Cultivated for medicinal and recreational purpose for thousands of years, marijuana became controversial in the United States in the early 1900s, when Americans began to associate its use with Mexican revolutionaries and black musicians.
Known by the scientific name “Cannibis sativa,” marijuana is one of the oldest psychoactive plants known to man.
Utah passed the first state marijuana ban in 1915; the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act sparked a nationwide crackdown.
There were 786,545 marijuana-related arrests in 2005, more than for all violent crimes combined.
About 43 percent of all drug-related arrests in 2005—about 800,000 individual cases—stem from marijuana violations.
At least 12 states now allow the use of medical marijuana.
Sources: FBI, Marijuana Policy Project
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