I am the President/Chair of the non-profit organization, 420 Archive. We are working with communities to collect the oral histories and documentation surrounding U.S. cannabis/marijuana history and culture. 

After conducting a two-year, comprehensive needs-assessment, it was clear that U.S. marijuana history was on the edge of being lost. At the time we did needs-assessment no academically-driven, archive-quality oral histories and documentation on marijuana farming, production or activist’s attempts to repeal laws has been collected. 

The likely reason for this appears to be that marijuana is listed by the Federal government as a Schedule One controlled substance, universities and historical societies who depend on federal and state monies for their funding are unwilling to be on the ‘front-line’ and the taboo nature of cannabis leads historical societies to avoid collecting cannabis history all together. Interestingly this is almost exactly the environment the LGBT community found themselves in forty years ago. 

With the one exception of the DEA Museum in Washington D.C., there has been little-to-no dedicated collection of in-depth records of the history of U.S. cannabis culture, farming, and prohibition. Marijuana/cannabis has been a taboo topic at historical organizations with nearly all ignoring/refusing to collect/curate the history of cannabis in their communities, even if cannabis makes up a significant portion of the local economy.  

However, there are changes. In California, the Oakland Museum of California's exhibit "Altered States" was one of the first major exhibits on Cannabis history in the U.S., the University of Massachusetts accepted the business records of the 'National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws' (NORML), and the first marijuana sold for recreational purposes in Seattle was donated to the Seattle's Museum of History and Industry. Additionally, there are multiple cannabis dispensaries opening up 'displays' on cannabis history. 

I am curious if the legalization of adult recreation use in several states has changed history organizations viewpoints on collecting cannabis history within their communities.  And if so what is being done?

Thank you for your time and responses. 

Feel free to contact me at [log in to unmask]

_Joe Hoover
http://www.420archive.org

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