Cannabis, a plant with deep-rooted history, global influence, and controversy, has been used by humans for millennia, dating back to ancient societies in Asia around 5000 BC. Cultivated for a variety of purposes, including medicinal, recreational, and religious use, cannabis also served as a raw material for producing fabric, rope, and paper.

It wasn’t until the 16th century that cannabis was introduced to North America by Spanish explorers. Initially used as a source of fiber for industrial purposes, it took another two centuries for it to be recognized as a medicinal plant in the U.S. However, this period also saw the rise of negative sentiment against cannabis.

The 20th century marked the dark beginnings of cannabis prohibition in the USA. This was largely spearheaded by Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Anslinger along with his friend, William Hearst, waged an aggressive campaign against cannabis in the 1930s, effectively starting the ‘War on Drugs,’ which was racially biased and targeted minority groups intentionally.

President Richard Nixon further escalated the war on drugs in the 1970s by enacting the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). This legislation categorized cannabis as a Schedule I drug, the most restrictive classification, with supposedly no medical benefit, a high chance of addiction, and effectively removing the opportunity for the scientific community to even run tests and trials to prove otherwise. The racist undertones were clear. The rules, enacted under the guise of public safety, disproportionately targeted and affected people of color.

Despite these prohibitions, the medicinal benefits of cannabis couldn’t be overlooked. The first significant shift in cannabis legislation occurred in 1996 when California passed Proposition 215, legalizing the medical use of marijuana. This marked a new era of cannabis acceptance, paving the way for other states to follow suit.

Fast forward to 2012, Colorado and Washington made history by becoming the first states to legalize recreational marijuana use. This was a significant victory for cannabis advocates, signaling a broader societal and political shift towards the acceptance of cannabis.

In 2018, a milestone federal legislation called the Farm Bill was signed into law. This bill legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp, a variety of Cannabis sativa L. with less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC by dry weight. The bill also legitimized the production and sale of products derived from hemp, including CBD and THC (read this amazing letter from the Office of General Council to USDA, explaining that “you guys realize that THC is now legal, right?”)

Due to a booming crop with no outlets (thanks to the FDA), some smart folks figured out that you can convert CBD isolate into Delta-8 THC, a milder THC than the plant’s native Delta-9 (it should be noted that there are some examples of the plant creating Delta-8-THCA on it’s own, so these cannabinoids can exist in the plant, albeit in much smaller quantities).

Somewhere around summer of 2020, D8 was largely popularized by 3 Chi, a hemp company that was the first group to produce, market, and sell Delta-8 products to consumers. Today, 3 Chi still stands as one of the industry’s largest players, and their catalog extends far beyond D8, including other novel formulations and cannabinoids. 

Delta-8, as an unregulated compound, didn’t have any milligram or potency caps on it, allowing innovators to develop edibles, vape carts, dabs, and infused flower, mimicking the marijuana market’s best selling product categories.

About 6 months later in December of 2020, Trojan Horse Cannabis took another leap forward for adults who wanted legal access to cannabis by being the first to recognize, manufacture, and sell naturally extracted Delta-9 products. While the industry adopted Delta-9 much slower than Delta-8, D9 is now a standard offering in the hemp space, making access to traditional THC, legally, easier than ever before in American history.

Delta-9, on the other hand, is required to stay under 0.3% by dry weight, and as such, only works in edibles, leaving the inhalation market to Delta-8 (and later, HHC, THCO, etc).

Enter THCA Flower. THCA, the precursor to THC is not actually regulated by the DEA. In fact, by definition, the amount of THCA is irrelevant for the CSA and really only comes into play when the crop is tested by a USDA program representative for compliance testing prior to harvest. Innovative farmers and genetics experts scrambled to figure out how to comply with the 0.3% Total THC rule imposed by the USDA at 30 days prior to harvest, while still reaching higher THCA numbers (15%+) by the time the crop was cut down. (Read more about THCA and legality from Attorney Rod Kight here).

Meanwhile, while hemp pushes cannabis innovation and adoption forward, more and more states are embracing regulated marijuana programs, furthering consumer access to cannabis and putting additional pressure at a federal level to decriminalize cannabis once and for all. 

Today, the legal status of cannabis remains complicated, with differing regulations across states and at the federal level. While marijuana is legal for medical or recreational use in various states, it’s still classified as a Schedule I drug federally, while hemp can be shipped through the mail and is not a Schedule I drug.

In this ever-evolving landscape, it’s important to acknowledge the ongoing efforts of marijuana lobbyists. Many are pushing for broader cannabis legalization, while others, ironically, are attempting to reinstate cannabis prohibitions, seeing potential threats to their interests from new forms of THC from hemp. (Who would have thought that the cannabis industry would need to protect itself from… the cannabis industry…).

Those in marijuana that advocate for hemp prohibition are typically larger corporate entities that have a vested interest in cornering the market and choking out competition, while several small to medium marijuana brands are actually leveraging the hemp market as a pathway to bring cannabis to the people, just as activists of pre-prohibition would have wanted them to do.

The history of cannabis is a story of societal shifts, changing attitudes, and the constant battle for access, and as we look to the future, it’s clear that the dialogue around cannabis, its accessibility, and its potential will continue to evolve and inspire new legislation, and hopefully, we will end up in a place where small businesses can operate, consumers have easy access to safe products, and the stigma around cannabis will finally be crushed under foot, once and for all.