Well a mod could tell you better than I could. I imagine it was Ron's project and del.... came in to help him. Sorry if I'm wrong del.

I first came to Cannabis.com in 1998. Back then it was optional to register, and the registered people had red names, unregistered had black. The main problem with this style was that unregistered people were trying to pose as eachother because all you had to do is type in a name and thats who you were.. the names werent already 'taken'

Then they forced people to register sometime in '99 or '00 (it was a good idea). Then in 2001, Cannabis.com boards switched its domain and title to Marihemp.com. At this point, a new Cannabis.com server was made with a newer Board layout (this one we're using). So basically, this is not the original Cann.com message board. Marihemp.com boards are still in the old format and still contain archives from all the way back to '99 I believe.

Thats what I know about it.
-Icey-