In 1937 cannabis was a commonly grown agriculture plant with industrial, household and medicinal uses. Prohibition of it would not have been possible. However, it was easy to create a foreign-sounding name for it, then ban it entirely. It was those schemers and plotters who coined the name “marijuana”.
The war on its use was gradual, but relentless. We have prisons full of its victims, with many times that outside in families and people carrying the burden of “convicted felon” for absolutely NO GOOD REASON.
I have created and published here several pages on the subject.
drug war is one of those pages.
Over a dozen of my essays on the topic are listed and linked here:
drug war category
Below are a number of high-quality resources on the topic. There is little excuse for ignorance on this subject. I grant the Internet has more information than any one individual can digest, but to be FOR prohibition – that is to be FOR destroying lives, one really owes it to their fellow man to be right … or to stay out of the way.
NBC news:
Why Montana Is Going Backward on Medical Marijuana