The hemp plant’s economic importance in America dates back to the 17th century before the birth of the nation, where it was used in the production of rope, sails, and clothing.
Domestic production for industrial purposes flourished until after the Civil War. In the late 19th century, marijuana was introduced into western medicine and sold openly in pharmacies as a sedative and to reduce inflammation and muscle spasms.
Domestic production for industrial purposes flourished until after the Civil War. In the late 19th century, marijuana was introduced into western medicine and sold openly in pharmacies as a sedative and to reduce inflammation and muscle spasms.
With the turn of the 20th century, marijuana began to be used as a recreational drug in the U.S. During Prohibition and the Great Depression, public and government concern regarding the potential harms of marijuana began to grow as a series of anecdotal nonscientific reports linked the use of marijuana with violence, insanity, crime , and social deviance. Such ideas have long been discredited, but by 1931, cannabis was outlawed in 29 states.
In 1937, Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act that restricted possession of the drug to individuals who paid an excise tax on certain medical and industrial uses. By 1942, Cannabis was removed from the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, the nation’s official list of medicines.
Congress passed the Boggs Act in 1951, listing Cannabis as a narcotic and establishing minimum sentences for marijuana- related offenses. A first-offense marijuana possession carried a minimum sentence of two to ten years and a fine of up to $20,000. In spite of these harsh laws, marijuana was widely used and heavily associated with the counterculture movement during the 1960s. In 1970, Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act, classifying marijuana as a Schedule I drug, the same schedule given to drugs like heroin and LSD, but not cocaine or amphetamines.
At the same time, however, Congress repealed many of the most severe minimum drug sentencing laws, recognizing their failure to eliminate the widespread marijuana use throughout the 1960s. Following the recommendations of the bipartisan Shafer Commission in the early 1970s, 16 states – beginning with Oregon – decriminalized the personal use of marijuana, treating first-time possession of a small amount more like a traffic offense than a crime.
The 1980s marked a return to a more aggressive approach to marijuana. New laws elevated federal penalties for marijuana possession and distribution with 100 marijuana plants carrying the same potential penalty as possession of 100 grams of heroin. Around the same time, however, the federal government initiated the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program which allowed a small number of individuals to receive medical marijuana from the federal government. The program began in 1976 and accepted its last new patient in 1991. Four patients remain grandfathered in and receive approximately eight to nine ounces of medical marijuana each month.
In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215 to become the first state to allow the sale and medical use of marijuana for patients with AIDS, cancer, and other diseases. Since that time, many additional jurisdictions have adopted medical marijuana programs, some through voter initiatives. All medical marijuana laws remove state criminal penalties for certain categories of conduct. Each state’s law is structured differently and all face challenges associated both with how to best control and regulate distribution and access – and the fact that marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
Conflict bwteeen Federal and State laws were compounded in November 201. Voters in Colorado and Washington passed initiatives legalizing the recreational/adult use of marijuana. Both initiatives were approved with just over 55% of the vote. And on January 1, 2014 retail marijuana stores in Colorado began sales to recreational consumers. While medical and retail marijuana products are the same, regulations vary between the two marketplaces.
In the November 2016 election, eight out of nine states deciding on cannabis measures voted to legalize it in some form. Today 28 states allow cannabis use in some form.
Recreational/adult cannabis sales in California will be legal as of January 2, 2018.
