Marijuana came under a limited form of international control at the Geneva Opium Convention in 1925, at the insistence of the Egyptian delegation.  Despite the fact that marijuana was not on the agenda, the inclusion of marijuana was accepted with no real debate.  The lack of reliable information on marijuana led the League of Nations to appoint a subcommittee to study the issue.  Between 1935-39 a large collection of data was amassed.  Although a previous comprehensive study in the form of the 1894 Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report was overlooked, the subcommittee produced detailed documents that showed an awareness of cultural differences in marijuana use and an appreciation of the difficulties inherent in attempting to impose controls on an easily grown plant.  The subcommittee’s marijuana research was arguably the most systematic effort made by an international drug control organ to base policy decisions on research.  There was little follow up, and later decisions ultimately relied on sensationalist reports, most of which came form U.S. sources.

Harry J. Anslinger is a central figure in the history of both American and international drug control policy. He headed the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from its inception through five presidential Administrations spanning more than three decades.  In 1938, Harry Anslinger warned the League of Nations Advisory Opium Committee that “the drug (marihuana) is adhering to its old world tradition of murder, assault, rape, physical demoralization and mental breakdown… Bureau records prove that its use is associated with insanity and crime.  Therefore, from the standpoint of police work, it is a more dangerous drug than heroin or cocaine.”  The push for international controls on marijuana paralleled a domestic crackdown on marijuana in the U.S.  

The first U.S. marijuana laws were uninformed by scientific study or public debate and colored instead by racial bias and sensationalistic myths.  Prior to the passing of the Uniform Narcotic Drug Act in 1932 and the Marihuana Tax Act in 1937, there was no national policy regarding marijuana.  State-level marijuana legislation was passed as early as 1914 at a time when very few white Americans had even heard of marijuana, much less smoked it.  Marijuana entered the public consciousness at a time of unprecedented drug hysteria.  Events leading up to and following The Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 gave rise to the media driven stereotype of the “dope fiend.”  This stereotype gained force when over the counter sale of opiates and cocaine ceased and the prosecution of doctors managing addiction maintenance clinics began, causing drug-related crime to increase as the cost of once-legal narcotics skyrocketed.   

In the early 1900’s, use of the drug in the U.S. was primarily limited to Mexican-Americans who were immigrating in increased numbers to Southwestern states.  Of the twenty-two states that passed marijuana laws prior to national prohibition, sixteen were west of the Mississippi.  Arguments such as “All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff is what makes them crazy” were heard in the Texas legislature to justify passage of marijuana laws.  Public perception of marijuana’s ethnic origins and alleged crime-producing tendencies were closely linked.  Press accounts of marijuana were few, save the occasional sensationalistic story on alleged-marijuana induced homicidal rampages.  Utah was the first state to pass a law against marijuana (with little publicity) as part of an omnibus narcotics bill.  Likewise, when New Mexico and Texas passed anti-marijuana laws press coverage was limited to the plant’s association with Mexicans. 

Thanks in large part to U.S. insistence, the definitive decision to adopt an international prohibition on marijuana was taken in 1955.  Despite criticisms of an international policy based on dubious information, the official policy as been strict adherence to the Single Convention.  In an effort to reinforce official policy, key international drug control organs have issued questionable declarations regarding the undesirable effects of marijuana for decades.  Claims that marijuana induces homicidal rages in dark-skinned users have been replaced with more subtle warnings that give the false perception that international drug control efforts aimed at wiping out the marijuana plant are based on science rather than cultural norms.