The paradigm shift I am considering is the shift in public opinion towards marijuana in the United States over the past century. The stigma towards marijuana use began in the United States after the Mexican Revolution in the early 1900s. After the Mexican Revolution, Mexicans began immigrating to places like Texas and Louisiana and became Americans. Though they were now Americans they brought with them their cultural traditions, one of which was the smoking of “marihuana” for medicinal purposes and stress relief. The demonization of marijuana stemmed from the demonization of Mexican immigrants. The government used it as a tool to search and deport Mexicans.

Now in America the feelings towards marijuana have shifted greatly. Americans now see the medicinal benefits of the plant and studies have shown that marijuana leaves very little impact upon our bodies compared to what previous theories had thought.

There are two major ways to track the shift in public opinion. The first is by the polling done over the years regarding how Americans felt. The second is by the shifting laws. Though federal law has deemed it illegal, some state governments have legalized it for medicinal use and some even for recreational use.

The major resistance comes from the large pharmaceutical companies that are aware of how it will kill their industries. If marijuana were to become legal, many prescription drugs would be deemed unnecessary and replaced with the herbal alternative.

Many of the original myths regarding its health effects have recently been debunked as more scientific studies have been done. It was originally difficult to do tests on the herb due to its Schedule 1 classification but over the decades rules became less strict as people became more interested in studying it.

I plan on giving the historical background of the plant’s demonization then charting the shift in attitude within the country.