<P> The decision of the United States Congress to pass the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was based on poorly attended hearings and reports based on questionable studies . In 1936 the Federal Bureau of Narcotics ( FBN ) noticed an increase of reports of people smoking marijuana , which further increased in 1937 . The Bureau drafted a legislative plan for Congress seeking a new law , and the head of the FBN , Harry J. Anslinger , ran a campaign against marijuana . Newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst 's empire of newspapers used the `` yellow journalism '' pioneered by Hearst to demonize the cannabis plant and spread a public perception that there were connections between cannabis and violent crime . Several scholars argue that the goal was to destroy the hemp industry , largely as an effort of Hearst , Andrew Mellon and the Du Pont family . They argue that with the invention of the decorticator hemp became a very cheap substitute for the wood pulp that was used in the newspaper industry . However , Hearst newspapers owed large debts to Canadian suppliers of paper , who used wood as raw material . If an alternative raw material for paper had emerged , it would have lowered the price of the paper needed to print Hearst 's many newspapers -- a positive thing for Hearst . Moreover , by the year 1916 there were at least five `` machine brakes '' for hemp and it is unlikely that in 1930s hemp became a new threat for newspapers owners . </P>
<P> The decision of the United States Congress to pass the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was based on poorly attended hearings and reports based on questionable studies . In 1936 the Federal Bureau of Narcotics ( FBN ) noticed an increase of reports of people smoking marijuana , which further increased in 1937 . The Bureau drafted a legislative plan for Congress seeking a new law , and the head of the FBN , Harry J. Anslinger , ran a campaign against marijuana . Newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst 's empire of newspapers used the `` yellow journalism '' pioneered by Hearst to demonize the cannabis plant and spread a public perception that there were connections between cannabis and violent crime . Several scholars argue that the goal was to destroy the hemp industry , largely as an effort of Hearst , Andrew Mellon and the Du Pont family . They argue that with the invention of the decorticator hemp became a very cheap substitute for the wood pulp that was used in the newspaper industry . However , Hearst newspapers owed large debts to Canadian suppliers of paper , who used wood as raw material . If an alternative raw material for paper had emerged , it would have lowered the price of the paper needed to print Hearst 's many newspapers -- a positive thing for Hearst . Moreover , by the year 1916 there were at least five `` machine brakes '' for hemp and it is unlikely that in 1930s hemp became a new threat for newspapers owners . </P>
when was hemp made illegal in the united states
when was hemp made illegal in the united states
1937
1937