Was there ever a time in the US when pot (marijuana) was not illegal.........?

Question

..........and if so, when?

Answer 1

Before Harry Anslinger and the myth of Reefer Madness. BTW, Reefer Madness, now a cult film, has no "facts". It was a propaganda film, so badly acted that it has become the darling of college students, dope fiends and film buffs alike.

Answer 2

Wow! The quality of answers overall is going up on these things.

You can find a good summary of when and why it became illegal at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/mj_outlawed.htm It contains links to original source documents.

The first law was in California in 1913. It came at the request of pharmaceutical interests and was little noticed.

Then came Utah, in 1914, which outlawed it as part of outlawing a series of Mormon religious prohibitions.

By 1930, 30 states had outlawed marijuana. There were two major reasons. The first was racial prejudice against Mexicans incited by sensational press. The second was the fear that heroin addiction would lead to the use of marijuana -- exactly the opposite of the modern gateway myth.

You can find a good funny short version of how marijuana was outlawed at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm

Answer 3

It was made illegal in 1937.

There are people alive today that smoked pot legally.

It was made illegal due to a series of articles in the Hearst newspapers. There was a lot of anti-Mexican bias at the time, and Hearst's papers ran articles about Mexicans getting high and raping white women, or killing white men, or beig too stoned to show up at work.

There has never been a medical or safety reason for pot's illegality.

In the late 1940's the LaGuardia reprt was released. La Gurdia was the Mayor of NYC. The report concluded there was no reason for pot's illegal status, and money shouldn'be wasted catching smokers. The report quickly faded into obscurity dueto the needs of those in govt.

Answer 4

Ironically our country was founded on hemp. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew it, and it was a foundation of our economy since boats in that day were head to toe covered with hemp. the oil was used to seal the boats and fuel lamps, and the fibers made for everything from ropes to sails.

It was not until the early 1900's that it was banned even AGAINST the current Surgeon General's wishes that it remain legal for medical uses. It was a 2 minute debate filled with the most outrageous claims on what marijuana would do to you thanks in part to sensationalist news stories from the likes of people like William Randolph Herst. It didn't help that the primary users of the time were native americans and Mexicans.

Answer 5

it was essentially made illegal via the marijuana tax act in 1937.

There are places in the US where it is essentially legal now to possess less than an ounce of marijuana. Denver Colorado is one example.

It is still illegal according to federal law everywhere, but the feds don't have the time or money to pursue small time pot smokers.

Answer 6

"Until 1937, consumption and sale of cannabis was legal in most U.S. states. In some areas it could be openly purchased in bulk from grocers or in cigarette form at newsstands, though an increasing number of states had begun to outlaw it. In that year, federal law made possession or transfer of cannabis without the purchase of a by-then-incriminating tax stamp illegal throughout the United States by passing the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act. This was contrary to the advice of the American Medical Association at the time.[1]"

Answer 7

Back when cocaine was legal. Cocaine was in cough syrup and stuff like that. That's what started the first law concerning legal and illegal drugs.

In 1914 the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act outlawed the use of cocaine in the United States. This law incorrectly referred to cocaine as a narcotic, and the misclassification passed into popular culture. Cocaine is a stimulant, not a narcotic.

In 1961 the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs was signed in New York. It banned the production and trade of cocaine, canabis and opium and its derivatives. It went into effect in 1964.

In the early 20th century, it became illegal in most of the world to cultivate or possess Cannabis for drug purposes. (wikipedia/ cannabis)

Answer 8

Of course Bad Seed with such a name is right!
OK! In the Netherlands it is possible to go for it in special coffee-shops...
Otherwise, I am pretty much sure, that place like Afghanistan, North-Africa and even Africa are not so much under control without speaking of South America...
On the other hand I think the place it is a quite remote ans so you have the peace but not much else!
I could bet on it that poor people in the poor countries are using some pot of some kind....

Answer 9

Yes back in the late 1800 and up till around 1920. It is the strongest fiber known to man, so they used for all sorts of things.(rope,paper,ect.) There is a movie out called reefer madness that has some facts about it. Check it out.

Answer 10

Yeah, about 70 years ago. then a bunch of busy bodies decided that they were smarter than everyone else and actually got the government of the land of the free, home of the brave' to criminalize a weed.

It all goes downhill from there.

Answer 11

most of the history of the US. Thomas Jefferson grew it on his plantation, and it only became illegal recently with the illegal substances act.