Government Restriction of Marijuana
Overview of the Drug's Legal History in the United States
Marijuana, or by its botanical name Cannabis Sativa, has been cultivated worldwide for centuries. The cannabis plant, also raised for the production of hemp fiber, is more generally grown and consumed (smoked) for its medicinal and psychoactive effects. In the United States, historical accounts of the drug’s use, both for recreational and medicinal purposes, date back to the nineteenth century and earlier. In those earlier years, marijuana was legal under State and Federal law, but it was smoked more to achieve intoxication than to relieve medical symptoms.By the 1840s, however, marijuana’s therapeutic potential gained a modicum of recognition among some…
