The Slow RETURN of Medicinal Cannabis in the U.S.
Cannabis is often framed as a modern controversy, but its relationship with American medicine spans nearly two centuries. Long before dispensaries, THC edibles, and state ballot initiatives, cannabis was a respected therapeutic tool stocked in pharmacies and prescribed by doctors. Its removal from medicine was not the result of scientific failure, but rather a convergence of politics, racial fear, economic interests, and cultural change.
This is the true medical history of cannabis in the United States: a story of acceptance, suppression, and revival.
1. Cannabis Enters American Medicine (1840s–1850s)
Cannabis was introduced into Western medicine in the early 19th century, largely through British physician Dr. William O'Shaughnessy, who documented its medical use in India while working for the British East India Company. His observations quickly spread to Europe and the United States.
By 1850, cannabis had been officially added to the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), the government-recognized list of approved medicines. From that point forward, it became a standard ingredient in American medical practice.
Physicians prescribed cannabis for a wide range of conditions, including:
- Chronic pain
- Muscle spasms
- Migraines
- Insomnia
- Epilepsy
- Rheumatism
- Nausea and digestive disorders
- Menstrual cramps
- Anxiety and nervous disorders
It was primarily sold as:
- Alcohol-based tinctures
- Fluid extracts
- Pills and powders
Major pharmaceutical companies such as Parke-Davis, Eli Lilly, and Squibb manufactured and distributed cannabis medicines, marketed alongside morphine, laudanum, and quinine: all legally available medications at the time.
Cannabis was not controversial. It was medicine.
2. A Normal Part of the Doctor’s Toolkit (1850–1900)
Throughout the second half of the 19th century, cannabis was widely accepted by the medical community. It appeared in:
- Medical textbooks
- Pharmacy catalogs
- Physician formularies
- Hospital treatment regimens
Doctors appreciated cannabis for its versatility:
- It relieved pain without the same level of respiratory depression as opiates
- It helped soothe spasms and seizures
- It aided sleep and appetite
At the time, doctors did not differentiate between "recreational" and "medical" use in the modern sense. Cannabis was simply another therapeutic plant, treated no differently than digitalis or belladonna.
3. The Turning Point: Fear, Propaganda, and Policy (1900–1937)
The early 20th century brought massive shifts in American culture, immigration, and drug policy. Anti-drug sentiment grew as part of a wider moral reform movement, and cannabis became increasingly targeted. You can learn more about William Randolph Hearst and how he shaped American cannabis policy HERE. (Long story short - He didn’t want hemp to replace wood in paper production and he used racism and xenophobia to push the message to the public through his newspapers.)
It was at this time that the term "marihuana" entered the public lexicon, often linked in sensationalist newspapers to Mexican immigrants and Black jazz musicians. Stories circulated claiming cannabis triggered violence, insanity, and moral decay: claims unsupported by scientific evidence but powerful in shaping public opinion.
At the same time, new synthetic drugs (aspirin, barbiturates, opiates) began replacing plant-based remedies, weakening cannabis’ position in pharmaceuticals.
In 1937, the federal government passed the Marihuana Tax Act, heavily restricting the possession and sale of cannabis through extreme taxation and paperwork requirements. While not an outright ban, it made medical prescribing nearly impossible.
Doctors who spoke out were ignored. The American Medical Association opposed the law, warning it would hinder medical research and patient care.
4. The Fall from Medicine (1942)
In 1942, cannabis was officially removed from the U.S. Pharmacopeia.
This moment marked the transformation of cannabis from legitimate medicine into a prohibited substance. Not because it failed clinically, but because it had become politically untouchable.
For decades following, cannabis use was criminalized at the federal level. Research stalled. Doctors were barred from prescribing it. Patients lost access to a treatment that had once been routine.
5. The War on Drugs and Total Suppression (1950s–1980s)
The post-war era saw increasingly harsh drug laws. Cannabis became a central villain in America’s "War on Drugs":
- The Boggs Act of 1951 imposed mandatory minimum sentences
- The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classified cannabis as a Schedule I drug, defined as having "no accepted medical use"
This designation persists today, despite mounting scientific evidence to the contrary.
Ironically, the federal government simultaneously funded research into cannabinoids, including the isolation of THC in 1964 and the later discovery of the endocannabinoid system in the 1990s.
6. The Medical Cannabis Revival (1990s–Present)
Everything changed in 1996, when California passed Proposition 215, legalizing medical cannabis for qualifying patients. This triggered a slow but relentless shift across the nation.
Over the next decades:
- States passed medical marijuana programs
- Patients with cancer, AIDS, epilepsy, chronic pain, and PTSD benefited
- Doctors rediscovered cannabis’ therapeutic potential
- Research expanded internationally
Today, medical cannabis is legal in most U.S. states, though it remains illegal at the federal level; a contradiction that continues to complicate research, banking, and regulation.
7. The Full Circle Moment
Cannabis has now returned to the very role it once held in states that have set up programs:
- A plant-based medicine
- Prescribed for symptom management
- Studied for its therapeutic properties
This isn’t the birth of a new medical trend: we are witnessing the restoration of an old one!
The irony is profound: many of the conditions cannabis treats today are the same conditions it was prescribed for in 1890.
Timeline: Cannabis in American Medicine
- 1840s – Cannabis introduced into Western medicine
- 1850 – Added to U.S. Pharmacopeia
- 1850–1900 – Widely prescribed and sold in pharmacies
- 1937 – Marihuana Tax Act restricts use
- 1942 – Removed from Pharmacopeia
- 1970 – Classified as Schedule I substance
- 1996 – Medical legalization begins again in California
- 2000s–Present – Nationwide medical reacceptance and talks of rescheduling.
Medicine Lost to Politics; Rediscovered
Cannabis did not vanish from American medicine because it failed patients.
It was removed because it became entangled in:
- Political agendas
- Racial stigma
- Economic competition
- Moral panic
Now, nearly a century later, science is rediscovering what 19th-century doctors already knew: cannabis has real therapeutic value.
The question is no longer whether cannabis belongs in medicine; history already answered that. The only question is how long modern policy will continue to ignore its own past. Will we stop the madness and let the people have this medicine that has been used by so many people for so many ailments for so many centuries? Rescheduling is the key, but will Congress ever get it done? Time will tell! In the meantime, we hope to see a rescheduling or a complete removal from the CSA and a return to wellness in the U.S.
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