Perhaps the best way to understand early-Twenty-First Century state and federal cannabis law in the United States is to examine the relevant history. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s statement is apropos: "[A] page of history is worth a volume of logic." This article begins by discussing the early history of cannabis and its uses. Next, the article examines the first state and federal marijuana laws. After a brief comparison of alcohol prohibition to cannabis prohibition, this article addresses cannabis laws from the 1920s to the early 1950s. Then, the article takes up the reorganization of the federal drug regulatory bureaucracy since its inception. Addressing the current era of cannabis laws and regulations, this article recounts how marijuana became a Schedule I drug. The discussion then turns to changing social attitudes towards cannabis as reflected in presidential politics and popular culture. Starting with the late-1990s, this article describes the development of state and federal cannabis laws and policies up to the present day.
也许了解美国 21 世纪早期的州和联邦大麻法律的最好方法是研究相关的历史。小奥利弗·温德尔·霍姆斯（Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.）法官的话很恰当：“一页历史抵得上一卷逻辑。”本文首先讨论大麻的早期历史及其用途。接下来，文章考察了第一个州和联邦大麻法。在简要比较了酒精禁令和大麻禁令之后，本文探讨了从 20 世纪 20 年代到 50 年代早期的大麻法。然后，文章介绍了自成立以来联邦毒品监管机构的重组。本文讨论了当前的大麻法律法规时代，讲述了大麻如何成为附表 I 药物。讨论随后转向了反映在总统政治和流行文化中的人们对大麻态度的变化。本文从 20 世纪 90 年代末开始，描述了州和联邦大麻法律和政策的发展，直到今天。
