ABSTRACT
Medicinal forms of cannabis are more accessible than ever before. Within over a majority of the United States in 2019, it is as simple for patients as walking into a dispensary and buying a variety of widely available marijuana products. With cannabis policy reform seemingly gaining momentum, to truly understand those proposed policy reforms, it is important to consider the historical context and evolution of legislation and regulation related to cannabis in order to reconcile the policy reforms considered. Cannabis even appeared in the United States Pharmacopeia beginning around 1850. Perhaps surprisingly, in the Jamestown Colony of Virginia, it was unlawful for farmers to not grow hemp; even this country’s forefathers grew hemp, including George Washington on his farm in Virginia. Building upon the elimination of cannabis production and usage caused by the Tax Act, by the 1970s, President Nixon declared a “war on drugs.”.
