What is the History of Marijuana in the US?

The road of marijuana was long and bumpy in the US. From hemp-produced clothes, through an illegal drug, to a legal substance used for medicine and recreation. If you ever wondered what the history of marijuanas in the US is, read our article! You will learn all about its beginnings, and how we reached the current state.

The beginnings of weed history in America

The history of weed in America starts in the same period as the history of the US itself – with the arrival of the colonizers. The first settlers from Europe used hemp, marijuana’s cousin, to produce clothes. For the first few generations, hemp became important to an extent where laws were passed obliging farmers to plant it!

Hemp’s popularity diminished after the Civil War. Farmers switched to cotton due to its domination as the new clothing material, and hemp was almost forgotten. However, its cousin, marijuana, started to get some attention, mostly as a substance used for producing medicine.

William O’Shaughnessy’s research in India discovered and popularized the medical properties of marijuana, such as soothing pain. Soon, his research arrived in the US. As a result, marijuana was added to the US Pharmacopeia – an official collection of drug information.

The fall from grace

The beginning of the 20th century was a period in US marijuana history that brought many negative changes. It began with the Pure Food and Drug Act, which obliged medicine producers to list the ingredients of their products, as well as gave the US government the power to control drug production. Moreover, in this document, marijuana was listed as addictive/dangerous – something that had a huge impact later on.

The 1910’s brought many immigrants to the US – either from Mexico or from the Caribbean. The people who came to the States often smoked marijuana – and popularized it among the US citizens – especially in the Jazz community building up in New Orleans.

New Orleans became one of the places most targeted by the anti-marijuana governments. Jazz was associated with people of color, and scorned upon. Since weed became largely popularized in the Jazz communities, the racist activists started targeting it. The anti-marijuana propaganda was so intensive, that it even created a marijuana paranoia – the society started believing that even one puff can make a person mad.

Propaganda wasn’t enough for the anti-weed governments. With the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, weed was banned nationally. The act was followed by laws introducing strict penalties for drug offenses, and in the 1970 by the Controlled Substances Act, which listed weed as a Schedule I drug – a drug which is highly addictive, dangerous and has no medical use. Marijuana still has this status nowadays – even though O’Shaughnessy proved the benefits of smoking marijuana 200 years ago.

The revival of marijuana in the US

Recently, there has been a shift to undo damage done in the course of the history of weeds in the US. It began with California legalizing medical marijuana in 1996. While the state had its troubles with the DEA, such as raids on medical marijuana producing facilities, it managed to keep this law intact.

California’s decision was followed by other states, and soon Washington and Colorado legalized recreational weed. This stopped the federal government from tampering with medical marijuana laws, and made them establish the Farm Bill – a law which legalized using cannabis that has 0.3% or less THC. This might be the decisive shift in the history of marijuana in the US – a shift towards widely available, legal use.

Summary of the history of marijuanas in the US

It all started with hemp, used for cloth production. Then, marijuana became a popular drug ingredient, but was soon banned and perceived as a dangerous drug. Thanks to the recent changes, marijuana became legal in many states – not only for medical use, but also for recreation.

And if you are curious to try marijuana, but don’t feel like smoking or vaping, read what are delta 8 gummies.