MARIJUANA LAW'S U.S. HISTORY

Since the earliest settlers, marijuana has long been a cash crop in
the United States. Many people, however, don't know how it became
illegal. This is a brief history of the infamous weed.

1619: The first American law pertaining to marijuana, passed by the
Virginia Assembly, required every farmer to grow it. Fibers from
hemp, which is much less potent than the smokable kind, were used to
make ship sails and rope.

1900-1930: Sailors and West Indian immigrants smoked marijuana in
port cities along the Gulf of Mexico. In New Orleans, newspaper
articles associated the drug with jazz musicians, prostitutes and the
underworld. Police officers in Texas said marijuana "aroused a lust
for blood" and gave its users "super human strength."

1931: Twenty-nine states had outlawed marijuana, generally with
little fanfare or debate.

1936, "REEFER MADNESS": This propaganda film, originally financed by
a church group and made under the title "Tell Your Children," is
about what happens when teens try marijuana: a hit-and-run accident,
manslaughter, suicide, rape and even a descent into madness. Soon
after the film was shot, however, exploitation filmmaker Dwain Esper
purchased the film, cut in several salacious shots and repackaged it
under its now famous title.

1937, FEDERAL GROWING BAN: The Marihuana Tax Act passed, prohibiting
Cannabis sativa -- the genus for the species of plant designated by
Carl Linnaeus in 1753 -- from being grown. The legislation did not
criminalize the use or possession of pot, but required anyone looking
to grow marijuana to seek a tax stamp from the government. Failing to
pay the tax resulted in fines up to $2,000 and five years in prison.
The bill sailed through Congress, and only three lines were written
on its passage in the New York Times.

BIRDSEED BROUHAHA: The one group to balk at the marijuana-growing ban
was birdseed makers. They used hemp seeds in their bird feed, and to
this day, because of an exemption, they are allowed to use sterilized seeds.

BEFORE 2000: Drug agents became better at spotting hidden crops from
helicopters and planes. They combed through national forests and
wetlands, known to be a fertile ground for illegal marijuana.
Wildfires scorched growers' lands and sent their crops up in smoke.
Poachers were such a problem that mild-mannered farmers placed punji
boards, planks with upward facing spikes, around their fields.
Criminal organizations installed armed guards.

POST-2001, TOUGH TO SMUGGLE: Smugglers found their jobs more
difficult after Sept. 11 when the government beefed up its border
patrol. Seizures mounted to more than 1 million kilograms. So,
growers packed up their plants and hauled them inside because it was
a good way to avoid detection, and produce, in controlled conditions,
a more profitable product.

2005: According to a White House survey, there were more than 25
million marijuana users in the United States.

- -- Compiled by Seth Robbins with News Researcher Karen Duffy contributing