# history of pot **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-pot/95588 "2001-11-27T21:19:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BuddhaDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@BuddhaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuddhaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-pot/95588/1 "2001-11-27T21:19:08Z")
How long have earthlings been smoking marijuana? Who were the first people to smoke it? Did they smoke weed during the middle ages etc? ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-pot/95588/2 "2001-11-27T21:32:06Z")
Was the push to criminalize it really spearheaded by the tobacco industries? [Munch] It’s all a big conspiricy by RJ Reynolds. [/Munch] ---
**Author:** ![johnboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@johnboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnboy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-pot/95588/3 "2001-11-27T21:50:26Z")
Cleopatra is reported to have used tincture of cannabis to cure some of her ills. I don’t know if it was used topically or (drunken) internally. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-pot/95588/4 "2001-11-27T21:52:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spritle \* > \*\*Was the push to criminalize it really spearheaded by the tobacco industries? \*\* I’ve heard that it was pushed by the newly-legal alcohol concerns attempting to win back their pre-Prohibition market share of the mood-altering substances market. –Cliffy [fixed coding] [Edited by bibliophage on 11-27-2001 at 10:19 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-pot/95588/5 "2001-11-27T21:54:26Z")
Marijuana use seems to have been first recorded by[the Chinese](http://www.marijuanaaddiction.com/marijuana.html). ---
**Author:** ![BuddhaDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@BuddhaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuddhaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-pot/95588/6 "2001-11-27T22:13:14Z")
thanks **Nost** The timeline from your link was exactly what I had been looking for ---
**Author:** ![BuddhaDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@BuddhaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuddhaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-pot/95588/7 "2001-11-27T22:17:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cliffy \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Spritle \* > > \*\*Was the push to criminalize it really spearheaded by the tobacco industries? > > I’ve heard that it was pushed by the newly-legal alcohol concerns attempting to win back their pre-Prohibition market share of the mood-altering substances market. > > –Cliffy \*\*\*\* FWIW IIRC it was DuPont who pushed for legislation to criminilize this so that they could create a market for a product they could manufacture similar to hemp. YMMV [fixed coding] [Edited by bibliophage on 11-27-2001 at 10:19 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-pot/95588/8 "2001-11-27T22:22:51Z")
And for **Spritle** ’s enquiry, try [here](http://books.guardian.co.uk/lrb/articles/0,6109,387911,00.html) about one third of the way down. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-pot/95588/9 "2001-11-27T23:28:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BuddhaDog \* > \*\* FWIW IIRC it was DuPont who pushed for legislation to criminilize this so that they could create a market for a product they could manufacture similar to hemp. YMMV \*\* [Ugh.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_131.html) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-pot/95588/10 "2001-11-27T23:36:45Z")
Books? how about a book? ``` * Larry Sloman - The History of Marijuana in America. Reefer Madness -- Price: $35.00 ``` [amazon.com](http://amazon.com) ---
**Author:** ![Nukeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Nukeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nukeman)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-pot/95588/11 "2001-11-27T23:46:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spritle \* > \*\*Was the push to criminalize it really spearheaded by the tobacco industries? > > [Munch] It’s all a big conspiricy by RJ Reynolds. [/Munch] \*\* You know what would be great? A smilie for the munchies. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-of-pot/95588/12 "2001-11-28T00:21:37Z")
To quote a letter to _The Economist_ (August 25th – 31st) by Clifford Schaffer, an occasional poster here, and director of the [DRCNet Online Library of Drug Policy](http://www.druglibrary.org): > [@](#): > > There is another explanation [aside from pressure from DuPont] rise of the marijuana laws. Marijuana was originally outlawed in 1915 in south-western America because of racial prejudice against Mexican immigrants who smoked it. In the north-eastern states marijuana was outlawed largely because of fears that heroin addiction would lead to the use of marijuana (the opposite of what prohibitionists tell us today). The link is also a very comprehensive, if biased, source for material related to drug policy.