420: Cannabis in the United States

Welcome to Civics and Coffee. My name is Alycia and I am a self-professed history nerd. Each week, I am going to chat about a topic on U.S history and give you both the highlights and occasionally break down some of the complexities in history; and share stories you may not remember learning in high school. All in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of coffee. 

INTRO MUSIC

Hey everyone,welcome back. If you're listening to this on release day, then you may be aware of a strange, unofficial celebration held each year on this date by a subset of the population. As a podcaster who follows pop culture, I couldn't help but notice the date on the schedule when I was planning my episodes. But as a historian, I wanted to approach this with a combination of pop culture and historical context. Therefore, I decided to explore both how the unofficial holiday came to be and how the United States has approached drug regulation, specifically cannabis regulation, over the years. 

So this week, I am exploring the history of cannabis usage in the United States. When was it introduced? When was it made illegal? And how did April 20th enter the lexicon?

It should go without saying but given the subject of this week's episode, listener discretion is advised. 

Grab your cup of coffee peeps. Let’s do this.

Before I discuss how April 20th came to be an unofficial cannabis holiday, I want to talk about how the plant was introduced in the United States and what prompted its regulation. In the nineteenth century, it was very common to sell liquid forms of several narcotics in medications sold in drug stores  throughout the country. This included opiates, cannabis, and cocaine which was most famously found in early versions of Coco-Cola. 

America's earliest exposure to cannabis was actually with hashish, not marijuana, which was most commonly used and advertised as having medicinal properties. While both marijuana and hashish, or hash as it is more commonly known, share the same origin - cannabis - how they are produced are different. Hash, which was used throughout the nineteenth century, is made from the resin found in the buds of the cannabis plant. Marijuana, on the other hand, is comprised of the dried buds and leaves of cannabis. Ironically enough, hash is actually considered more potent than marijuana, as it is more concentrated. 

Regardless of the potency, hashish, like I said, was originally advertised as a medicinal agent to treat anxiety. In an 1862 advertisement in Vanity Fair, hashish candy was listed as quote: "a most wonderful medicinal agent for the cure of nervousness," end quote. The same advertisement also touted the candy as quote: "a pleasurable & harmless stimulant" end quote. While widely available and used to treat medical ailments, recreational use seems a bit unclear. According to his assessment, Miami University Professor Stephen Siff claims that smoking cannabis recreationally was first introduced by Mexican immigrants at the turn of the twentieth century. However, according to historian Isaac Campos, pharmacists in the United States first began importing cannabis from India to sell in pharmacies. The plant imported was in a format that was quote “ideal for smoking purposes” end quote and, according to Campos, indicates that there were at least some pharmacists in the United States who were aware that Americans were using the drug recreationally. In fact, there is evidence that Mexican migrants were actually smuggling the plant into their home country - not the other way around. 

However, even the sense that immigrants - particularly Mexican immigrants - were using the plant recreationally helped fuel xenophobic attitudes against its usage. In his research, Campos argues that the attitude against marijuana usage was both a product of a general racist sentiment among the population and the product of government and other officials repeating the Mexican government’s talking points and position. In an interview with Time Magazine, Campos said quote: “It wasn’t just that there was racism against Mexicans, it’s that Mexican ideas helped inspire fear about cannabis in the U.S.,” end quote. 

The first time the United States began to attempt oversight over the plant was in 1906 with the passage of the pure food & drug act. Signed by President Theordore Roosevelt, the legislation, also known as the Wiley Act, prohibited the interstate transportation of unlawful food and drink, or otherwise questionable products. The law also required that any medicine that contained liquid forms of cannabis disclosed that information on the label. Unlike what we might expect from the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, today, the law did not set up the mechanism to pre-approve items before they hit the marketplace. Instead, the law relied on self-disclosure but did require that all labels were accurate and specified that any item on the market that contained one of the pre-identified dangerous ingredients, such as cocaine, be posted clearly on the label. So again, we see the United States not much concerned with limiting access to the drug, but instead ensuring that Americans were informed ahead of time. 

