In the 18th & 19th Century the U.S. primarily used hemp for rope, twine, clothing, and paper. It was later discovered that hemp was effective topically in soothing soreness on the body.
In 1937 The Marijuana Tax Act was passed which made hemp farming financially unfeasible. The primary reasons were due to competitive economics. Harry Anslinger, the First Chief of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, was primarily responsibility for the ban on hemp. He made unsubstantiated claims, such as people were going insane from cannabis. A second reason was Ansylinger’s racist statements. False claims were made including: white women would lust after black men, people who were black & Latino were the primary users, and Jazz musicians created Satanic music from smoking marijuana.
The term marijuana came from Spanish speaking people, and it was used as a derogatory term to turn people against the crop. Up until early in the 1900’s, hemp was called Cannabis. When the Marijuana Tax Act legislation was being researched, 29 out of 30 scientists disagreed with his conclusions.
In 1970 President Nixon created and signed the Controlled Substances Act which classified hemp as a “Schedule 1” substance along with heroin, LSD, and cocaine. This eliminated virtually all research on the plant for the next 50 years.
In the 2014 Farm Bill, section 7606 allowed for hemp to be grown under the watchful eyes of institutions of higher learning and U.S. state departments of agriculture. This pilot program generated significant interest and the majority of U.S. states moved forward with hemp cultivation and limited sales. The pivotal 2018 Farm Bill made Hemp legal in all U.S. states with the strict legal definition of a 0.3% THC cap.
