Talk:Shafer Commission

Untitled
Merge. StrangerInParadise 04:03, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Merge into what article? —Christopher Mann McKay 16:28, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Against, in any case ;) -LlywelynII (talk) 16:28, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

Split into two sections for first report (1972) and second report (1973)
Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse

Section 601 of Pub. L. 91–513, as amended by Pub. L. 92–13, May 14, 1971, 85 Stat. 37, provided that: “(a) [Establishment; composition] There is established a commission to be known as the Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘Commission’). The Commission shall be composed of— “(1) two Members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate; “(2) two Members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and “(3) nine members appointed by the President of the United States. At no time shall more than one of the members appointed under paragraph (1), or more than one of the members appointed under paragraph (2), or more than five of the members appointed under paragraph (3) be members of the same political party. “(b) [Chairman; Vice Chairman; compensation of members; meetings] (1) The President shall designate one of the members of the Commission as Chairman and one as Vice Chairman. Seven members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may conduct hearings. “(2) Members of the Commission who are Members of Congress or full-time officers or employees of the United States shall serve without additional compensation but shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of the duties vested in the Commission. Members of the Commission from private life shall receive $100 per diem while engaged in the actual performance of the duties vested in the Commission, plus reimbursement for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of such duties. “(3) The Commission shall meet at the call of the Chairman or at the call of a majority of the members thereof. “(c) [Personnel; experts; information from departments and agencies] (1) The Commission shall have the power to appoint and fix the compensation of such personnel as it deems advisable, without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title, relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates. “(2) The Commission may procure, in accordance with the provisions of section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, the temporary or intermittent services of experts or consultants. Persons so employed shall receive compensation at a rate to be fixed by the Commission, but not in excess of $75 per diem, including traveltime. While away from his home or regular place of business in the performance of services for the Commission, any such person may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 (b) of title 5, United States Code, for persons in the Government service employed intermittently. “(3) The Commission may secure directly from any department or agency of the United States information necessary to enable it to carry out its duties under this section. Upon request of the Chairman of the Commission, such department or agency shall furnish such information to the Commission. “(d) [Marihuana study; report to the President and the Congress] (1) The Commission shall conduct a study of marihuana including, but not limited to, the following areas: “(A) the extent of use of marihuana in the United States to include its various sources of users, number of arrests, number of convictions, amount of marihuana seized, type of user, nature of use; “(B) an evaluation of the efficacy of existing marihuana laws; “(C) a study of the pharmacology of marihuana and its immediate and long-term effects, both physiological and psychological; “(D) the relationship of marihuana use to aggressive behavior and crime; “(E) the relationship between marihuana and the use of other drugs; and “(F) the international control of marihuana. “(2) Within one year after the date on which funds first become available to carry out this section, the Commission shall submit to the President and the Congress a comprehensive report on its study and investigation under this subsection which shall include its recommendations and such proposals for legislation and administrative action as may be necessary to carry out its recommendations. “(e) [Study and investigation of causes of drug abuse; report to the President and the Congress; termination of Commission] The Commission shall conduct a comprehensive study and investigation of the causes of drug abuse and their relative significance. The Commission shall submit to the President and the Congress such interim reports as it deems advisable and shall within two years after the date on which funds first become available to carry out this section submit to the President and the Congress a final report which shall contain a detailed statement of its findings and conclusions and also such recommendations for legislation and administrative actions as it deems appropriate. The Commission shall cease to exist sixty days after the final report is submitted under this subsection. “(f) [Limitation on expenditures] Total expenditures of the Commission shall not exceed $4,000,000.” Scroll down page to notes for Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse.

This article doesn't even mention the second report, Drug Use in America: Problem In Perspective, which is considerably more comprehensive and a more important study in relation to the Controlled Substances Act as a whole. -- Moss&amp;Fern (talk) 10:29, 2 October 2009 (UTC)

I think that the two reports should be covered in same article, but as different sections with an explanation of it in the introduction. I would suppose that most people who are looking here for information about it probably never heard of it and having it split up into two articles is something that only social scientists, lawyers, etc. and contemporaries would know already. I think it would make for greater ease of use.

This article used to be better written than it is now. About 500 words of the most compelling recommendations about the very term "drug abuse" and the "'sickness' label" seem to have been deleted. I am refraining from putting them back in until my comments have been up for a while in case there was a reason, and someone wants to react. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.255.62.224 (talk) 12:45, 14 September 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure what you are referring to. I did do a substantial clean-up of the article shortly after its creation, as part of page curation. My main goal was to remove the excessive reliance on quotes and summarise the information rather than just copying it. There were also some wp:SAY fixes and, if I recall, some trimming of material exclusively sourced to very weak sources. If I accidentally removed some important material, please feel free to restore it. Happy Squirrel (talk) 14:47, 18 May 2016 (UTC)