Ask anyone what the most popular drug of the 21st century is, and they will tell you it is marijuana. And why is this? Well, on the one hand, marijuana is a very accessible drug. Whether it's a high school, a town, a college campus or a gas station, marijuana can be found there. And although it is quite easy to find, purchasing it is not financially difficult either. Different ranges of amounts can be obtained inexpensively depending on who is handling it. And unlike many other drugs, marijuana is not addictive. Available, cheap and with no strings attached, these words seem to describe a new product that people can buy at the store, not an illegal drug. But marijuana has been illegal in the United States since 1937, when Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act. Since then, those who sell, grow, purchase and possess marijuana have been arrested, fined and some even incarcerated. The highest prison sentence for a marijuana crime is forty years, and fines have climbed into the millions of dollars. But why are the penalties associated with this drug so severe? Is Marijuana Really That Dangerous for US Citizens? And how did it get there? Well, if we study it, we can see that marijuana is a great remedy for all kinds of medical problems and it was illegal due to bigotry against Mexican immigrants in the early 1900s. From ancient times to 'Today, marijuana has been used for medicinal purposes. a variety of medical purposes. Mechoulam writes that one of the earliest accounts of marijuana being used as a remedy dates back to ancient Egypt. The Egyptians have been shown to use marijuana to reduce the excruciating pain of mothers in labor. Traces of cannabis were found in the grave of a young Roman... middle of paper ...... Marijuana - Survey results. " The New England journal of medicine 368.22 (2013): e30. ProQuest. Web. December 2013Kuddus, Mohammed, Ibrahim AM Ginawi and Awdah Al-Hazimi “Cannabis sativa: an ancient wild edible plant from India. Emirates Journal of Food & Agriculture 25.10 (2013): 736-745. “Marijuana Timeline.” Public Broadcasting Service, nd Web, December 2013. McIlwaine, HR, and John P. Kennedy. Virginia.” The Forum Library Fund, Inc., nd Web. “A Cannabis Tale.” ProCon.org. August 13, 2013. Web. December 9, 2013. Stack, Patrick and Claire Suddath. “A Brief History of Medical Marijuana.” » Time Health and Family. Time, Inc., October 21, 2009. Web.. 2013.