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# A History of Cannabis' Legal Status in America
- URL: https://ivn.us/a-history-of-cannabis-legal-status-in-america/
- Published: 2012-11-05T12:30:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-22T19:35:00.000Z
- Author: Cassidy Noblejas Bartolomei
- Tags: News

On November 6, voters will decide the next chapter of hemp’s ever changing legal status in America. With marijuana-related measures on the ballot in six states, federal and state laws will come to a head should any of these initiatives pass.

From Jamestown colony’s law requiring settlers grow hemp in 1619, to the [ratification](http://www.theweedblog.com/creator-of-medical-marijuana-in-the-united-states-releases-new-book/?ref=ivn.us) of Proposition 215 by California voters in 1996, cannabis has had its name and legality changed numerous times since before the United States of America was a country.

Below is a brief legal history of cannabis in the USA. How would you vote if a measure to legalize marijuana was proposed on your state ballot next week?