when was pot made illegal in the us
Legal history of cannabis in the United States Cannabis was officially outlawed for any use (medical included) with the passage of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970. Multiple efforts to reschedule cannabis under the CSA have failed, and the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative and Gonzales v. Raich that the federal government has a right to regulate and criminalize cannabis, even for medical purposes. Despite this, states and other jurisdictions have continued to implement policies that conflict with federal law, beginning with the passage of California's Proposition 215 in 1996. By 2016 a majority of states had legalized medical cannabis,[3] and in 2012 the first states legalized recreational use.