Marijuana wasn't technically made illegal until the late 60's. In '36 it was legal. The Marijuana Tax Act was passed in '37. It wasn't actually criminalized by the act, it was more a de facto criminalization. The act said marijuana would be taxed. In order to legally possess marijuana you needed to pay a tax and have a stamp placed on your pot. However, possessing pot without the stamp was illegal, but to get the stamp you had to possess the marijuana and bring it in to get the stamp. So, you had to illegally possess marijuana in order to legally possess it. It was incredibly unconstitutional (but so are all drug laws even today). It was thrown out in the '60's and marijuana was briefly legalized again. That's when they offically made it criminal to possess marijuana.
"You can buy another drink. You can't buy another life."