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From a 2002 article entitled "Tolerance for legal pot higher" ... Chinese used pot in 5000 BC The plants known as cannabis sativa, indica and ruredalis have been know to humans for millennia. According to archeological evidence, cannabis is discovered between 6000 and 5000 BC in southern China. Marijuana is introduced to Canada in the early 17th century. Diaries by Louis Hebert, who was Samuel de Champlain's apothecary, show he grew cannabis for his medicinal preparations. In the 19th century, recreational use of drugs begins flourishing in North America. By 1907, the government of Canada decides to interdict the use of opiates. (It was also a handy way of controlling the influx of Chinese labourers who had flooded into the country to help build the national railway. In 1923, marijuana is added to the list of substances prohibited under the narcotics control act of the day. In the 1960s and '70s, the pendulum swings toward liberalization of laws. - Recently declassified cabinet documents show that Jean Chretien, who was justice minister in the early 1980s, favoured decriminalization. His views never translated into new laws. - In the 1990s, the government lifted the ban on cultivating hemp. In 1999, it announced medical marijuana users would be exempted from the law. - Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, who openly admits to having smoked pot in his youth, says he is preparing to de-criminalize possession in the new year.