Visitors may search this database by keyword, online title, SuDoc number, item number, and cataloging date. A keyword search by “marijuana” yielded 28 matching results. Searchers may view either an abbreviated or full record for each result and locate depository libraries that hold copies of each item. Full records may include live links to described items; in this instance, this observation is not true. Nonetheless, the Catalog is a valuable starting point for finding published government information sources on marijuana.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) site is a virtual smorgasbord of government information on marijuana and other illegal drugs. Visitors to this site may link to major operations, drugs of concern, statistics, traffickers, fugitives, publications, and the online DEA Museum. Several sites available from this page appear below.
This site is a good source for background information on the drug. It identifies national and international marijuana sources and trafficking routes and provides pharmacological information and statistics regarding marijuana use.
This publication from the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration seeks to debunk modern myths of marijuana’s validity as medicine. For example, “there are over 10,000 scientific studies that prove marijuana is a harmful addictive drug. There is not one reliable study that demonstrates that marijuana has any medical value.” Viewers may link to specific chapters from the Table of Contents.
This interesting site records the largest international and national seizures of heroin, hashish, cocaine, and marijuana in DEA history. On November 8, 1984, for example, the DEA seized 4,260,000 lbs of marijuana in Mexico. That’s a whole lotta dope, folks.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) home page features links to special NIDA web sites, online publications, research highlights, and a site for teachers and students. Visitors may search this site for information about marijuana in several ways: they may click on the “Site Index (Text)” button, they may “Choose A Page…” from the scroll-down menu box, or they may “Select Drug Name” from another scroll-down menu box. Several publications available from this site appear below.
Everyone complains that the Clinton administration hasn’t taken enough action in the war on drugs. This colorful and informative NIDA publication suggests otherwise. Visitors may read the online version in English or Spanish; they may also view a graphic or text-only version of the brochure. Visitors may also link to particular sections with titles like “Why do young people use marijuana?” and “Does the use of marijuana lead to the use of other drugs?” from the Table of Contents page.
As if today’s fathers and mothers knew nothing about marijuana, this brochure from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services seeks to fill the knowledge gaps. Visitors may read the online version in English or Spanish, view a graphic or text-only version of the brochure, or link to particular sections with titles like “How can I tell if my child has been using marijuana?” from the Table of Contents page.
This NIDA news release dated October 15, 2000 summarizes new studies that indicate that “both animals and humans will work to acquire access to marijuana in the same way that both animals and humans change their behavior to get other drugs of abuse, like cocaine and heroin.”
This article by Steven Stocker describes a potentially beneficial use of an endocannabinoid (marijuana-like substance) called anandamide. The compound appears to influence the early stages of pregnancy. Stocker notes that further research on anandamide “may lead to an explanation for some cases of infertility in women” and “to the development of new contraceptives that can inhibit embryo development.” This research “could also lead to the development of fertility agents that act in ways opposite to those of anandamide.”
Learning about how marijuana affects the brain is fun! At least, the creators of this zany online game hope you’ll agree. Here’s the premise: players help budding scientist (no pun intended!) Sara Bellum discover how marijuana affects the brain by correctly answering a series of trivia questions. The questions aren’t as easy as you might think. Winners can join the Quest Club and receive a free poster!
Like the NIDA Home Page, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Home Page is another excellent government-operated site from which to locate information on marijuana. Visitors may search the site, view a site map, contact ONDCP, and link to ONDCP-sponsored sites. They may also link from this site to “Drug Facts & Stats,” “Treatment,” and “Science, Medicine, & Technology” pages. Several government sources available from this page appear below.
Visitors may view “Prevalence Estimates,” “Consequences of Use,” “Production, Trafficking, and Distribution,” and “Legislative History” pages by clicking on the desired links. The ONDCP Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse (a component of the National Criminal Justice Review) compiled the information.
Do you ever feel like your stoner friends are speaking a different language than you are? This 18-page alphabetical list of street terms for marijuana will put you back on the cutting edge of drug terminology! Impress friends and strangers alike as you knowledgeably discuss “A-bombs,” “B-40s,” and “Black mote.” Searchers may access this site from the ONDCP Street Terms Contents Page.
