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Cannabis Freedom - A Dive into America's Legalization Journey
In honor of the month that we celebrate our freedom in America (Happy Fourth of July, by the way), let's look back at the history of cannabis. With over 100 years of regulations, decriminalization, and changing opinions, there is a lot to cover.
1910s & 20s
After the Mexican American War, PBS reported, there was a huge influx in Mexican immigrants, and with them came the recreational use of marijuana. Although there was already cannabis in America, the fear and racism associated with Mexican people became associated with cannabis as well. Anti-marijuana campaigns began soon after, and the stigma surrounding cannabis was in full force.
1930s
The Great Depression had a strong impact on cannabis and its acceptance due to increased public dissatisfaction with the incredibly high unemployment rate. Misguided anger was directed to “the problem of marijuana.” PBS states, “research linked the use of marijuana with violence, crime, and other socially deviant behaviors, primarily committed by ‘racially inferior’ or underclass communities. By 1931, 29 states had outlawed marijuana.” Within the next year, the people began to pressure the federal government to take action. Instead, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics told the states to make laws at the state level to control the “marijuana problem” by adopting the Uniform State Narcotic Act. Then in 1936, Reefer Madness came out... No need to say more on that. The Marijuana Tax Act was put in place not long after Reefer Madness debuted. This act “criminalized marijuana, restricting possession of the drug to individuals who paid an excise tax for certain authorized medical and industrial uses.”
1950s & 60s
During these years, the government enacted two additional laws on marijuana, the Boggs Act of 1952 and the Narcotics Control Act of 1956. These new laws set mandatory sentence lengths for drug offenses, including cannabis. A first time offense for cannabis possession was “a minimum sentence of 2-10 years with a fine of up to $20,000.” As the 1960s started, a counter culture began to appear. Cannabis usage in upper and middle class white areas became more prevalent. This rise in use prompted the Kennedy administration to conduct reports that found “marijuana use did not induce violence nor lead to the use of heavier drugs. Policy towards marijuana began to involve considerations of treatment and criminal penalties,” according to PBS. This was the same decade that created the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
1970s
By this time, the general population understood that the mandatory sentences on marijuana weren’t actually helping lessen its usage or hinder any of the crime associated with it. This led to the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act which differentiated marijuana from other, harder drugs, and stopped the mandatory sentencing for small possession amounts. In 1972, President Nixon was presented with the option to decriminalize marijuana. Unfortunately, he rejected it, but eleven states decriminalized at the state level anyway and most others reduced their sentencing. Then in 1973, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was founded after merging two other agencies focused on drug enforcement. (Also, quick shout out to High Times, founded in 1974!) Not long after the founding of the DEA, a nationwide movement began of parents lobbying for stricter regulations on cannabis. The parents hoped new regulations would help prevent drug use in teenagers (Spoiler Alert: it did not). These parent led groups became very powerful, and with the new governmental anti-drug agencies, the public attitude on drugs began to shift. This is what would ultimately lead to the War on Drugs that started in the 80s.
1980s & 90s
In 1986 the Anti-Drug Abuse Act was signed into law by President Reagan, it instituted mandatory sentences for all drug-related crimes. PBS reported, “In conjunction with the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, the new law raised federal penalties for marijuana possession and dealing, basing the penalties on the amount of the drug involved.” That meant that 100 marijuana plants had the same punishment as 100 grams of heroin. It also put the “three strikes'' rule in place. For all drug offenses, if you’ve been caught three times, the third will result in a life sentence and even the death penalty for “drug kingpins.”
Three years later, in 1989, President George H W Bush continued in the footsteps of his predecessor and gave a speech to declare a new War on Drugs. There are some that would call this speech one of his biggest failures. (Some of us young folks may not know, but he literally held a bag of crack cocaine on national television during this speech! Crack use, at this point in history, was in decline.) President Bush’s speech only made the perception of any type of drug worse. Then in 1996, California took a huge step forward for cannabis and passed Proposition 215. This allowed for the sale of medical cannabis; specifically for people with cancer, AIDS, and other more harmful diseases. For California to make this move, they understood that they would be standing in opposition to the federal government and many conservative people. Either way, this was the true turning point for legalization. As time passed on, other states saw what California did and wanted to follow in their lead. In 1998, Oregon, Alaska, and Washington legalized medical cannabis. In 1999, Maine followed suit.
2000s
As the 2000s began, Hawaii, Nevada, and Colorado all legalized medical cannabis. Then in 2004, Vermont and Montana, in 2006 Rhode Island, in 2007 New Mexico, and in 2008 Michigan and Massachusetts. The 2000s were a big time for cannabis culture. Although the cannabis at this time wasn’t high quality, teens and college students were smoking it like no tomorrow. This was the time of buying an eighth from behind the library and it was mostly stems and seeds, but nobody cared! As long as they had friends to share in the “schwag.”
2010s
In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize recreational cannabis. This was a huge move, and still over ten years later, Colorado is flooded with cannabis tourists every summer. States followed Colorado’s lead and by 2019, Illinois became the eleventh state to have recreational cannabis.
Now & Potential Future
As of 2024, there are nearly 40 states that have some sort of legalized cannabis, medical or recreational. As for the rest of the states, most of them have CBD and are presumed to make the move to legalization before too long. In fact, only six states have fully illegal or only decriminalized cannabis, not even CBD can be sold in some of these states. According to Investing Daily, the current number of Americans using cannabis is around 56 million. As time passes, it is expected to grow by two to three million every year, so by the year 2030 there should be nearly 70 million cannabis users in America. This increase should signify that more states will ultimately legalize, be that medically or recreationally, by that year as well. It’s fun to think that we’ll be alive to see all states have legalized cannabis, can’t wait to tell future generations how hard we had it before then.
