Bill Clinton experiments with marijuana during this period while in England, but doesn’t manage to actually inhale, thus preserving himself for a future stint as two-term occupant of the White House. (Stan Honda / AFP / Getty Images)
California voters pass Proposition 215, making the Golden State the first state to allow the medical use of marijuana. By mid-2009, a dozen other states have passed similar measures. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
The pot comedy “Pineapple Express” opens; America gets a pot dealer who looks like James Franco. The movie goes on to make a smokin’ $101.6 million at box offices worldwide. (Darren Michaels / Associated Press)
Michael Phelps, the most decorated gold medalist in Olympic history, shatters the stoner-slacker stereotype by being photographed smoking out of a water pipe at a party in South Carolina. (Tom Strickland / Associated Press)
