The Vermont Pure CBD Catalog

Cannabis is believed to have evolved on the steppes of Central Asia, specifically in the regions that are now Mongolia and southern Siberia. The use of this plant dates back 12,000 years, which places the plant among humanity’s oldest cultivated crop. The first recorded medicinal use dates to 4,000 B.C. in ancient China where the herb was used for an anesthetic during surgery. Coastal farmers brought cannabis to Korea around 2,000 B.C. and it spread into India. The Arathaveda during this period states: “We tell of the five kingdoms of herbs headed by Soma; may it and kuca grass, and bhanga and barley, and the herb sana (cannabis) release us from anxiety.” From there, Germanic tribes brought the drug into Germany, and into Britain during the 5th century with the Anglo-Saxon invasions. Over the next several centuries, cannabis migrated to various regions of the world, traveling through Africa, reaching South America in the 19th century, and eventually reaching North America.

Cannabis finally made its way into the southern United States with immigrants fleeing during the Mexican Revolution at the beginning of the 20th century. In A Historical Geography of Cannabis, Barney Warf writes, “Many early prejudices against marijuana were thinly veiled racist fears of its smokers, often promulgated by reactionary newspapers, Mexicans were frequently blamed for smoking marijuana, property crimes, seducing children and engaging in murderous sprees.” Domestic production flourished until after the Civil War, when imports and other domestic materials replaced hemp for many purposes. In the late nineteenth century, marijuana became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was sold openly in public pharmacies. It was so important in fact, that in 1619, Virginia passed a law requiring hemp to be grown on every farm in the colony. In 1915, Utah was the first state to outlaw cannabis use. By 1931 28 more states followed suit. In 1930, Harry Aslinger became the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) and undertook multiple efforts to make marijuana illegal in all states. In 1937, the Marijuana Tax Act put cannabis under the regulation of the Drug Enforcement Agency, criminalizing possession of the plant throughout the country.