Why Was Marijuana Made Illegal? Uncovering the Reasons

Since 2016, commonly referred to as the biggest legalization year in history, it has no longer been unusual to simply walk into a dispensary in the heart of downtown, buy some weed, and walk out of the store without even showing a medical card.

It is hard to put into words how radically different this scenario is compared to buying marijuana when it was first introduced to the United States. As more of the United States continues bills and legalization in favor of cannabis, why was marijuana illegal and outlawed in the first place cannot be overlooked. But the question is: If marijuana is being legalized all across the country and proven to be far from the deadliest substance known to man, why was it illegal in the first place?

Marijuana technically came to the country illegally, and that did not help the case. So, smuggling combined with completely unknown side effects at the time and no way for it to be properly taxed led to nationwide prohibition shortly after it arrived.

Marijuana in The United States

Again, marijuana is common in America and most of the developed world nowadays. Even writing this blog is a testament and homage to the cannabis culture that you have built as a consumer and is now celebrated by millions across the world.

However, marijuana has a dark and tumultuous history in the United States before it was popularized in music, entertainment, and memes before being legalized. Its history was crowded with propaganda, mystery, and drug wars as it struggled to gain recognition as the breakthrough in medicine it is today.

Initially, cannabis wasn’t considered a dangerous or prohibited substance. It wasn’t until the 20th century that people realized that it could be hazardous. Up until then, it was used for medical and industrial purposes.

Cannabis was available in American pharmacies in the 19th century. Widely, it was easily prescribed for pain, nausea, inflammation, and other ailments. Hemp was another popular strain of cannabis that was used industrially for manufacturing rope, paper, and textiles.

How Did Cannabis Get to the US?

The plant may have originated in Central Asia, but its story in the United States began when hemp was used to produce various goods during Colonial times. This may sound crazy, but the U.S. government approved hemp production for things like sails and ropes until the end of the Civil War, which gave way to trade and imports.

It would not be for another two centuries before the consumption of marijuana was popularized when refugees of the Mexican Revolution fled the war-torn country in the 1910s and brought it to the United States: The country’s first recorded instance of recreational use.

Why Was Marijuana Illegal?

The anti-drug stigma that would outlaw marijuana was not as prevalent in the 18th century. But, when Mexico’s refugees started using marijuana recreationally, fear and prejudice overtook its public perception, and it barely took 20 years for it to be outlawed in nearly 60% of the country.

From there, it was only a matter of time (actually about a decade) for it became federally illegal and made taboo until its first medical legalization over half a century later.

Propaganda

When the equipment and resources are scarce, one weapon has proved to be as powerful as the war machine, and that is the court of public opinion. Propaganda helped illegalize marijuana for all the wrong reasons. Racism against Mexican immigrants fueled hatred for their communities and marijuana alike as political campaigns in nearly every part of the country blamed immigrants for bringing illegal drugs and worsening the Great Depression.

The 60s would bring the most notable pre-legalization shift in the climate for marijuana as campaigns for decriminalizing had been brought to the mainstream but shunned almost entirely in the following two decades.

Role of Racism and Xenophobia

So what led to considering cannabis a threat? In the 20th century, backed by racism and xenophobia, and soon after the Mexican revolution, marijuana became more popular, especially since the immigrants brought the same to the U.S.

The Americans were fearful and discriminatory towards the immigrants, and when they brought this unknown substance to their States, that led to a lot of anti-marijuana sentiment.

Thereon, marijuana began to be associated with crime, violence, and other immoral acts. The print media significantly further sensationalized substance use amongst Mexican and black Americans, which led to cannabis’s portrayal as a dangerous subject that led to violent behavior.

A term called “Reefer Madness” was picked up, further exaggerating the effects and fueling public fear, leading to its prohibition on a federal level.