This 1999 publication from the Institute of Medicine “provides a review of the scientific evidence assessing potential health benefits and risks of marijuana and its constituent cannabinoids.” Its authors define terms like “cannabinoid,” draw conclusions from scientific research, and outline recommendations for further research on the topic. Searchers can link to specific chapters from the Table of Contents.
This site is but a map of the United States. Visitors link to drug profiles for a particular state by clicking on the map.
This table illustrates the “number of marijuana plants eradicated and seized, arrests, weapons and assets seized under the DEA’s Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program” in South Carolina in 1997. Statistics include both indoor and outdoor operations. Interestingly, the statistics distinguish between cultivated plants and ditchweed, a type of marijuana that grows wild.
Visitors to this site may view city drug profiles for Charleston, Columbia, Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina and for Asheville, North Carolina by clicking on the desired links. They may also contact state agencies like the State Criminal Justice Offices and State Policy Office from this site. The Drugs page further explains the geography, market, prevalence, and trafficking of drugs within S.C. “Marijuana is the drug of choice in S.C.,” the profile concludes.
This site lets visitors vicariously explore the seamy underbelly of South Carolina’s sunny capital city. The profile not only includes tables of “Drugs involved in drug law arrests for the 1997 calendar year” and “Alcohol and drug related arrests for 1997 calendar year,” but it also includes other useful information such as geography, local government, and total population by race/ethnicity.
“The Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, is the legal foundation of the government’s fight against the abuse of drugs and other substances.” This site includes a summary of the Controlled Substances Act as well as updated full text of the act itself.
This excerpt from the Congressional Record demonstrates that the debate over marijuana use has political, as well as economic, dimensions. In this instance, members of Congress are debating House Joint Resolution 117. H.J Res. 117 is a “joint resolution (no pun intended!) expressing the sense of Congress that marijuana is a dangerous and addictive drug and should not be legalized for medicinal use.”
This excerpt exemplifies high-level partisan shenanigans regarding the Clinton administration’s role in deterring the importation of illegal drugs like marijuana into the U.S. Senator Bob Dole expresses concern over the increase in marijuana use among youths and introduces a “Sense-of-the-Senate Resolution on the Administration’s Practice Regarding the Prosecution of Drug Smugglers” into the record. He also reproduces a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno expressing his outrage over a newspaper article suggesting that administration officials were allowing captured Mexican drug smugglers to return to Mexico without punishment.
This recent notice from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs outlines actions the U.S. Consular Office can and cannot take to assist U.S. citizens arrested for drug possession and offers warnings to would-be international travelers. Many overseas arrests are drug-related; of this category, most persons are arrested for marijuana possession. Travelers are further warned that the risks of purchasing marijuana abroad outweigh the possible rewards.
This news release, dated March 15, 2000, evidences the Coast Guard's active role in combating the importation of marijuana into the U.S. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Seneca seized "more than 4,000 pounds of marijuana and three suspected smugglers 23-miles south of North Claw, Haiti." The release further details the pursuit and capture of the vessel. Apparently, video footage (of the pursuit?) is available through Tampa affiliates.
This status report from the USDA Economic Research Service evidences the government's interests in the viability of growing industrial hemp. Its authors conclude that "Uncertainty about long-run demand for hemp products and the potential for oversupply discounts the prospects for hemp as an economically viable alternative crop for American farmers." Viewers may link to specific chapters in the report from the Table of Contents or link to an additional discussion of this report in the Issues Center on this website.
This report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), dated June 1997, concludes that the acceptance of marijuana and other drugs in schools has risen. Moreover, "about 30 percent of U.S. students in grades 6 through 12 reported that alcohol and marijuana were easily available at school." The study focuses primarily on students' perceptions of drug availability, peer approval, and use rather than on quantifiable evidence.
Among other things, this report concludes that "high rates of marijuana
use among young adults, particularly males, suggest communities will be
confronting marijuana use well into the foreseeable future." Visitors may
view the full text of this 1999 report in Adobe Acrobat.
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This page was last updated 11/27/00.