No, it's very much a lie. It is a deliberate lie of misdirection.
By the 1880s, oriental-style hashish parlors were flourishing alongside opium dens, to the point that one could be found in every major city on the east coast. It was estimated there were around 500 such establishments in New York City alone.
And you are proving my point for me. 1880 is a LONG way from 1776. It is also after the Civil war, which is as I said, what primed the pump for narcotic drug usage.
I am at a loss to respond to this further. You just blew your whole argument out of the water, and I suppose the best I can do is to simply point out that your own citation disproves your own claim. Stick a fork in you, you are done.
This wasn't: 'Medicinal preparations of cannabis became available in American pharmacies in the 1850s following an introduction to its use in Western medicine by William O'Shaughnessy a decade earlier in 1839.[4] [...] As early as 1853, recreational cannabis was listed as a "fashionable narcotic".[9]'
your own citation disproves your own claim.
Wrong - I said legal and you agreed.