With the recent U.S. election allowing recreational marijuana in 4 more states, what is the history of the legality of it. I know the U.S. made it illegal in the early 20th century.
Edit: Also, how common was it historically?
The earliest national banning I could find was in Canada's Opium and Drug Act in1923, although there's evidence that close to 30 U.S. states had laws regarding marijuana by the turn of the century. The 1925 International Opium Convention banned importation of marijuana to countries where it was forbidden. Marijuana was outlawed federally in the U.S. in 1937, but it wasn't a popular drug at the time and was only smoked (somewhat) commonly amongst lower class citizens and occasionally Bohemians. It seems that cannibas prohibition in the Western World all developed around the same time, but I have heard that marijuana was more or less still legal (in most places) during WWI.