Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, died late last year. After Carter’s passing, scores of tributes were written that touched on the major moments that defined his presidency—the Camp David Accords, establishment of diplomatic relations with China, the creation of the Departments of Energy and Education, the oil crisis—and the long accomplishments of his post-presidency, including his work with Habitat for Humanity and his 2002 Nobel Peace Prize.

We aren’t going to focus on any of those worthy topics today on the HeinOnline blog. Instead, we’re going to turn our attention to one strange sidebar from the Carter presidency that, in some ways, is still relevant to the drug policy of the United States today, and an issue that crops up on state ballots with more and more frequency: the decriminalization of marijuana. We’ll take a look at just how close the Carter administration came in 1978 to decriminalizing marijuana—before a drug scandal vanished those efforts in a puff of smoke.

Please enjoy this post responsibly.

Peter Bourne Lights up the White House

In 1977, Peter Bourne was appointed by President Carter to be the head of the Office of Drug Abuse Policy, the precursor to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Bourne, an English-born doctor, earned his medical degree from Emory University and worked in psychiatry and was recognized as an expert on alcoholism and addiction.^[1]1977 Pub. Papers 1046. This document is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Presidential Library. He established the first statewide drug treatment program in Georgia^[2]1977 Pub. Papers 375. This document is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Presidential Library. while Carter was governor, and encouraged Carter to run for president. Carter counted Bourne “among my closest friends in the world.”^[3]1977 Pub. Papers 375. This document is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Presidential Library.

As the leader for the Office of Drug Abuse Policy, Peter Bourne was in charge of shaping the Carter administration’s policy on drug use and abuse, and was known as Carter’s “drug czar.” Bourne became the country’s drug czar six years after President Nixon declared drug abuse to be “America’s public enemy number one,”^[4]1971 Pub. Papers 738. This document is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Presidential Library. ushering in the War on Drugs. Just before the declaration of the War on Drugs, in 1970 Nixon signed into law the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act,^[5]84 Stat. 1236. This law is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Statutes at Large. which created five schedules for drugs to control how accessible they could be to the public based on their addictiveness, safety, and recognized medical use. Substances classified as Schedule I^[6]84 Stat. 1236. This law is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Statutes at Large. are the most restricted, even for highly regulated federally-approved research studies.^[7]Robert A. Mikos, Marijuana and the Tyrannies of Scheduling, 93 FORDHAM L. REV. 473 (November 2024). This article is found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library.

Some examples of Schedule I drugs include heroin, LSD, ecstasy, and marijuana. Marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I drug since the Act’s passage. In May 2024, the Department of Justice proposed reclassifying marijuana^[8]89 Fed. Reg. 44597 (2024). This document is found in HeinOnline’s Federal Register Library. from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug, but as of the publication of this post it remains a Schedule I drug.

The Decriminalization Movement of the 1970s

Groups like the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), founded in 1970 by Keith Stroup, lobbied to decriminalize marijuana use. Their efforts were bolstered by an unlikely source. As part of the Controlled Substances Act,^[9]84 Stat. 1236. This law is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Statutes at Large. President Nixon appointed the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse,^[10]Documents from this Commission can be found in HeinOnline’s Reports of U.S. Presidential Commissions and Other Advisory Bodies. also known as the Shafer Commission, to study marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I drug. To the Nixon administration’s horror, in 1972 the Commission recommended decriminalizing marijuana for personal use.^[11]Drug Use in America: Problem in Perspective: Second Report (1973). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Reports of U.S. Presidential Commissions and Other Advisory Bodies. The Nixon administration did not act on the Shafer Commission’s recommendations.

But after the publication of the Commission’s report, states acted on its recommendation and started to decriminalize marijuana, with Oregon being the first to do in 1973. When Peter Bourne became the Carter administration’s drug czar in 1977, Alaska, Maine, Colorado, California, Ohio, Minnesota, Mississippi, and New York had all decriminalized marijuana.

The Carter Administration began on January 20, 1977, and that March Bourne testified^[12]Decriminalization of marihuana hearings before the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session, March 14, 15, and 16, 1977. This hearing is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. … Continue reading before Congress on decriminalizing marijuana. “We have done an extensive amount of research and, contrary to much of the prejudice that existed, we have yet to find a serious medical consequence related to marihuana,”^[13]Decriminalization of marihuana hearings before the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session, March 14, 15, and 16, 1977. This hearing is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. … Continue reading Bourne told the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. He went on to say, “If we are going to base our criminal penalties on the medical findings then we shouldn’t be talking about decriminalizing marihuana, we should be talking about imposing criminal penalties on those who smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol.”^[14]Decriminalization of marihuana hearings before the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session, March 14, 15, and 16, 1977. This hearing is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. … Continue reading

On August 2, President Carter sent Congress a special message^[15]H. Doc 95-200 (1977). This document is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Serial Set. outlining his administration’s goals for addressing drug abuse in the United States. “Marijuana continues to be an emotional and controversial issue,”^[16]H. Doc 95-200 (1977). This document is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Serial Set. Carter wrote in his report. “Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself: and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marihuana in private for personal use.”^[17]H. Doc 95-200 (1977). This document is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Serial Set. In a stunning departure from the views of the Nixon administration, Carter went on to write, “I support legislation amending Federal law to eliminate all Federal criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marihuana.”^[18]H. Doc 95-200 (1977). This document is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Serial Set. It seemed the country was on an inevitable path to marijuana decriminalization.