In the absence of any federal initiatives, regulation of cannabis use fell to the states. Laws banning cannabis hit the books beginning in 1914. Temperance activists - motivated by the successes of their anti-booze campaigns - turned their attention & activism toward purging the quote unquote scourge of opiates and other illicit drugs, with cannabis being lumped in. Much like prohibition, success was slow, but steady and by 1925, 26 states had laws prohibiting both recreational and medicinal cannabis usage. Their efforts were aided partially by Spanish-American War hero and strong prohibition supporter Walter P. Hobson. Eventually earning the nickname “The Father of American Prohibition,” Hobson was a member of Congress between 1907-1915 and spent a lot of his post-Congressional career advocating for stronger anti-alcohol and drug policies in the United States. He wrote several books warning of the dangers of drug usage, despite his lack of medical or scientific training, and even founded the International Narcotic Education Association. Every year, he would call for a narcotic education week and magnate William Randolph Heart used his newspapers to support the cause, conveniently publishing questionably sourced stories about the dangers of drugs, painting cannabis as a drug of quote: “murder, torture, and hideous cruelty,” end quote. 

Yet another aid to the cause came in the form of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner Harry J. Anslinger, who served in his post from 1930 to 1962. The Bureau of Narcotics was the predecessor to the eventual Drug Enforcement Agency, otherwise known as the DEA. Brought on to oversee the federal government’s regulation of what was originally limited to cocaine and heroin - both of which were banned by a law passed in 1914 - Anslinger decided the department needed a larger mandate. Given the fact that there were relatively few heroin and cocaine users, Anslinger worried that there would be insufficient work to justify his department and position. In fact, there is some evidence to suggest that Anslinger was ambivalent toward cannabis usage prior to becoming the Commissioner in 1930. But once in position, Anslinger decided to expand the scope of his department to include banning all drugs from the market. 

Anslinger became almost singularly focused on using the resources of the federal government to eliminate cannabis use from the country. In 1937, Anslinger lobbied for the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act, which codified the ban on the possession and sale of marijuana into law. Pushing cannabis as an incredibly dangerous drug, Anslinger went so far as testifying before Congress about cannabis inspired violence. He shared fantastical stories about how people had been murdered by people high on weed, including an incredibly sensational example of a young man who supposedly murdered his entire family with an ax after taking cannabis. If you are even remotely familiar with the impacts of cannabis, then you are likely scratching your head. Perhaps you're wondering if the marijuana plants in the days of yore were somehow different. You can rest assured. There was no evidence that any of Anslinger’s testimony was remotely truthful.

In fact, Anslinger struggled to find any respected member of the scientific community to back his claims about the dangerous impacts of cannabis. He repeatedly sought out researchers and medical personnel to sign on to the statement that cannabis created psychosis. All but one of the thirty individuals contacted declined the offer and even the American Medical Association testified against the 1937 bill, much to Anslinger’s ire. He was so dedicated to his message that cannabis posed significant danger that he proactively sought to undermine and discredit any research that countered his narrative. In 1944, when then-New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and the New York Academy of Medicine put out a report indicating that cannabis was nothing more than a quote unquote “mild intoxicant,” Anslinger made sure the research was immediately attacked by a conveniently timed article opposing its findings. He also tried to prevent a joint report issued by the AMA and the American Bar Association stating that the punishment and penalties for possession of the drug was far too severe. 

There was also a hint of racism tied to the ban, as Anslinger repeatedly tied weed usage to Black and Latino members of society, even utilizing the term Marijuana - the Spanish word for cannabis - to help Americans associate the plant with Mexican immigrants. 

However, as the 1940s and 1950s bled into the 1960s, the little green plant enjoyed renewed interest by upper class college students. Enjoying a little rebellion, cannabis usage spread across college campuses. Perhaps it was the fact that a new kind of American - the white, suburban good kid - was enjoying the drug that prompted Anslinger to finally admit in the 1960s that the punishments for cannabis use were too severe. Of course, by that time, the damage was done and the federal government was fully entrenched in their out and out ban at the national level. In 1967, several national news magazines published stories investigating the United States’ stance on cannabis use and asked publicly why the drug remained illegal. 

However, the end of the 1960s saw a resurgence of conservative politics in the United States, when Richard Nixon won the presidency in 1968. And just like Anslinger, Richard Nixon was adamantly opposed to any and all drug usage, but seemed to have a special rage against cannabis. He used the power of his office to pressure the major television networks to push anti-drug themes and in 1970 passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention Control Act. The law put cannabis in the most restrictive category of drugs. 

Much like during Anslinger’s tenure as the Commissioner of the Narcotics Bureau, Nixon actively suppressed any reports or studies that contradicted his world view. For example, when the assistant Secretary of Health published a report calling for an end to the criminal penalties for cannabis usage, President Nixon refused to receive the report publicly and pressure the leader of the commission to disavow their findings. Apparently, Nixon told the incoming director of the Narcotics Treatment Administration that he would be granted free reign on all drugs - except cannabis. According to Nixon, cannabis usage was an enemy of quote “a strong society. That’s why the communists and left-wingers are pushing the stuff, they are trying to destroy us,” end quote. 

