by deciding that the United States Attorney General could not enforce the national controlled substance 
act against Oregon physicians). Another debate surrounds the conflicting federal and state laws governing 
marijuana use. Between 1996 and 2018, thirty states and the District of Columbia passed laws legalizing 
the possession of small quantities of marijuana for medicinal purposes for state residents. Since 2012, 
Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, California, Nevada, Massachusetts, and Maine have passed laws 
through the initiative process legalizing recreational use and possession of small amounts of marijuana 
by adults. In the 2018 elections, even more, states passed laws allowing for medical use, recreational 
use. 
See, 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2018/12/06/marijuanas-ten-biggest-victories-
of-2018/#7ca0dd5232df. These popular initiatives conflict directly with the federal Controlled Substance 
Act, 21 U.S.C. 13, § 841, (CSA) which holds that any use or possession of marijuana is a federal crime. In 
January 2018, the Trump administration through the U.S. Department of Justice, under Attorney General 
Sessions  rescinded the Obama-era restraint policies on marijuana prosecutions and indicated the desire to 
fully enforce the CSA. However, in April 2018, President Trump announced he was backing down on the 
crackdown on recreational use of marijuana that had been announced in January 2018. 
Movement Towards Codification: The American Institute and the Model Penal Code 
By the 1960s and 1970s, all states had begun codifying their criminal laws. These codifications would 
likely not have taken place if not for the American Law Institute (ALI) and the publication of its Model 
Penal Code (MPC). Established in 1923, the ALI is an organization of judges, lawyers, and academics that 
draft model codes and laws. Its most important work in the criminal justice realm is the Model Penal Code. 
The ALI began working on the MPC in 1951, and it proposed several tentative drafts over the next decade. 
In 1962 the Model Penal Code was finally published. It consists of general provisions concerning: criminal 
liability, definitions of specific crimes, defenses, and sentences. The MPC has had a significant impact on 
legislative drafting of criminal statutes. Every state has adopted at least some provisions, or at least the 
approach, of the MPC, and some code states have adopted many or most of the provisions in the MPC. 
No state has adopted the MPC in its entirety. 
ALISON S. BURKE, DAVID CARTER, BRIAN FEDOREK, TIFFANY MOREY, LORE RUTZ-BURRI, AND SHANELL
SANCHEZ
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