The use of cannabis by humans dates back thousands of years.  According to the BBC, cannabis seeds were used as food in ancient China as early as 6000 B.C. Cannabis has been utilized roughly six thousand years before the birth of Jesus Christ and has continued throughout modern human history.  The prohibition of cannabis is a relatively recent development, starting federally in the United States with the 1937 Marijuana Transfer Tax Act, escalated by Richard Nixon’s War on Drugs and, unfortunately, continues to this day.

The medical use of cannabis has been gaining acceptance throughout the United States and throughout the world, despite the best attempts of governments and special interests that seek to perpetuate cannabis prohibition.  Voters and legislators have legalized the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes in 16 states and Washington, D.C., while medical cannabis is legal in several countries, including Canada and Israel.  Unknown to many U.S. citizens, the United States federal government actually grows cannabis and delivers several pounds a year to a few patients enrolled in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program.

Cannabis remains the world’s most widely used illegal substance.  Penalties range in countries and states from legal, such as Portugal; to decriminalized (no criminal penalties), such as California and Oregon in the United States; to extremely harsh penalties, such as those dished out in Saudi Arabia and Singapore.  Despite declaring a War on Drugs, a commission established by President Richard Nixon advised that the United States should end criminal penalties for cannabis use.  While the penalties for using cannabis for personal use varies across the globe, a few constants remain: cannabis is non-toxic, has not directly caused one death and is the least addictive drug used by humans.

History

• British Broadcasting Company’s Cannabis Timeline 
• Cannabis in Wikipedia
• History of Cannabis at Cannabis.net
• The Emperor Wears No Clothes by Jack Herer

Medical Uses

• History in Medicine by Patients Out of Time
• Medical Uses and Cannabis Science by Americans for Safe Access
• Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program in Wikipedia
• Medical Cannabis in the United States

Personal Use

• Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, commissioned by Richard Nixon
• 1995 Editorial from the Lancet, a British medical journal (provided by the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy)
• Gallup Poll showing that 50% of Americans now support legalizing cannabis for personal use

Science & Studies

• Why medical cannabis laws reduce fatalities on our nation’s highways in Time
• Study demonstrates that suicide rates decline in states with medical cannabis laws
• Large study finds no link of causation between cannabis and cancer in Scientific American
• Study finds that cannabis component has anti-cancer effects in Science Daily
• Study shows that an active component of cannabis shrinks cancerous tumors in Fox News
• Cannabis extract shrinks brain tumors in Medical News Today

Recent Cannabis News