Timeline
Many cultures and civilzations around the world have long grown agricultural hemp and/or used cannabis for medicinal or psychoactive purposes. What follows is a partial timeline of the modern history of cannabis/hemp/marijuana particularly in Wisconsin and the United States.
1753
Carl Linnaeus first identifies the genus "cannabis sativa L."
1785
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck identifies "cannabis indica" in 1785.
1906
United States Congress passes the Pure Food and Drugs Act, which prohibited the sale of misbranded or adulterated food and drugs in interstate commerce.
1911
Massachusetts is the first state to ban the non-medicinal use of cannabis.
1914
United States Congress passes the Harrison Narcotics Act, which implements federal comprehensive regulation of drugs. The Act focuses on cocaine and opium.
1918
Eli Lilly Company corresponds with Professor Edward Kremers, Director of the University of Wisconsin Department of Pharmacy, about obtaining samples of American cannabis.
1920s
Major pharmaceutical firms like Parke-Davis sell medicinal products that include cannabis.
1922
The federal government enacts the Narcotics Drug Import and Export Act, which prohibits the importation and use of opium and other narcotics except for medical purposes.
1923
Literary Digest reports that Wisconsin is the largest grower of agrilcultural hemp in the country.
1925
D. E. Janischevisky identifies “cannabis ruderalis” in 1925, an indigenous species of hemp found in regions of Russia.
1935
Wisconsin enacts the Uniform Narcotics Act, which criminalizes marijuana and takes effect on January 1, 1936.
1936
"Reefer Madness" Era associated people consuming marijuana with losing their minds, commiting violent acts, and engaging in promiscuous sexual activity.
1937
United States Congress enacts the Marihuana Tax Act, which taxes marijuana & hemp at high rates to dissuade growers.
1937
First arrest and conviction for marijuana in Wisconsin takes place in September when Herbert Campbell pleads guilty.
1938
First arrest for marijuana in Dane County takes place in October.
1940
Roger Adams extracts and identifies d9THC from cannabis.
1942
"Hemp for Victory" campaign encourages farmers to grow hemp to aid the war effort.
1946
Agricultural Marketing Act attempts to legalize hemp, but because of 1937 Marihuana Tax Act act, it has minimal impact.
1951
Boggs Act amends the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act and sets mandatory sentences for drug convictions.
1964
Raphel Mecholum draws the full chemical structure of d9THC for the first time.
1969
Assemblyman Lloyd Barbee from Milwaukee introduces Assembly Bill 1023 to repeal all criminal laws for possession and selling of marijuana in Wisconsin. The bill receives no votes besides Barbee's in the Assembly.
1970
The Nartional Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is founded.
1971
United States Congress passes the Controlled Substances Act, which criminalizes and schedules drugs at the federal level. Marijuana is plassed on schedule 1 for "drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse."
1971
President Nixon declares drug abuse "public enemy #1" and declares "an all-out offensive" against illegal drugs.
1971
Madison’s first annual Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival begins on September 25 at Brittingham Park.
1975
Wisconsin Controlled Substances Board issues the report, “Should Wisconsin Revise Its Marijuana Laws?,” and votes 4-2 to recommend decriminalization in Wisconsin. But the state legislature takes no action.
1976
U.S. v. Randall Supreme Court case first legalizes medical marijuana for select patients.
1977
Madison passes Ordinance 23.20, which decriminalizaties possession of small amounts of marijuana on private property in the city.
1978-82
Marijuana decriminalization bills sponsored by Madison-area state Assmeblyman David Clarenbach fail in three consescutive sessions.
1996
California is the first state to legalize medical marijuana.
2012
Colorado and Washington are the first two states to legalize cannbis for recreational use.
2013 and 2015
Assemblyperson Melissa Sargent introduces legislation to legalize cannabis. The bills fail to pass.
2015
United States Congress officially repeals the Marihuana Tax Act.
2017
Wisconsin enacts Act 100, which makes industrial hemp legal to grow with proper permitting.
2018
In the United States Congress, Amendment 2667 to the Farm Bill—the “Hemp Farming Act of 2018"—amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to remove hemp from the controlled substances list and to allow for a permitting process for the industrial cultivation of hemp.
The "Hemp Farming Act" also legalized the sale of CBD products throughout the country.
2018
Eau Claire city council approves resolution to reduce the fine for first-time possesion of cannabis (up to 25 grams) to $1 (plus court costs).
2021
Governor Tony Evers proposes legislation to legalize marijuana in Wisconsin, but the bill fails in the state legislature.
2021
Milwaukee County Supervisors vote to reduce the fine for possesion of cannabis (up to 25 grams) to $1 (plus court costs).