And it was in the middle of the Nixon Era that a handful of teenagers in Northern California unintentionally launched an unofficial celebration. Full disclosure, much of this story is a bit ahistorical. Meaning our understanding of these events comes through memories and second hand stories. It isn't like the teenagers got together and held a public forum announcing their decision in a press release. But, if you'll forgive the lack of historical rigor, the story itself is both entertaining and intriguing. As legend has it, the origins of the 420 label came from a group of high school kids living in San Rafael. 

Apparently, the teens in question, who referred to themselves as the Waldos, were trying to locate a fellow friend's cannabis plant. Their friend had supposedly begun growing cannabis in a field in Point Reyes. As an aside, the idea that the plant was in Point Reyes is a bit of a surprise to me. Point Reyes is on the northern California coast and has - at least throughout my lifetime - been very damp & frequently overcast. This is a stark contrast to what cannabis plants need to flourish - which is a warm climate. But perhaps in the 1970s people didn't know as much about proper plant growth as they do now. Or maybe this part of the story is a complete fabrication. Who knows. Either way- the teens in question all committed to meeting at a certain time & location to go out to point keyes to look for the plant.

Not able to discuss their plans out in the open, the teens decided to use coded language. Planning to meet at the campus statue of the chemist Louis Pasteur, the original code was 420 Louie. This indicated the time and location for the Waldos to meet before heading off to Point Reyes in search of free weed. This of course was eventually shortened to just 420, which spread throughout the friend group, including Grateful Dead band member Phil Lesh. Lesh introduced the term to his fellow bandmates and it spread from there. 

However, 420 did not come to signal an actual event until the 1990s. As documented by High Times reporter Steve Bloom, there was a celebration flier that said quote: “meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mount Tamalpais,” end quote. Bloom later published a copy of this in the magazine and the rest, as they say, is history. Cannabis celebrations occur across the globe, including, of course, Hippie Hill in San Francisco. So where does the United States stand on legalization, and some would argue more importantly, decriminalization? 

President Jimmy Carter called for decriminalization as early as 1977, which at the time had the support of the American Bar Association, National Parent Teacher Association, and the National Education Association. However, Carter was limited to a single term and was replaced by one of the most conservative politicians in the twentieth century, Ronald Reagan. Much like Nixon, Reagan had a zero tolerance policy and oversaw the passage of three drug related bills, all of which came with harsh punishment for the use, sale, or possession of drugs. His was joined in his mission by his wife Nancy, who made the rounds touting the Just Say No Campaign, telling the youth of America to simply say no when offered the drug. 

The 80s is also when the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, otherwise known as DARE was established and the Partnership for a Drug Free America, which was started by a group of advertising executives. If the name sounds familiar, then you likely remember seeing one of those “this is brain, this is your brain on drugs” commercials when you were younger. Research found that between 1998 and 2004, over one billion dollars went into federal drug prevention initiatives. The study found that despite the massive monetary commitment to the cause, it had little effect on minimizing drug use. Over 100,000 Americans are arrested each year over cannabis - usually for possession. Studies have also demonstrated that despite using the drug at the same level of their white counterparts, Black Americans are four times as likely to be arrested for cannabis usage. 

In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states in the union to legalize the substance for recreational use. Opponents to legalization pointed to concerns about the risk to public safety and the economy if states brought the market out of the shadows. However, research has shown there was no traceable impact to public safety - no changes in traffic accidents or crime rates - and that it was actually a major win for local economies. Colorado alone collects twenty million dollars each month, according to a report by NPR. As of 2024, 23 states, 2 territories and D.C. have legalized recreational cannabis use. However, despite its popularity, cannabis remains a schedule 1 drug and illegal at the federal level. While activists and members of Congress of called for a repeal of the federal ban, it remains unclear when, or if, a bill legalizing cannabis will cross the president’s desk. 

So, if you celebrate the holiday, I hope you stay safe and that you listened to this before you started… Well, you know. And if you don’t, then I hope you enjoyed the history behind one of the most iconic substances in recent American history. 

Thanks, peeps. I’ll see you next week. 

Thanks for tuning and I hope you enjoyed this episode of Civics & Coffee. If you want to hear more small snippets from american history, be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening and I look forward to our next cup of coffee together. 

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