Which law increased penalties for possession and trafficking of marijuana?

• A. Harrison Act of 1914
• B. Marijuana Tax Act of 1937
• C. Boggs Act of 1951
• D. Controlled Substances Act of 1970

Answer: (C)

The main idea is recognizing when federal penalties for marijuana offenses were sharply increased through mandatory minimums. The Boggs Act of 1951 is the one that first required mandatory minimum sentences for narcotics offenses, which explicitly covered marijuana possession and trafficking. That change meant judges could not give short or no sentences for these crimes and had to impose a floor on punishment, marking a significant rise in possible penalties.

Earlier laws laid groundwork but didn’t set those mandatory minimums. The Harrison Act targeted opiates and cocaine rather than marijuana. The Marijuana Tax Act made marijuana illegal in practice by imposing taxes, but it didn’t establish mandatory minimum sentences. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 reorganized drug control and penalties more broadly, though the defining shift to mandatory minimums for marijuana offenses came with the Boggs Act.