yesterday, argued for the elimination of criminal penalties for use and possession of small

amounts.

And, finally, yesterday the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare issued its fourth annual report on marihuana and health. Several weeks ago, when we scheduled these hearings, we were not anticipating any of these events. It may be that today we are discussing "an idea whose time has come," or at least is coming soon.

As many of you know, our subcommittee does not have before it any bill to change the Federal law controlling the sale, possession, or use of marihuana. Such bills are referred to the congressional commit

tees which have jurisdiction over legislation modifying the Federal criminal laws.

Our purpose, therefore, is not to elicit testimony on a pending bill. Instead, it is to review the current state of knowledge with respect to the risks incurred by the user of marihuana. We all know that there is a wide range of legal hazards.

What seems still unclear is the degree of risk to personal health entailed in the use of marihuana. We will be discussing both elements of risk with our witnesses during these 2 days in the hope of developing a better understanding of the facts among all those who are concerned with society's response to widespread use of marihuana.

According to the report issued yesterday by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1 in 7 Americans 12 years of age and above has used marihuana. Yet, we have recently heard some scientists assert that marihuana is an extremely dangerous substance. Moreover, its use is an illegal act in every jurisdiction in the Nation. We are thus faced with serious questions as to an appropriate national response:

Is the health hazard so great as to endanger society, or is it so minimal that Government should refrain from interfering with the individual user?

Do the criminal laws impose on the individual and on society a burden which is so great and so unfair that they are far more damaging than the use of marihuana itself could be?

Even if we find that marihuana does present serious health hazards, are we justified in using the criminal law to solve health problems, when we do not use it in any similar way to solve the very well-known problems created by the use of such substances as alcohol and nicotine?

Our hearings may not resolve each of these issues, but I believe that they will contribute to the formulation of reasonable answers. And I am convinced that we must find good answers and act on them without much further delay.

We will now have a statement from Senator Javits.

STATEMENT OF HON. JACOB K. JAVITS, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Senator JAVITS. Mr. Chairman, 26 million Americans have experimented with the use of marihuana, and 13 million of those may be defined as regular users. All of them are committing criminal acts every time they buy and use this controversial drug. While criminal penalties have clearly failed to prevent its widespread use, they do serve to identify a significant portion of our population as presumptive criminals of a victimless crime. Last year approximately 420,000 Americans were arrested for the possession, sale or use of marihuana-most of them between the ages of 18 and 25 without a previous arrest record. The cost of these arrests both in terms of tax dollars-equaling hundreds of millions of dollars each year-and personal cost to society-thousands of citizens put in jail or prison for long periods, lives disrupted and even ruined, families divided, records besmirched, and the pain of ostracism should be very carefully examined in the light of present laws. We must balance these "costs which we now pay, with the price the individual may choose to risk

through the private decision to consume marihuana. Indeed, I believe that decision is a personal one and no more rightfully subject to legal prohibition than the use of other drugs, where correlations have been found between their use and degenerative effects on health; that is, alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine.

It is critical to realize that even in the light of current medical research which indicates the potential dangers of marihuana use, growing numbers of people begin and continue to experiment with this drug. Therefore, the criminal penalties and the social stigma which we attach to marihuana use is not in keeping with the rights of individuals to use other products known to be dangerous to one's health if they so choose. To the extent that it is agreed that use of the drug has impact on the individual user alone and not on society in general, we impose inequitably on personal right by maintaining criminal penalties for its use. Present laws do not deter the use of the drug, they only serve unfairly to punish segments of the population who choose to use it. Current legal trends support my belief that a noncriminal penalty would serve as a deterrent to marihuana use without the negative costs of arrest and prosecution which accompany criminal penalties.

There is, however, a need to continue to investigate the potentially dangerous effects of marihuana on human beings so that the decision an individual makes will be an educated evaluation rather than a risk based on biased or inaccurate information.

In addition, I believe the medical commuuity has a responsibility to study beneficial effects in respect of illnesses incurred through the use of marihuana in order fully to examine the types of possibilities available through its use. The need for this type of work is great. However, there is presently a positive relationship between the heat involved in this controversy and the degree to which research is random, oriented to fit prior hypotheses or ill suited to help us to resolve the dilemma marihuana has created for our society. We need a coordinated well-defined effort through prospective, as opposed to retrospective, research examining the medical costs and benefits to an individual's health incurred by the use of marihuana.

Whatever the necessary ongoing research discloses, I believe that the costs we are now imposing on marihuana use are too high. I advocate the decriminalization of the private use and small scale possession of marihuana and to achieve that goal have introduced S. 746 with Chairman Hughes of this subcommittee. Our bill would amend certain. provisions of the Controlled Substances Act relating to marihuana. and provide that personal use and sale (not for profit) of marihuana in small quantities will not be unlawful.

The Committee on Labor and Public Welfare has very great responsibilities with regard to the marihuana controversy, notwithstanding the legal decision which must be made by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is our task to identify the qualities of marihuana as they impact on the health and welfare of all Americans individually and on the society as a whole. Through the aid of the witnesses' professional expertise we can help the public develop a comprehensive and thorough understanding of this issue. At the same time by clearing the air of misinformation and emotion, we can help develop the basis for rational social policy regarding marihuana.

