When you think about great moments in weed history, Queen Victoria and Nancy Reagan probably don’t pop in your head. However, they should. These influential women significantly impacted the cannabis laws we have today. However, they never publicly endorsed marijuana use, although there are reputable accounts that they, too, enjoyed marijuana.
When diplomatic users downplay their use of cannabis, it kind of makes you wonder – why did they need to hide?
North American Leaders
Most American Gen X’ers remember the “Just Say No” campaign of the 1980s. It was one of the not-so great moments in weed history for most people. The campaign taught American youth that marijuana was a gateway drug to other dangerous drugs. The Obama administration’s attorney general later disputed this ‘fact.’ She insisted cannabis wasn’t a gateway drug.
Nancy Reagan’s campaign was a school-based attempt to fight America’s War on Drugs. At the same time, her husband, President Ronald Reagan,may have been funding that war by encouraging a crack epidemic in inner-city America. Interestingly, the two reportedly smoked weed in the 60s.
Good thing marijuana is not a gateway drug.
Learn more about Nancy and other North American leaders with ties to cannabis:
European Leaders
Europe has a long history with cannabis, especially hemp. England’s love of hemp may be the reason for colonizing Australia, and early American colonists were also encouraged to grow it. However, Queen Victoria changed the idea of cannabis as a textile to cannabis as medicine when she began taking it to calm her painful periods.
Perhaps cotton’s new role as the preferred textile made it easier for scientists to consider cannabis for other purposes. Or maybe the industrial revolution simply supported this type of scientific exploration. What we do know is: this woman’s pain led to one of the earliest great moments in weed history.
Regardless of what got us here, if the Queen of England took marijuana tinctures, it’s probably not that bad.
What other European leaders used marijuana? Click and find out:
Marijuana on a Global Scale
Between the 1960s and late 1980s, the world, led by the United Nations, attacked marijuana. They called cannabis a Schedule 1 drug, and many countries agreed.
Times have changed. Now, many of those original member countries legalized marijuana for either recreational or medical use. These countries include Canada, Georgia, South Africa, and Uruguay. Parts of the United States and Australia have also legalized marijuana. At the same time, large sections of South America and Europe permit medical use.
England, despite its long cannabis history, still has not legalized any use of marijuana. There are obviously more steps to take, but we are truly living in a time that’s full of great moments in weed history.