Decriminalization Goes up in Smoke

Even as the federal government seriously considered decriminalizing marijuana, opposition from parent activists^[19]Frank Smyth, Drug Wars Blues, 21 SAIS REV. INT’l AFF. 307 (Winter-Spring 2001). This article is found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library. rose, beginning with a group formed in 1976 by parents in the Atlanta suburbs. Concurrently, tensions between Peter Bourne and Keith Stroup, the founder of NORML, were starting to foment. Stroup was frustrated at the administration’s reluctance towards outright marijuana legalization; while Bourne urged Congress to decriminalize marijuana, he also explicitly stated, “Legalization of marihuana, rather than decriminalization, would be totally inappropriate.”^[20]Decriminalization of marihuana hearings before the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session, March 14, 15, and 16, 1977. This hearing is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. … Continue reading

They were also at odds over a growing controversy between the American and Mexican governments concerning the herbicide paraquat. The Mexican government was spraying paraquat to eradicate marijuana and poppy fields, with help from the U.S. in the form of helicopters and other equipment. In May 1978, Stroup voiced his concerns to Congress^[21]International narcotics control programs hearing before the Subcommittee on International Operations of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, second session .. May 9, 1978. This hearing is found in … Continue reading over paraquat-contaminated marijuana from Mexico making its way into the United States. “[W]e now find many high level federal drug policy-makers, including Dr. Peter Bourne…clearly trying to minimize the rather well-documented ill-effects associated with paraquat poising,”^[22]International narcotics control programs hearing before the Subcommittee on International Operations of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, second session .. May 9, 1978. This hearing is found in … Continue reading Stroup told Congress. But it was two political scandals in July 1978—with Peter Bourne at their center—that ultimately derailed the Carter administration’s efforts to decriminalize marijuana.

The first scandal to splash across the headlines concerned a prescription Bourne wrote for a White House staffer. Bourne, a medical doctor, was legally allowed to write prescriptions. But the prescription in question was for quaaludes,^[23]124 Cong. Rec. 23304 (1978). This document is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Documents. a powerful and oft-abused sedative. To protect the staffer’s privacy, Bourne wrote the prescription out to a false name, which is a crime. When a friend of the anonymous staffer went to pick up the falsified prescription, she was arrested.^[24]124 Cong. Rec. 28456 (1978). This document is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Documents.

Bourne, the man responsible for addressing drug abuse in America, was pounced on by the press for seemingly passing out controlled substances around the White House. The morning after the prescription story broke, an even more damning story concerning Bourne hit the headlines: at a Christmas party thrown by NORML in 1977, Peter Bourne used marijuana and cocaine. The cocaine story was leaked to Washington Post reporters by Keith Stroup.^[25]Frank Smyth, Drug Wars Blues, 21 SAIS REV. INT’l AFF. 307 (Winter-Spring 2001). This article is found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library. Bourne denied the drug use allegations,^[26]151 Cong. Rec. 955 (2005). This document is found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Documents. but the damage was already done. He resigned on July 20.

The Fall—and Resurrection—of Decriminalization

Peter Bourne’s resignation, and the scandal that precipitated it, effectively quashed any further federal action on decriminalizing marijuana. Jimmy Carter was not reelected to a second term as president, and he was succeeded by Ronald Reagan. First Lady Nancy Reagan spearheaded one of the most famous anti-drug campaigns of the 20th century, the Just Say No campaign.^[27]Jessica J. Blanchard, Using Modern Media to Reach America’s Youth: The Government’s Anti-Drug Campaigns, 1980s to Present, 41 DTTP 24 (Winter 2013). This article is found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library. It would be over 20 years before another state decriminalized marijuana (Nevada, in 2001).

Since 2001, more and more states have decriminalized and even legalized marijuana. Today, marijuana is legal for recreational use in 24 states, the District of Columbia, and in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Even more states have legalized marijuana for medical use—although it remains illegal for both uses at the federal level. As of 2024, the Pew Research Center estimates that 74% of Americans live in a state where marijuana is legal for recreational or medicinal use.

To help keep abreast of this ever-changing state-by-state situation, check out our National Survey of State Laws, which allows users to conduct state-by-state comparisons on a variety of hot-topic legal issues, including marijuana laws. National Survey of State Laws’ chart view makes it easy to compare laws state-by-state. Previous editions of National Survey of State Laws are also available in the database, allowing for easy comparison of how laws on a given topic have evolved over time.

To learn more about how National Survey of State Laws can keep you informed on the most-asked about and controversial legal topics in the United States, check out the dedicated LibGuide or request a quote to try this invaluable resource for yourself.