During the administration of American President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1932–1945), the United States saw its first federal-level efforts to control cannabis as a drug .
While Roosevelt is known for his opposition to prohibition of alcohol , which was repealed in 1933 with the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution , in a 1935 radio address he also advocated that the United States apply the rulings of the International Opium Convention , which along with opiates also restricted the non-medicinal use of cannabis.[ 1]
Federal Bureau of Narcotics chief Harry Anslinger garnered support from the president and Congress for the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act , which was signed by Roosevelt and took effect on 1 October, 1937.[ 2]
References
Cannabis policies of U.S. Presidential administrations