lokischild

Reefer Madness:
Should Marijuana Be Legal?


"To the agriculturist, cannabis is a fiber crop; to the physician, it is an enigma; to the user, a euphoriant; to the police, a menace; to the trafficker, a source of profitable danger; to the convict or parolee and his family, a source of sorrow"
-Mikuriya

Cannabis is one of the most versatile plants around; it can be used for hemp fibers, for its oil, as food, as a narcotic, and as a medicine. Indeed, it has been one of the most useful plants to man for thousands of years. One of the earliest uses of this plant was for the hempen fibers in 4,000 B.C. in China. Cannabis is thought to have originated in Asia, and then spread to the Middle Eastern region of Europe, and from there to Africa, Europe and finally to North and South America. Some of its earliest uses were in China for its hallucinogenic properties. The Greeks and Romans knew about the effects of marijuana and drank it with wine and offered it to guests. There are many records that Cannabis was used for its medicinal effects in China, India, Northern Europe, Central Asia, and even France, after Napoleon brought Cannabis back from Egypt. Hemp has been used for malaria, constipation, rheumatic pains, absent mindedness, female disorders, and as an analgesic. It was used to lower fevers, induce sleep and cure dysentery. It had huge use for the hemp fiber, especially in England, where it was used in nearly every aspect of sailing, from the ropes, to the sails, to the clothing on the sailors backs. It was brought to North America by the English, where it quickly became a staple crop, providing rope, cloth, and medicine. (Hofmann) And yet a plant this amazing, this versatile and useful is illegal. We cant make use of its wide and varied applications. Surely this must be an error, much like the costly mistake of Prohibition. Like an error, it should be fixed. Marijuana should not be illegal, not when it has so many uses that are still applicable today; especially when there was no real reason to make it illegal in the first place. The War on Drugs is a failure and a drain on an already empty economy. Legalizing Marijuana could cause a complete change on our economy, bringing us out of a recession, and putting money where it is needed.
As Americans, weve come to expect that new laws are for our benefit and have been ratified in an honorable and truthful manner. But this isnt always true and one of the best examples is the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. It is this act that essentially made marijuana illegal. Instead, an astounding amount of racism and yellow journalism is responsible for pushing through an unnecessary and incorrect law. In 1934, a newspaper claimed Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice." (Quoted by Guither) Despite what is commonly believed, the first law dealing with marijuana had nothing to do with its effects, or the crime it supposedly caused. The first law came about by the Mormon Church. The Church elders in Utah didnt approve of members smoking marijuana, and ruled against it in their doctrine. Since Utah automatically ratified church doctrine as law, marijuana was made illegal to smoke in 1915. (Guither) Other states quickly followed Utahs example, but for other reasons. The majority o f marijuana laws that came into effect were aimed directly at Mexican and African Americans. One legislator even when so far to say that When some beet field peon takes a few traces of this stuff... he thinks he has just been elected president of Mexico, so he starts out to execute all his political enemies." (Quoted in Guither) By the 1930s marijuana, violence, and minority races were being linked in the public eye. In 1930, the first drug czar was appointed: Harry J. Anslinger. Anslinger proceeded to ensure his tenure at such a high position by attacking marijuana. Some of his more famous quotes regarding marijuana include such statements as:
"Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."
"Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing"
"You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother."
"...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races." (Anslinger quoted by Guither)
Anslinger recruited the help of William Randolph Hearst, an owner of many newspapers who was not above racism and sensationalist news. These two men were supported by Dupont Chemical, who had just developed nylon and didnt want competition with hemp, and pharmaceutical companies, who were opposed to marijuana because people could grow their own medication at home, and wouldnt have to buy it from the companies. At the hearings in 1937 that would result in the Marijuana Tax Act, the doctor from the AMA, Dr. William C. Woodward, reproached Anslinger and the Bureau of Narcotics for distorting AMA statements and for very unprofessionally using the term marijuana instead of cannabis/hemp; the latter being the commonly known and accepted term. The doctor further stated that the AMA was against the legislation as there was no evidence to support the claims of Anslinger. Later, on the house floor, the entire discussion on the act was a question as to what it was about, and a question of whether the AMA supported the bill, which was answered, Their Doctor Wentworth[sic] came down here. They support this bill 100 percent." So, with a lie, marijuana became illegal on August 2nd, 1937. (Guither)
Imagine, if you will, a thirty-seven year old woman. She has three children, a single mother who worked at a medical lab making vaccines. She was an upstanding citizen, volunteering with her children at an animal shelter on the weekends, a good mother with nothing but love for her family. She is in prison for eight months, and will not have a job when she is released. Nor will she be eligible for unemployment while trying to find a new job with a felony on her record. Her crime? Smoking marijuana. She tested positive on a random drug test and was summarily fired, with charges pressed against her. And as a first time, non-violent offender, she was sentenced to eight months in prison. She is another victim of a failed war that has been raging for thirty-three years. President Nixon started the War on Drugs in 1972 in an effort to fight the drug trade at the street level. That was the only time in history that the war on drugs was focused on rehabilitation rather than punishment. The war on drugs that we have now is focused on imprisoning those who use marijuana, a drug less harmful than alcohol and cigarettes. In fact, there are almost half a million people in jail for drug charges alone. Thats more than all off Western Europe imprisons for all of their offenses. A full quarter of those people are in prison for marijuana related charges. (Whats Wrong with the War on Drugs) These are nonviolent offenders, many in prison on first time charges. All of those people imprisoned, paid for by tax dollars. And thats not all that we pay for; the federal government spends 15.7 billion dollars on the war on drugs and another 16 billion dollars enforcing drug laws every year. (Armantano) Despite all of the money spent, all the people imprisoned, and all the lives ruined, there is no evidence that the war on marijuana has had any effect. In fact, for the past ten years, use of marijuana has been steadily increasing, from a calculated 9.8 million people in 1995, to 12.1 million people in 2000. (Rhodes) And still there are millions more victims to this war.
