Medical & Recreational Cannabis
in the U.S.A. and Canada

historical & recent events states & countries links reading material video material merchandise image gallery

The natural pain-reliever cannabis was legal for thousands of years, until U.S. federal bureaucrats were threatened with loss of their jobs at the end
of Prohibition – cannabis was regulated and taxed beginning in 1937 and arbitrarily designated a Schedule I dangerous drug in 1970.
Cannabis Portal entry at Wikipedia
'medical cannabis' entry at Wikipedia
'cannabis tea' entry at Wikipedia

One of the most popular compounds found in cannabis is Cannabidiol (CBD), a phytocannabinoid discovered in 1940. Extracts of the CBD chemical
are used to treat anxiety, sleeplessness, pain, inflammation, symptoms associated with epilepsy, and a number of other ailments.

“If the words 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then
the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp [that] it was written on.” — ethnobotanist Terrence McKenna [1946-2000]

“Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere.” — George Washington [1732-99]

“It really puzzles me to see marijuana connected with narcotics, dope, and all of that stuff. It is a thousand times better than whiskey.
It is an assistant and a friend.” — musician Louis Armstrong [1901-71]

“[T]he marijuana consciousness is one that, ever so gently, shifts the center of attention from habitual shallow, purely verbal guidelines and
repetitive secondhand ideological interpretations of experience to more direct, slower, absorbing, occasionally microscopically minute engagement
with sensing phenomena.” — beat poet Allen Ginsberg [1926-97]

re hashish smoking: “A heavenly dreaminess comes over one, in which [one moves] as if on air. Everything is calm and lovely: no pain, no care,
no fear of anything, and while it lasts one feels like an angel half asleep.” — Louisa May Alcott [1832-88], in short story "Perilous Play", 1869

“I have always loved marijuana. It has been a source of joy and comfort to me for many years. And I still think of it as a basic staple of life, along with
beer and ice and grapefruits – and millions of Americans agree with me.” — gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson [1937-2005]

“When you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself.” — musician Bob Marley [1945-81]

“I find it quite ironic that the most dangerous thing about weed is getting caught with it.” — actor-comedian Bill Murray

