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<v 0>Marijuana is legal in some form in most states. However,</v>

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it's still a federal crime in America. Here's why.

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<v 3>As part of the war on drugs, the Controlled Substances Act was passed in 1971.</v>

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Drugs were grouped into five schedules based on their medical use,

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potential for abuse and dependence liability - how easy it is to get hooked.

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Marijuana fell into the most serious: Schedule one, along with heroin, LSD,

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and ecstasy. However, the anti-marijuana movement began long before that.

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The anti-weed propaganda began with Mexican immigrants in Texas border towns who

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were largely associated with the drug,

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despite no evidence that they were using the drug.

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As the popularity of marijuana grew,

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so did racist attitudes towards Brown people.

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The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 banned the use of marijuana federally,

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despite objections from the American Medical Association.

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After Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act,

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the DEA classified marijuana as a schedule one substance after the FDA

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determined it to have no medical use in the U.S.

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<v 1>"By getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with</v>

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heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily,

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we could disrupt those communities,".

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<v 0>That's what Nixon's top aide, John Ehrlichman was found saying.</v>

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<v 3>In other words,</v>

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the Controlled Substances Act was a tactic to target Nixon's biggest opposition

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groups.

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Despite recent state laws decriminalizing and legalizing marijuana,

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the Controlled Substances Act is still the law of the land nationally.

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If federal authorities want to nab you for breaking its weed laws,

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there are consequences. The More Act could change things, though.

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It would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and expunge some

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pot-related criminal records,

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but it would need to pass Congress in order to become law of the land.