Marijuana BanishedEssay Preview: Marijuana BanishedReport this essayMarijuana BanishedWhy?Marijuana is illegal. Illegal to possess, purchase, distribute or grow. To start off the basic non-creative, non-read between the lines question; Why? Why was marijuana made illegal that fateful day 68 years ago. Is there a justifiable reason to the original criminalization and continuation of that law to present day? So, again I ask; Why? Yet, besides the reason why marijuana is illegal many are against the prohibition laws. However, possibly just as many are for keeping marijuana in the same position it has stood for 68 years. Prohibitionists only non defensive argument is that marijuana is a gateway drug. Those in favor of marijuana legalization claim it has a medicinal value and is no worse than alcohol or cigarettes, in their own separate ways. Prohibitionists tend to disagree. Lastly, it seems the system is broken. The way the laws are set up really doesnt work very effectively, or maybe the focus is on the wrong part of this situation or the ways to eliminate the “problem” are being carried out in the wrong manor. Either way, whether marijuana is decriminalized or not some changes need to be made to the current system.
After a series of events the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 banned marijuana but it created consequences that were not expected. Prior to the congressional meeting, at which marijuana would be banned, lies and propaganda had been flying about amongst the people. Only years after alcohol prohibition ended the liquor industry, obviously seeing marijuana as a major threat, released the movie Reefer Madness, depicting a man going insane from smoking marijuana, which leads him to murder his entire family. He obviously had some other serious issues. Seeing hemp as a major threat to the plastics industry and timber industry, each aided in promoting the movie and campaigning for marijuana prohibition. Since alcohol prohibition had ended in 1933 the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, now DEA, was losing money. This could be connected to their director, Harry Anslingers strong interest in marijuana prohibition. He spoke before congress with circumstantial evidence and accusations that I hopefully would not fly today. “Most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes.” I would think today that this statement would be considered bad conduct but then again it isnt quite legal to have a partner of the same sex. Its a shame we havent progressed that far, but thats a different sociology paper.
The hemp industry was actually at a point were it was ready to take off; its a shame it would take a fatal turn. Hemp is said to have the potential to make roughly 25,000 different products. Few knew that banning marijuana would lead to the downfall of the exploding hemp industry. Therefore, the Marijuana Tax Act was based on a lack of knowledge amongst the people. Too bad the knowledge they did possess was lies. If they only knew what we know now. Perhaps the Tax Act may never have been passed or even proposed in the first place.
Unfortunately, what we do know now has never been certain, for either side of the fence. Is marijuana really a gateway drug? There is no way to prove that someone who uses marijuana is going to move on to harsher drugs. There are only statistics that suggest the possibility is increased. I question the logic in that idea. I find it hard to believe that if someone is interested in using drugs, for whatever reason, they would first go straight to injecting themselves or snorting and uncertain substance. Its only safe to assume that a person would start with a better understood, safer, less harsh, easier to acquire and administer drug to see if they enjoy its effects. This could possibly lead to them experimenting with other drugs in the future. Thats why the statistics say what they do. There is evidence that suggests smoking marijuana WILL cause a person to experiment with other illicit drugs.
Those campaigning for the legalization of marijuana suggest that there is a medicinal value in marijuana. Unfortunately, for them there is no proof of this. The shred of hope they have is that THC, the key element in marijuana, is also available in prescription drugs but tends to not be prescribed because there are many other remedies which provide its therapeutic agents more effectively. Although without the medicinal proof needed many have said that marijuana does aid in multiple areas. Alleviating depression and anxiety, use as a sleeping aid or even as a sexual enhancer. Also, some use it in the same manor that one would have a glass of wine at the end of a stressful workday. In fact I believe marijuana tends to be used in more mature ways than that of alcohol. As in more smoke for the above reasons or to relax than those that drink in the appreciation of great liquor.
It seems nothing these days comes without a side effect, whatever it may be. So its no surprise to say that marijuana is no exception. However, I would like to point out that marijuana in its pure form is less damaging than that which is available today; laced or even genetically altered. So contaminated marijuana has 30 times more carcinogens than cigarettes and 50% more tar than tobacco. Flat out marijuana is worse for you than cigarettes but its a personal choice no one is forcing anybody to use either. The only side note is that the comparison of how much marijuana smokers intake compared to the amount cigarette smokers intake, marijuana tends to be substantially less. Short term and long term effects from those who smoke both are generally from the cigarettes. Only a few cases have been reported
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So what about in fact?
I also want to add that the fact that the federal government has legalized marijuana is very interesting. As the Huffington Post:
The law bans adult use of marijuana. And although it has been reported that in the past, state and local governments have not enacted medical marijuana programs, some have been able to offer them for patients that otherwise would have opted to consume marijuana.
The laws also have been passed for the first time in the 21st century, and allow individuals to possess and transport the drug for medical purposes for one year, and also permit medical use of marijuana, even if the individuals are not using the drug themselves.
The other major medical marijuana, medical marijuana is already legal in Washington state, Colorado, Washington, D.C. and Washington, D.C. And its not really available as an illegal drug (or a drug from the federal government), and this is one of the things that we need to be working towards with this issue. But the reason for the ban is to try to bring people to Colorado so the federal government could continue to offer medical marijuana without having to do anything to them or to any other state, as long as they buy it.
You know Colorado, the other place where recreational cannabis is legal for adults. The federal government has already sent $5 billion to the state. Colorado is getting a bit more aggressive, and there may be other cities that follow suit. And if the feds can get Colorado to allow recreational use of marijuana within the next two years, they know who they’re aiming to target: Denver. For the people who don’t drink alcohol the way they did with the pot in our country, and for people who don’t look like they’ve been smoking a joint a day, you may remember the city of Fort Collins was voted the best in the country in 2010 when it voted to allow for marijuana decriminalization by a wide margin.
It’s not just Denver, either. I’ve seen some cities with the ban in practice, including Portland, Washington. In Portland, D.C., one of the city’s first recreational marijuana shops, the Portland Marijuana House, has sold 500,000 of the first dozen dispensaries in the city since it took the city to ordinance in 2003. And Denver is also the first municipality in the country to allow people to buy recreational marijuana.
In Colorado I got an email from my wife, who works with the city of Denver on implementing a legal recreational marijuana program. She said she understands the concerns and feels that legalization has not helped.
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The reason we are concerned about the potential for the federal government enforcing other laws, even the most benign of those (a.k.a. medical cannabis), with regards to medical marijuana is not because of the legalization of the drugs themselves. It’s because the administration of some of these laws actually has the means and the financial means to enforce them, as well; all it takes is “procedural approval from the Legislature and a federal court rule, or a judge decision, and the Governor and the State Legislature come up with a plan to impose such a requirement. There is no rule book or rule table, as