1.1 A Brief History of Cannabis in America

Cannabis Before Prohibition

People have used cannabis for thousands of years. Long before it became a political issue in the United States, it was a practical one. Early American farmers grew hemp, which is a form of the cannabis plant, as a common farm crop. People used hemp fiber to make rope, cloth, and paper. George Washington grew hemp at Mount Vernon, and Thomas Jefferson grew it too. People saw the plant as useful, not dangerous.

In the 1800s, pharmacies across the country sold cannabis extracts as a legal medicine. Doctors gave them for pain, sleep trouble, worry, and other problems. Products with cannabis were listed in the United States Pharmacopeia, which is the official guide to medicines. Cannabis was listed there as early as 1850. For most of American history, cannabis was simply a useful plant.

The Road to Prohibition

Attitudes started to change in the early 1900s. Many people moved to the U.S. from Mexico during this time, and they brought a new form of the plant. It was smoked cannabis, often called “marihuana,” and it entered American culture. Political tension, racial fear, and wild news stories fed a growing panic. Stories tied cannabis to crime and moral ruin, and they spread fast, so public opinion turned.

In 1937, Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act. The law did not ban cannabis outright. But it added heavy taxes and paperwork that made it nearly impossible to sell or hold cannabis legally. In practice, the law ended the legal cannabis trade in America. Doctors could no longer prescribe it easily, and pharmacies stopped carrying it. Almost overnight, a medicine became a controlled substance.

The final blow came in 1970, when President Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act into law. This law set up a system to sort drugs into groups, called schedules. The groups are based on the risk of abuse and any accepted medical use. Cannabis went into Schedule I, the strictest group, where it sits with heroin and LSD. Schedule I means the federal government says cannabis has no accepted medical use. It also says cannabis has a high risk of abuse. That label is still in place today.

The War on Drugs

Through the 1970s and 1980s, the crackdown on cannabis grew stronger. The “War on Drugs” became a central part of American policy. Arrests for having cannabis shot up, and some laws forced set prison terms. People went to prison for years over small amounts of the plant. Many communities were hit hard, and communities of color were hit hardest of all. The human and money cost of prohibition was huge.

But even at the peak of prohibition, cracks were forming. In the early 1990s, AIDS patients and cancer patients spoke out. They wanted to use cannabis to ease their symptoms. Researchers were sharing studies on its medical use. Public opinion started to shift again. It moved slowly at first. Then it moved faster.

The Beginning of Legal Markets

In 1996, California made a big move and became the first state to legalize medical cannabis. Voters passed Proposition 215. The state let patients with certain health problems use cannabis, but they needed a doctor’s recommendation. Other states followed in the late 1990s and 2000s. By 2012, more than a dozen states had medical cannabis programs.

Then, in November 2012, something historic happened. Voters in Colorado and Washington passed new measures that legalized cannabis for adult use. That means anyone 21 or older could buy it legally, and no medical card was needed. It was the first time any modern government had built a fully regulated adult-use cannabis market. The industry we know today was born.