Known (or Unknown Side Effects)

But it was not all smoke and mirrors that drove marijuana to become illegal in the U.S. A big part of the issue also came down to what we knew and did not know about the side effects. As we know now, marijuana is a medical innovation, and its worst side effects are pretty much exclusive to its most chronic users (no pun intended), while its short-term side effects include:

• Dry mouth
• Reddening of the eyes
• Lost sense of time
• Hallucinations (that admittedly worsen with higher THC)
• Impaired memory

All of these are common, but none of them lead to any long-term damage, not even to your lungs. To be fair, only years of research and published scientific articles proved this, which would not have been possible under strict marijuana crime laws. Only by lifting these restrictions did it become more socially acceptable to get the funding for these studies.

The Tax Act of 1937

While anti-drug and immigration campaigns would create a negative stigma surrounding marijuana, 1937 would bring what would have been the final nail in the coffin had it not been for the push for medical research. The Tax Act of 1937 placed new taxes on every sale of marijuana and imposed sanctions for possessing it.

This led to legal action against cannabis, and by the marijuana act tax act of 1937, cannabis became illegal on a federal level.

Although the American Medical Association opposes the ban and realizes that cannabis has medical uses, they were pushed to the narrative that marijuana is a dangerous narcotic that leads to violence.

Hence, heavy taxes are imposed on the sale and distribution of marijuana, making it next to impossible to possess it. Then, it became illegal across the state.

The 1960s and 1970s: The War on Drugs

Nearly 40 years after the Tax Act, marijuana was still federally outlawed while being socially taboo outside of rebellious teens, young adults, and ‘early enthusiasts’ a.k.a. hippies. Legalization would eventually come to the U.S., but it was in 1971, with the Nixon administration, that the War on Drugs was officially declared, only furthering the disconnect between consumers and the general public.

Then, in the 1960s, there came about a shift in the US where marijuana was assigned to rebellion and freedom. Its use became common among youngsters, especially college students, leading to increased government attention.

Within a decade, Richard Nixon, President at the time, launched a large-scale war on drugs and targeted marijuana. Cannabis was classified as a Schedule I drug under the Control Substances Act of 1970, and there was no exception for its medical use as well.

The 70s may have helped to elevate weed culture, but at the same time, it did not help that those in power were vehemently anti-marijuana under the motivation of prejudice and political gain. As a result, marijuana propaganda has doubled down, and small crimes we now see as misdemeanors were punished far more harshly.

The War on Drugs’ Legacy

The war on drugs continued, and cannabis was criminalized, where arrests were made on racial groups like black Americans, and harsh punishments were imposed.

It wasn’t until the late 20th and early 21st century that the state showed a shift in its view of marijuana.

California was the first ever state to legalize the medical use of marijuana in 1996. This was the turning point. More States followed suit, and that led to the belief that cannabis indeed had medical benefits.

The Turnaround

This turnaround in the public’s perception of marijuana has moments of social acceptance and the legal acceptance of legalizing recreational use.

We mentioned the shift in the climate in the 60s, which admittedly kicked it off, but because the War on Drugs changed American politics in the 1980s, years of further progress had to be made before one state out of 50 even legalized medical use in 1996.

The nearly 40-year gap between the hippies and California’s historic legalization was crowded with more anti-drug propaganda. Still, following the ’90s, marijuana culture bred new ground until the first states legalized recreational use in 2012.

Why Was Marijuana Illegal and Still Federally Illegal?

Interestingly, the UK in 2022 has a similar stance on illegal marijuana, in that their ‘Class B’ drug classification for marijuana has made it illegal to use or even possess, with potentially serving up to 14 years in prison.

Almost by that same logic, marijuana is considered a Schedule I drug in the United States, making it illegal on a federal level. This is because Schedule I substances, in the words of federal law, have ‘no accepted medical use and are thus likely to be abused.’ We know now that this is not the case for the majority of medical marijuana patients, and as of today, over 36 states have legalized it for medical use.

Conclusion

Why was marijuana illegal? Well, history is flooded with economic, social, and political factors, all of which were directed toward the misconceptions about the drug.

These led to racial and cultural biases, too, which further fueled the fire and led to complete prohibition in the 20th century.

However, with recent developments and research, people are now becoming aware of the benefits of cannabis and going toward its legalization.