Cannabis has been used as a medical treatment for thousands of years all over the world, so it has a very rich history. The legal history of cannabis in the United States dates back to as early as the 1860s, when they began to place restrictions and regulations on the sale of it. Cannabis continues to be one of the most popular drugs throughout the United States today and its history is a long and important one.
The growing of cannabis plants began as early as the year 1619 when King James I ordered every colonist to grow 100 plants specifically for export. This was England’s only colony in America in that time and they were growing plants specifically for hemp rope production. This was an extremely popular product in the 18th and 19th centuries throughout the United States.
By the early 1900s the rules and laws governing the distribution of cannabis grew widely and criminalization came into effect. In 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed by the United States Congress and it required, nationwide, that every non-prescription cannabis that was intended for sale by properly labeled. After this, regulations in New York, Massachusetts, and Maine instated further regulations as well.
By the year 1937 something known as The Marijuana Tax Act went into effect. This Act made it illegal to possess or transfer any type of cannabis throughout the United States and this fell under federal law. It made not to exclude medical and industrial use, but they placed an excise tax on it. This also began the time when logs were kept in detail of the records of each and every cannabis sale
The efforts to decriminalize cannabis began back in the 1970s and are still going strong today in the United States. There was a case in 1978 where a man tried to sue the federal government when they arrested him for treating his glaucoma with smoking marijuana. This is still a main driving force in people’s fight against marijuana laws. They believe in the legal history of cannabis in the United States, but also that amendments need to be made to that over time.
There is a fair share of people who was marijuana legalized for their own personal use, but others find that it is a true medical need. Regardless of their reason, the fight still continues and the laws have yet to be changed on a federal and national level.
