It has been used extensively for eons in various world cultures for medicinal, spiritual, or recreational purposes.
Societal biases are difficult to root out and change.
In spite of volumes of evidence suggesting marijuana's relative safety and effectiveness in treating a variety of medical conditions, establishment groups persist in perpetrating marijuana's undeserved and undocumented negative reputation. When an enlightened California citizenry voted to allow the prescription of medicinal marijuana, the authorities did everything they could to discourage putting the law into effect, sometimes with good reason, and sometimes out of the residual anti-marijuana bias and fear. Medicinal marijuana is a good thing. It often works better than established remedies and has fewer negative effects. It has added time and quality of life to the lives of people with AIDS, cancer, and those undergoing chemotherapy.