Marijuana use in the United States originated back to the 18th century, however, it's prevalence is dependent on the region and reason for use (i.e. for medicinal, recreational, or religious purposes).

Most history is subjective, but a majority of historians can agree that the criminalization of drugs particularly in the United States was driven by categorizing drugs as products of foreign immigrants as its most frequent users. Unsurprisingly, the stigma behind its detriment as an engine of criminal behavior was mainly based on the belief that people of Middle Eastern and Chinese origin were its most frequent users. Interestingly, this was based off little evidence, and its recreational use was largely found in hashish dens in major cities on the East and West coast, though this was largely done in secrecy.

But there were essentially two main factors that affected its decline: racial categorizing, and federal taxation. Jazz musicians (largely an African-American genre of the 20's to the post WWII period) were grouped as marijuana's most staunch advocates, which deferred a lot of white Americans from using it, recreationally at least. The 1937 Marijuana Tax Act also made the herb astronomically more expensive. An Ounce cost $100 for purchase by physicians and botanists, which was nearly unattainable considering a pound cost $20 at the time. Further policies such as the 1952 Bogg's Act which permitted the death penalty for soliciting to a minor, and the 1956 Narcotics Control Act which offered less harsh, but still horrific sentencing such as a minimum of 40 years and $20,000 fines. Approaching its official declaration of criminalization in 1970, many Americans either could not afford to purchase it, were not willing to risk the possibility of a minor obtaining it, or were deferred from its stigma linked to drugs or the hippie movement of the 1960's.

So, in short, recreational Marijuana never had that prevalent of a role in the lives of Americans throughout most of the 20th century, certainly not to the extent that it is seen today. This is an extremely brief summary but here are some sources if you're still interested:

Marijuana Politics: Uncovering the Troublesome History and Social Costs of Criminalization, Robert M. Hardaway

Gabriela Recio, “Drugs and Alcohol: US Prohibition and the Origins of the Drug Trade in Mexico, 1910-1930,” Journal of Latin American Studies 34, no. 1 (Feb., 2002): 21-42.

Assassin of Youth: A Kaleidoscopic History of Harry J. Anslinger’s War on Drugs, Alexandra Chasin

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