T i m e l i n e 12,000 years ago: Cannabis was grown in the area that is now Mongolia. 2,700 years ago: China appears to have cultivated cannabis for medicinal purposes. 1842: Irish physician William O’Shaughnessy’s clinical trials of cannabis found that it’s an effective muscle relaxant and anti-convulsive; he also noted side effects like 'perpetual giggling' and 'ravenous appetite'. 1860: The Ohio State Medical Society conducted the first U.S. government survey of the cannabis medical literature, reporting that the plant is helpful for pain, bronchitis, venereal disease, and postpartum depression. 1915: Sir William Osler [1849-1919], often called the Father of Modern Medicine, called cannabis 'the most satisfactory remedy' for migraines. Cannabis was routinely prescribed until the 1930s, when the U.S. government began to regulate it. 1937: Federal Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner Harry J. Anslinger [1892-1975] declared that marijuana is associated with psychosis and crime, and that it led black people and Latinos to forget their place in the fabric of American society. 1937 June 14: The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Marihuana Tax Act, which placed a tax on the sale of medical cannabis; it was signed into law on August 2. 1938: The exploitation film "Reefer Madness" was distributed around the country under several titles on a piecemeal basis until the 1950s. 1964: Israeli doctors isolated and synthesized tetrahydrocannabinol (T.H.C.), marijuana’s main psychoactive ingredient. 1970: Richard Nixon’s attorney general John Mitchell 'temporarily' categorized marijuana as a Schedule I drug, pending further presidential review; it remains in this category, meant for dangerous narcotics like heroin, to this day. 1974: Launch of High Times Magazine, soon to enter its 45th year of publication. 1975: The New England Journal of Medicine reported that T.H.C. successfully reduced chemotherapy-related nausea & vomiting in cancer patients for whom standard anti-emetics were ineffective. 1976: Robert C. Randall [1948-2001] became the first legal medical-marijuana smoker since 1937 after suing the government for access to cannabis to treat his glaucoma. 1996 Nov 5: Voters in California approved Proposition 215, making it the first state to allow cultivation and possession of marijuana for medical use under controlled conditions. 1997: The New England Journal of Medicine published an editorial calling for a change in marijuana’s federal status from Schedule I to Schedule II; the government ignored it. 2005 June 6: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005) that federal drug laws supercede state & local laws that allow medical use of marijuana. 2012 Nov: Voters in Washington State approved by 56 to 44 percent Initiative 502 which legalized possession and use of cannabis products for people 21 years and older and established state-regulated retail sales. 2013: Uruguay legalized the production, sale, and use of marijuana. 2013: U.S.-Mexico Symposium on Legalization and Medical Use of Cannabis 2014 Nov 4: Voters in Alaska passed Ballot Measure 2 at 53-47%, decriminalizing possession of cannabis at the state level effective 24 February 2015. 2017: West Virginia became the 29th state to legalize medical marijuana. 2017 May: High Times Magazine was purchased by a group of investors for a reported $70M; the magazine has a strong circulation of 236,000 monthly subscribers and the digital properties register 20 million unique visitors on a monthly basis. 2017: Constellation Brands, maker of Corona Beer, invested nearly $200 million in Canopy Growth, Canada's top cannabis producer, in a partnership to make a non-alcoholic cannabis-based beverage. 2 0 1 8   Events 2018 January: The legislature of Vermont passed a bill, quickly signed by the governor, that allows possession of marijuana for recreational purposes. Individual adults may possess up to an ounce of marijuana for personal consumption and grow up to six plants, but buying and selling the drug remains prohibited. 2018 April 20 (the 4-20 cannabis holiday): U.S. Senator Charles 'Chuck' Schumer [since 1999; Dem NY] introduced a measure to decriminalize marijuana nationwide. 2018 June 19: Canada's Senate passed a bill on a 52-29 vote legalizing recreational marijuana use, making Canada the second country in the world (after Uruguay) to approve the creation of a legal marijuana market; the law takes effect on October First. 2018 June 19: Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico, joined the board of High Times Magazine (he advocates making cannabis a topic for further negotiations of N.A.F.T.A.). 2018 June 26: Oklahoma voters approved State Question 788 which legalizes medical marijuana with little regulation. 2018 Aug 15: Constellation Brands, maker of Corona Beer, announced that it would infuse another $4 billion into Canada's top cannabis producer, Canopy Growth - the biggest-ever investment in the pot industry, which is booming; Constellation invested nearly $200 million in Canopy in 2017 in a partnership to make a non-alcoholic cannabis-based beverage. 2018 Nov 6: Several states voted to partly legalize marijuana; voters in Michigan approved a ballot measure to legalize cannabis for adult recreational use by 56% to 44%, while voters in Utah and Missouri made their states the latest to allow medical marijuana; in next day stock trading, shares of New Age Beverages Corp., which is expanding into cannabis products, rose by 20.1 percent; U.S. shares of Canadian companies Canopy Growth Corp., Aurora Cannabis Inc., and Cronos Group, Inc. gained between 8 and 10 percent. 2018 Dec 7: Tobacco giant Altria - headquartered near Richmond, Virginia and formerly known as Philip Morris - announced its acquisition of a 45 percent stake in Canadian cannabis company Cronos Group for $1.8 billion, with an option to take on controlling interest (55 percent) by 2022. 2 0 1 9   Events 2019 April: Cannabis was officially declared kosher for Passover by a famous rabbi in Florida. 2 0 2 2   Events 2022 April 1: Cannabis prohibition ended in New Mexico as state-regulated retail sale of marijuana began, joining 17 other states that have legalized adult-use recreational marijuana; the first day of legal recreational cannabis sales in New Mexico surpassed $2 million; sales over the first weekend were $5.2 million. News reports in May said that recreational cannabis sales in New Mexico for April was more than $22 million, alongside $17 million in medical sales for a total of almost $40 million. 2022 Oct 6:   President Biden pardoned all people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law, and ordered a review of the classification of the drug as a Schedule 1 substance; the pardons will clear the convictions of some 6,500 people from 1992 to 2021. 2 0 2 4   Events 2024 Aug 6: Ohio became the 25th state (plus DC) to make recreational weed legal.

The States & Countries
Nine states have made possession of small amounts of marijuana legal: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and the District of Columbia
(which obviates the need to control medical use). Twenty-six states fully or partially allow controlled use of medical cannabis: Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida,
Hawai'i, Illinois, Iowa, Lousiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
Vermont, and West Virginia {as-of mid-2019}. Ohio became the 25th state (plus DC) to make recreational weed legal in August 2024

in this section: CA   Ë    Canada   Ë    MA   Ë    NM   Ë    VT

National U.S.A.

Dutchie [est. 2017], 2728 NW Potts Court in Bend, Oregon
Dutchie is an all-in-one technology platform powering the cannabis industry with Point of Sale, Ecommerce, Payments, and Insurance.
Their technology is helping over 5,000 dispensary partners start, operate, and grow with confidence.

Harvest Health & Recreation, Inc. - House of Cannabis []
operates retail stores in Arizona (20), California (4), Florida (14), Maryland (3), and Pennsylvania (14)

Lucky Leaf Cannabis & Hemp Expo [est. 2019] of Dallas, Texas holds trade show events in at least ten states
Austin, TX - 5/2021; Dallas, TX - 7/2021; Detroit, MI - 3/2022; Jackson, MS - 10/2022; Kansas City, MO - 3/2023; Albany, NY - 4/2023;
Edison NJ - 6/2023; Baltimore, MD - 7/2023; Albuquerque, NM - 9/2023; St. Louis, MO - 10/2023; Richmond, VA - 1/2024;
Minneapolis, MN - 4/2024

Alaska
Voters in Alaska passed Ballot Measure 2 at 53-47% in November 2014, decriminalizing possession of cannabis at the state level, effective in February 2015.

Arizona
Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project

California
California Travel & Business Links Page