United States is finally turning a corner.
More and more states have legalized marijuana, and even the federal government is beginning
to take steps toward legalization.
But why was marijuana banned in the first place?
In 2012, the states of Colorado and Washington became the first in the United States to legalize
recreational marijuana, a move that started a trend that has gained momentum throughout
the country.
As of February 2022, 18 states, along with Washington D.C. and Guam, have legalized recreational
use of the drug.
Currently, U.S. Senate is making moves to finally put an end to federal pot prohibition,
as well.
Many studies indicate that marijuana is nowhere near as dangerous as drugs that are generally
legal and easily available, such as alcohol and tobacco.
Yet, reefer is classified by the federal government as a Schedule I drug.
That’s the class of the supposedly most dangerous banned substances with no acceptable
medical uses, such as heroin and LSD.
Interestingly, cocaine and meth are Schedule II drugs, categorically "safer" than marijuana,
according to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency.
So with more and more dispensaries popping up across the country each year and the culture
of smoking weed becoming more normalized, lots of folks might be asking how and why
this plant was made illegal in the first place.
Up until the end of the 19th century, Americans were encouraged to cultivate cannabis or as
it's otherwise known, hemp.
Though hemp and marijuana both come from the cannabis plant, hemp is bred to have a much
lower concentration of THC, the chemical in pot that gets you high.
It was used to make clothing, rope, and other products.
Virginia farmers were required to grow it in the 17th century, and several colonies
used it as legal tender.
Hemp plantations were widespread throughout Mississippi, Georgia, California, South Carolina,
Nebraska, New York, and Kentucky.
Toward the end of the 19th century, cotton replaced hemp as the material of choice for
clothing.
Instead, hemp became a popular ingredient in medicines, and you could find it in just
about any pharmacy in the country.
At the same time, the recreational use of hashish spread from the salons of France to
some quarters of the United States.
Americans didn't have a problem with marijuana until migrant workers from Mexico began coming
to states like Louisiana and Texas at the beginning of the 20th century.
Americans grew antagonistic toward these immigrants, despite taking advantage of their labor.
The Mexican workers called the plant by its Spanish name, marijuana.
Even though most Americans had the drug in their medicine cabinets, usually listed as
"cannabis", the plant became newly exotic and something to fear.
By 1931, 29 states had banned marijuana, and the United States had created the Federal
Bureau of Narcotics, the forebearer of the DEA.
Meanwhile, Black jazz musicians began to adopt the drug as part of the "hep cat" lifestyle.
Marijuana was even immortalized in song lyrics, such as in the Cab Calloway hit "Reefer Man."
Though the prohibition on alcohol ended at this time, cannabis' recreational popularity
among people of color made it an easy target.
Unfounded and racist claims that weed made men of color violent and overtly sexual toward
white women were presented in hearings on marijuana in the 1930s.
The sale and use of the plant were made illegal by the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.
Its place in the Schedule I category was established by the Controlled Substances Act in 1971.
But even after the drug was made illegal, its place in the culture continued to grow
and become normalized, particularly during the counterculture of the 1960s.
By the following decade, 11 states had decriminalized weed, and even the Nixon-appointed Shafer
Commission recommended decriminalizing the drug federally.
President Nixon ignored the recommendation, though President Carter openly supported nationwide
decriminalization.
At the very least, mandatory minimum sentences for drug possession were relaxed.
But in 1986, President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, reinstating minimum sentencing
for drug offenses.
Marijuana was not granted much leniency.
Possessing 100 marijuana plants got the same penalty as possessing 100 grams of heroin.
President Clinton made the penalties even harsher, tacking on a "three strikes" rule
in his Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.
Drug arrests skyrocketed.
Though there have been tweaks over the years, the bulk of the law, including mandatory minimum
drug sentencing, is still in place.
"He won't get out until he's 79 for selling something that is currently legal for recreational
use in four states."
And all this because of an unfounded fear of the unknown.
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