Most people are aware, unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past 90 years, that marijuana is illegal. However, most people have never truly asked why. Our government has said that it has been bad for so long, we have stopped looking for answers, and swallowed the blue pill. In this paper, we will look at the history of marijuana. We will look at the medical and recreational benefits that marijuana has, as well as the negative aspect of marijuana. We will begin in the early 1900’s and work our way up to present day, filled with facts and real science, to use to decipher whether marijuana should be legalized or whether it should not be.
Marijuana has been around for quite some time. It is believed that the first record of use was made by Emperor Shen Nung in 2737 B.C.,
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However, Muslims were the considered the first people to create and introduce “Hashish” after the Koran banned alcohol consumption. Marijuana then began to spread to places such as India, North Africa, and Europe around 500 AD. Marijuana was then introduced in America in 1545 by the Spanish, and eventually became a major commercial crop in 1611. By the 1890’s most of the hemp crops had been replaced by cotton, however many medicines included marijuana, but not as much as Opium or Cocaine. Marijuana usage rocketed in the early 1920’s as the prohibition continued. Most major cities even created Marijuana lounges which were usually referred to as “Tea Pads”. The cops were okay with this because at the time, it wasn’t illegal, and they generally didn’t have any complaints about the patrons. It was also listed in the US Pharmacopeia from 1850 to 1942 and used recreationally from the 1850’s to the 1930’s. According to Narconon.org, “ A campaign conducted in the 1930s by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs) sought to portray marijuana as a powerful, addicting