Earlier before the Common Era:

Cannabis has been found in caves dating back 10,000 years. When farming began, it was one of the first crops farmed. Around 500 B.C., a non-psychoactive type of cannabis known as Hemp was widely utilized as a material for clothes and rope in Central Asia.

Emperor Shen Nung, the father of Chinese medicine, initially utilized cannabis to cure patients with gout, malaria, and bad memory in 2373 B.C.E. in China.

The usage of cannabis for therapeutic purposes progressively extended over Africa, Europe, and eventually the United States of America over the next 3,000 years. It was incorporated into meals by the Chinese, while it was made into a drink known as Bhang by the Indians.

Greek Doctor Galen prescribed cannabis as medicine in the 2nd century C.E., and before that, cannabis seeds were used recreationally in Greece. Cannabis’ popularity has continued to climb. By grounding cannabis and mixing it with wine, a Chinese doctor named Hua Tuo was able to ease pain in patients undergoing surgery.

Cannabis became more popular in the Middle East as the Middle Ages progressed, and Muslims began to smoke it. They named it “Hashish,” although these Muslims are far from the first to consume cannabis. Smoked cannabis has been discovered in Chinese pots dating back 2,500 years in Central Asia, according to researchers.

Classical Era

By 1492, Christopher Colombus was using a hemp rope that he had purchased on his 1st Voyage. During the same time period, the French and British sent their colonists to the New World to cultivate cannabis.

Then, in the 1600s, Cannabis gained in popularity to the point where it was a major commodity traded between South and Central Asia. It eventually spread across the United States, where it was commonly prescribed and available in general stores.

The use of cannabis has skyrocketed by this time. When the 1800s began, cannabis became more popular as it gained more and more exposure, to the point that cannabis plantations could be found all throughout the United States. It was widely recommended by doctors, and it was inexpensive at the time. Cannabis was traded all over the world, and its popularity skyrocketed.

However, towards the end of the 1800s, people’s attitudes had begun to shift as a result of the increased use of other drugs, such as alcohol and opium. Many people started to believe that it was the source of mental disease.

In 1868, the British were at the forefront of a campaign to pass legislation prohibiting the use of harmful medications. Furthermore, as the progressive age progressed, propaganda, false claims, and people’s beliefs began to taint cannabis’s reputation.

Cannabis was equated with other fatal and dangerous narcotics by people all across the world. By the time cannabis had swept the United States, many progressives were calling for tougher laws on potentially hazardous narcotics, including cannabis.

The British government became concerned about cannabis use in India, which they governed at the time, as 1893 approached. The British sponsored a study called the Indian Hemp Substances Commission the next year, which concluded that moderate cannabis usage was fine and did not cause individuals to go insane, unlike other drugs that were taken and abused.

Progressive Era

Cannabis had become more well-known as a recreational drug by the time the progressive era arrived in the United States in 1906, and progressives urged tougher prohibitions against recreational drugs.

This was also the time when the United States government created the Pure Food and Drug Act in an attempt to control mislabeled items, as well as declaring cannabis to be harmful and requiring it to be labeled before being sold to the general public.

California was the first state to prohibit the cultivation of cannabis, sometimes known as “Locoweed,” in 1913. The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 made drug usage a criminal, establishing cannabis as a recreational rather than medical medication as more people began smoking it in cigarettes and pipes.

Many Mexicans smoked cannabis, and when millions of Mexican immigrants flocked to the United States as a result of the Mexican revolution, they brought the habit with them and affected millions of Americans, which Mexicans named “Marihuana.”

Mexicans became connected with cannabis use, which was problematic at a period when Americans were xenophobic toward Mexicans. Because of the association between Mexicans and cannabis, Americans were more fearful of cannabis.

As a result, 26 states have made cannabis illegal, and the government and its citizens, as well as the rest of the world, though it was a terrible idea because the United States was a well-known country. Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, persistently led anti-cannabis initiatives.

“There are 100,000 overall cannabis smokers in the United States, and the majority are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and Entertainers,” according to the statement. “Their diabolical music, jazz, and swing are the product of cannabis use,” he alleged. White women pursue sexual encounters with African-Americans, performers, and others as a result of the cannabis.” The public became even more fearful as a result of this. To make it appear strange and linked with Mexican immigrants, he pronounced it “cannabis.”

He was also testifying before Congress in an attempt to persuade them to declare the herb illegal, despite having little to no knowledge of the herb and presenting no evidence that it is harmful. He also regarded it as the most violently causing drug in human history. This is why, in 1928, the United Kingdom outlawed cannabis.

By 1936, a film called Reefer Madness had been released, with the narrative of fine people becoming violent and insane as a result of cannabis use. Anslinger himself had an impact on this film. When the year 1937 arrived, Anslinger’s  Cannabis Tax Act was approved, requiring individuals who sold marijuana to pay a high tax.

By this time, cannabis had become illegal in Canada and China, as well as the rest of the world. Although the United States of America persuaded the rest of the world that cannabis is a dangerous narcotic that is damaging to humans, countries in the Middle East, Northern Africa, and India continued to legalize the drug.

Marijuana was legally decriminalized in the 1950s, and it was lumped in with hazardous substances like heroin and cocaine. Despite the widespread backlash against cannabis, its popularity continued to grow in other countries.

The United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs met in 1960 and determined that cannabis should be prohibited, but that it might be used for medical and scientific research under stringent conditions, implying that its usage was not entirely unlawful.

This decision was supported by almost every country. During that decade, a burgeoning American counterculture emerged, and in the 1970s, the National Organization for the Reform of Cannabis Law (NORML) was formed to end cannabis prohibition. As the organization began to mobilize a large number of individuals to protest, its popularity and influence rose swiftly.

Cannabis use surged again between 1960 and 1970, as the number of demonstrators climbed as more people learned the truth about the herb’s benefits. Many patients have benefited from its components, and many people believe that cannabis should not be banned.

In the 1980s, they petitioned the government to make medicinal cannabis legal, and in 1996, California passed Proposition 215 legalizing medical cannabis. This was also followed by a number of other states.

This marked the beginning of cannabis legalization in countries other than the United States. These were the reasons why, unlike the 1936 film Reefer Madness, anti-cannabis propaganda waned in the 1990s and more movies showed typical cannabis use. Decriminalization and lawful medical use became the focus of more studies and clinicians.

Because of the knowledge they obtained that cannabis can save lives, many Canadians urged their government to consider legalizing cannabis during that time.

In the 21st Century

In a Canadian article regarding the timeframe for cannabis legalization in their country, they stated:

“The seriously ill and dying begin fighting for a legal exemption to the criminal law, demanding the right to obtain medicinal pain relief through cannabis without fear of prosecution.”

This is why, in 2001, Canada authorized medical cannabis for people who needed it, particularly those who were battling. Politicians in the United States, on the other hand, chose to disregard them.

Canada became the second country in the world to establish a government-run cannabis health program to assist citizens in desperate need of an instant medical cannabis prescription.

More Americans urged that cannabis be legalized for recreational use, not just medical use, during the Obama administration in 2009. Although some countries have legalized medical cannabis, the United States has remained staunch in its enforcement of cannabis regulations. After witnessing how much money they could make from taxing and regulating cannabis, Colorado and Washington fully legalized it in 2012.

According to Aaron Smith’s CNN piece on cannabis legalization in Colorado, this is “the biggest triumph ever for the legalization moment.”

Uruguay became the first country to allow cannabis use the following year. Until recently, a growing number of countries have begun to legalize cannabis. Cannabis was previously legal, and legalization is likely to spread as long as studies and study findings are disclosed for the public to understand every information regarding cannabis.