What was the attitude towards smoking weed in the 60's?

In the 60's it felt like weed just exploded into popularity and became a defining part of the decade. But from what I've read, it seems that for most people it was still seen as a 'hard' drug along with heroin and cocaine. However, weed was everywhere. The Beatles were smoking it in the 60's along with plenty of other bands, it was referenced in films and tv shows and it even became a bit of a fad for middle class housewives. <br><br>My question is then why did it have such a bad image if it was becoming so popular?