When was weed prohibited

Instead, the debate has been shaped by media portrayals of drug use and reinforced by politicians and advocacy groups that supported them. Cannabis, like opiates and cocaine , was freely available at drug stores in liquid form and as a refined product, hashish. Cannabis was also a common ingredient in turn-of-the-century patent medicines, over-the-counter concoctions brewed to proprietary formulas.

Then, as now, it was difficult to clearly distinguish between medicinal and recreational use of a product whose purpose is to make you feel good. While there were fads for cannabis across the nineteenth century, strictly recreational use was not widely known or accepted. But the practice of smoking marijuana leaf in cigarettes or pipes was largely unknown in the United States until it was introduced by Mexican immigrants during the first few decades of the twentieth century.

That introduction, in turn, generated a reaction in the U. The first attempt at federal regulation of marijuana came in , with the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act. The act included cannabis among the various substances patent medicine companies were required to list on their labels in order that worried customers could avoid it.

Then, between and , twenty-six states passed laws prohibiting the plant. The anti-marijuana laws were uncontroversial and passed, for the most part, with an absence of public outcry or even legislative debate.

Flush with success in pushing through alcohol prohibition , temperance campaigners in the s began turning attention toward opiates and cocaine, which had become prohibited under increasingly strict Supreme Court interpretations of the Harrison Narcotics Act. The fact that marijuana smoking was a habit of immigrants and the lower class clearly played a role in its prohibition, though there is little indication that Hearst was more racist than might be expected of a man of his time and station.

The association of murder, torture, and mindless violence with marijuana was not borne out by evidence or actual events but blossomed thanks to the vivid imaginations of the journalists charged with sensationalizing the tired story of drug use and addiction.

Until a few decades prior, the public was acquainted with opiates from widespread medicinal use, and with cocaine from its presence in drugstore potions including Coca-Cola. Journalists, politicians, police, and middle-class readers had no similar familiarity with marijuana, allowing it to become the vessel for their worst fears: addicting, personality-destroying, violence-causing.

Ironically, Harry J. Anslinger, a former assistant commissioner of the Prohibition Bureau who headed the U. However, Anslinger began to capitalize on fears about marijuana while pressing a public relations campaign to encourage the passage of uniform anti-narcotics legislation in all 48 states. He later lobbied in favor of the Marijuana Tax Act of That the marijuana was a causal factor for the crime was taken for granted.

It was surely no coincidence that the scare movie Reefer Madness came a year earlier. But modern research has backed up claims that marijuana has real medical benefits. For example, it can decrease seizures and alleviate pain without causing physical dependence. This was at least partly motivated by Mexican immigration to the U. Even though there was no evidence to support claims that marijuana had a Jekyll-and-Hyde effect, 29 states outlawed marijuana between and Please note that CBC does not endorse the opinions expressed in comments.

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Already have an account? Marijuana was criminalized in , but why? CBC News Loaded. Health Marijuana was criminalized in , but why? Canada criminalized marijuana in , one of the first countries to do so. There was no parliamentary or public debate and the government gave no explanation. And there were few pot smokers. Social Sharing. They might also have asked why it became illegal in the first place.

Related Stories How one Colorado county is using its marijuana profits Medical marijuana: New rules and a 'ton of confusion' Analysis. In the late 19th Century, marijuana became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was sold openly in pharmacies. After the Mexican Revolution of , Mexican immigrants flooded into the United States, bringing with them the recreational use of marijuana. The drug became associated with the immigrants and the fear and , in turn, prejudice about the newcomers became associated with marijuana.

Anti-drug campaigners warned against the encroaching "Marijuana Menace". During the Great Depression, massive unemployment and increased public resentment and fear of Mexican immigrants escalated public and governmental concern about the potential problem of marijuana.

By , 29 states had outlawed marijuana. In , Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act, effectively criminalizing marijuana.