History of medical marijuana in the U.S.

Cannabis patent medicine from the 19th century.

As far back as 1854, marijuana appeared in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, the country’s official standard-setting for prescription drugs. At the turn of the century – when it was estimated 5 percent of people were addicted to opiates – the American government turned its eye toward drug addiction.

In 1914, the first federal drug laws were passed, making opiates and cocaine illegal.

After years of government propaganda – like the well-known film “Reefer Madness” – Americans began to equate marijuana with harder drugs, such as heroin and cocaine.

Marijuana was targeted and banned in a 1937 federal law, despite the protest of The American Medical Association. The AMA told Congress it did not “know of [any] evidence that marijuana is a dangerous drug” and warned that a prohibition “loses sight of the fact that future investigation may show that there are substantial medical uses for cannabis.”

Later, a number of peer-reviewed studies – including one commissioned by The Office of National Drug Control Policy and conducted by the Institute of Medicine in 1997 – concluded that marijuana is a safe and effective medicine that qualified patients should have safe access to.

In 1996, California and Arizona legalized the use of medical marijuana; since then, 11 states have done the same. The following is a timeline of milestones in the history of marijuana in the U.S.

- 1854: The U.S. Dispensary lists cannabis compounds as suggested remedies for a multitude of medical problems.

- 1937: Twenty-three states outlaw marijuana.

- 1937: The federal government passes the Marijuana Tax Act, which makes non-medical use of marijuana illegal, and makes it so difficult to obtain that it essentially ended its medical use.

- 1942: Marijuana is removed from the U.S. Pharmacopoeia list.

- 1950s: Congress passes the Boggs Act and the Narcotics Control Act, creating mandatory sentences for marijuana possessors and distributors.

- October 1970: Marijuana is listed in federal law as a Schedule I substance which has no accepted medical use.

- November 1976: In the People v. Randall, it is ruled that Randall’s use of marijuana constituted a “medical necessity.”

- 1978: As a result of the People v. Randall, a program was devised to allow patients to receive medical marijuana from the U.S. government.

- 1991: The federal Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program for medical marijuana was suspended.

- 1996: California Proposition 215 allows for medicinal marijuana use.

- 2003: California Gov. Gray Davis signs into law Senate Bill 420 and the Medical Marijuana Program is devised.

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