Tougher Stand Taken on Marijuana

In 1972, the ABA urged an end to criminal penalties for “simple possession” of marijuana. The next year, the lawyers’ group also called for the repeal of laws punishing the “casual distribution of small amounts” of the drug.

But marijuana use is no longer seen as a simple or casual matter. Acting on a resolution sponsored by its Law Students Division, the ABA delegates voted Monday to repeal their 1972 and 1973 policies. Two reasons were offered. Marijuana is far more potent than it was 20 years ago, the delegates were told. And ABA President L. Stanley Chauvin, who has been pushing a get-tough approach to drugs, said the marijuana resolutions were an embarrassment to the organization.