Let us look in on a medical patient. Pale and wan, even against the white sheets, he lies asleep on the hospice bed. If he were awake he would tell you that hes not supposed to be bald. All the men in his family keep their hair. He worked for an insulation company for 25 years and now has lung cancer. He is going through the first of three rounds of chemotherapy. He has an allergy to the nausea medication and has built up a tolerance to the pain medication. This is another victim to the war on drugs: an ill man who is in pain and may be dying. Medical Marijuana could help this man, but it is illegal at the federal level because of myths and propaganda. There are several myths put forth about Marijuana that are not only false, but sometimes outright ridiculous. Some of the propaganda claims that Marijuana may cause lung disease, impair the immune system, harm the reproductive system, and causes medical emergencies. (Morgan) We know that most of these claims are wrong, and based on erroneous experiments. In the case of lung disease, marijuana was compared to tobacco for smoking, and it was found that they contained similar chemicals. But marijuana smokers just dont inhale enough tar and smoke to cause tumors. So while smoking may cause a chronic cough and increased phlegm production, there is no evidence that shows increased pulmonary disease. (Morgan) Recently it was also discovered that there is significant evidence that marijuana actually shrinks tumors caused by lung and breast cancer and virus induced leukemia. There was also a study in Madrid where incurable brain tumors in rats were destroyed when injected with THC. (Cushing) So smoking marijuana may actually help cancer patients get better. The claim that smoking marijuana harms the reproductive system is based on an experiment from 1974. Since then, other laboratories have been unable to duplicate the findings from 1974. (Morgan) Many people, when speaking out against marijuana say that there is no good reason to use it. In fact, there is significant evidence that marijuana would be excellent for use treating many different ailments: nausea, intraocular pressure from glaucoma, pain, anxiety, muscle spasms, and also helps HIV and AIDS patients keep weight on. (Morgan)
Aside from the potential medical benefits of marijuana, there are multiple opportunities for the United States economy. Currently we are in a state of debt that hasnt been seen since the depression. The internal debt of the government is currently $646.5 billion, and the external debt is $1.4 trillion. (CIA) And yet over $30 billion a year is spent on a failed war on drugs. (Armantano) This doesnt make sense; especially when proper use of legalization, regulation and excise taxes could bring in anywhere from 2.2 billion to 6.4 billion dollars a year. State taxes could bring in up to 1.3 billion dollars a year. It would also be possible for legalization to provide upwards of 100,000 jobs. Not to mention the billions of dollars spent every year on drug law enforcement, incarceration, war on drug propaganda, and other programs associated with marijuana prohibition. (Gieringer) An article in the American Journal of Economics and Sociology stated that an excise tax could be designed to balance government revenues with efforts to control consumption and that this type of tax is straightforward in design, easy to measure, and therefore relatively inexpensive to collect. (Caputo) With the jobs that legalization and regulation would provide, along with the revenue, this would be the jump start that our economy needs. The Netherlands is an excellent example to some of the benefits. Currently they have decriminalization up to thirty grams of marijuana or hashish, and have no problems with widespread marijuana abuse. In fact they have thriving coffee houses whose business is selling marijuana and hashish. (Gieringer) The small farmers would also benefit, as marijuana is relatively easy and cheap to grow and care for. Even without legalization, marijuana is still the highest grossing crop in Connecticut, Alabama, California, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Rhode Island. It is also in the top ten lists of the highest grossing crops in nearly every state. (Armantano) With these kinds of funds available, the national debt could be raised from a deficit, and also provide money to many lacking areas, such as education, social security, medical care, and several social services. Not to mention the number of people who would no longer be incarcerated, and be available as a functional job force.
Weve seen the long history that marijuana has as a highly beneficial, versatile and useful plant. It is one of the healthiest intoxicants on the market, and yet our government decided to make it illegal, mostly because of racism, sensationalism, and the fear of corporations. Weve discussed the toll that the war on drugs is having on the American people, all the money wasted, the people incarcerated needlessly, the families torn apart, and the lives ruined. The medical propaganda has been addressed, with proof that marijuana can actually be good for you, and is certainly less harmful than tobacco and alcohol. The economic benefits have especially been introduced, with a model in the Netherlands being presented. And this evidence is only a small portion of what is available, open source, not only to the government, but to every single citizen. There have been countless medical studies, hundreds of economic abstracts presenting the benefits of legalization and regulation, thousands of reports of the failure of the drug war. And still our representatives stubbornly refuse to listen to reason, and instead keep marijuana illegal, and try to demonize it on a daily basis with propaganda that has already been proven wrong. If America is truly the greatest nation in the world, then they should see this opportunity and take it. Make marijuana legal.