Senator HUGHES. I would like to ask my distinguished colleague from West Virginia, Senator Randolph, if he has any statement he would like to make this morning.

Senator RANDOLPH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I have spoken to Senator Hughes earlier and indicated that I had an executive committee meeting of the Public Works Committee, and, as chairman, I necessarily have to be there. But I did want to come this morning at the beginning of the hearing and to say to you, Mr. Chairman, that I believe these hearings can bring intelligent and wellreasoned counseling to you and the other members of our subcommittee.

I also wanted to express appreciation for the conference that I have had with Dr. DuPont as we discussed these matters several weeks ago. I was impressed then by your realistic approach, Dr. DuPont. Also coupled with that realistic approach, which you have expressed on several occasions, in conferences and interviews, I believe that you, yourself, are thoroughly convinced that the use of marihuana is bad for the user, that its plusses are really negative, and that as you attempted to have an understanding of this drug and its use, and those who have researched the subject with you and for you, that you and they believe that the smoking of marihuana is dangerous to the health. It also causes difficulties from the standpoint of not only the health of the user, but the user perhaps in contact with others.

I mention the statement where a certain lack of alertness or coordination causes the user of marihuana, who is operating a motorcar, to be unable to do it as he or she should do it. I would hope that you would discuss these matters.

I am not asking now for responses because that would break the continuity of your presentation.

Concerning the figures used by our able chairman about the number of users, that is a partial answer to me, but I hope you will, if you can, approximate the actual users of marihuana, the number, the total number of our population, and if you set it off in brackets of age, that is understandable. But I would like to know the depth and scope of this

use.

It is not necessary for me to ask you to respond now, but I hope you will later. You have used marihuana, as one newspaper commentator said; you had smoked pot. So I want you to tell this subcommittee why you did that? Was it an experiment for you or were you attempting to research the subject, or what was the background of your smoking?

I think we have not only the right, I think it is important that that be placed in the record, because what I have read is not definitive as to your use of the drug, how much, and why, and so forth. So, I hope you will, in a personal way, because you have a leadership and a responsibility now in this field, which we all recognize.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for giving me the opportunity to be present for these few minutes this morning.

I shall try to stay, if I can, a little longer.

Thank you very much.

Senator HUGHES. Thank you. Senator Randolph.

I would like to welcome our Republican colleague, after a great victory in the last election.

Senator SCHWEIKER. Glad to be back. It was not easy.

Senator HUGHES. Do you have any opening statement, Senator Schweiker?

Senator SCHWEIKER. No, except to say, Mr. Chairman, I am delighted that you have scheduled this series of hearings, and I am looking forward to hearing the witnesses. I appreciate the opportunity to be here and hope to have the time to personally devote to this subject.

Senator HUGHES. The Chair would like to say that I appreciate the interest and dedication of both these Senators who, from the beginning of this subcommittee, have both been contributors and have displayed regular interest and dedication.

Dr. DUPONT, if you have any of your scientific colleagues or staff members with you whom you would like to have at the table, please have them come on up as you testify.

STATEMENT OF ROBERT L. DuPONT, M.D., DIRECTOR OF THE SPECIAL ACTION OFFICE FOR DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION, AND DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE, ACCOMPANIED BY DR. WILLIAM POLLIN, CHIEF OF RESEARCH, NATIONAL INSTITUTE on drug ABUSE AND SPECIAL ACTION OFFICE FOR DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION, AND DR. ROBERT C. PETERSON, EDITOR OF THE MARIHUANA AND HEALTH REPORT AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR RESEARCH, NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE

Dr. DUPONT. I would like to keep them in reserve, and when I start to falter, I will call up the reinforcements.

My reserves are Dr. William Pollin, who is the Chief of Research at both the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Special Action Office of Drug Abuse Prevention (SAODÁP), Dr. Robert C. Peterson, who was the editor of the Marihuana and Health Report, and Assistant Director for Research at NIDA; and Dr. Stephen Szara, who handles HEW research activities in marihuana.

Senator HUGHES. Fine. You may proceed with your testimony as you like.

Dr. DUPONT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

My testimony is a little long. My usual procedure is to simply submit it for the record, but in this area there is so much controversy and such a tendency to reduce complex positions to a simple statement of either being for or against marihuana, that I think I would like, if I may, to read the statement in its entirety so we can all share that perspective.

Senator HUGHES. Fine. Go ahead.

Dr. DUPONT. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to be here today to testify on the important and controversial subject of marihuana use in our society.

Drug use of any kind has always caused controversy in this country. We are a nation of people who hold diverse persuasions and beliefs. Millions of Americans are opposed to the use of alcohol and tobacco. Others reject the use of medicines in the treatment of disease, or of chemicals in the cultivation and preservation of food. Millions more oppose the consumption of mind-altering drugs for the purpose of inducing pleasure.