Darrelle Dupre’
Cre101
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The hemp plant, also known as marijuana or cannabis has been
around the world for thousands of years. The Hemp plant was
believed to be the first fabric to be woven from dry hemp weed
sometime between 7000-8000 BCE. Millions of people around the
world have been smoking marijuana, using it for fabric, ethanol
use, and rope for thousands of years.
In 1930 the federal government gave control of illegal drugs to the
treasury department who created the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.
A man named Harry J. Anslinger who was a prohibitionist became
their first commissioner. He declared the “War on Drugs” and
effeciently altered America’s attitude against marijuana.
Between 1937 and about 1947, our government spent
approximately $220 million on the “War on Drugs”. By 1963, the
cost rose to $1.5 billion, five years later the cost was at a
whopping $9 billion and still it continues to rise.
•Research
has shown marijuana to be a safe and effective medicine
for controlling nausea associated with cancer and AIDS therapy, also
in reducing the eye pressure for patients with glaucoma, and
reducing muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis, paraplegia
and quadriplegia.
•Individuals deserve the right to decide whether or not they should
use marijuana. The government should not tell individuals what to do
as long as they do not harm others.
•We would save billion in taxes paid for individuals who are in jail for
marijuana. In addition, we would have more money to spend on
important problems if marijuana were legal like taking some of the
taxing resources saved from fighting a drug that does not possess
any more danger than alcohol, to the state being able to handle
drugs worth fighting like cocaine and heroine.
•As stated before, the hemp plant is a valuable natural resource.
Legalizing marijuana would eliminate the confusion surrounding
hemp and allow us to take advantage of hemp's agricultural and
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Marijuana is an unstable mixture of more than 425 chemicals that convert
to thousands when smoked. Many of these chemicals are toxic,
psychoactive chemicals which are largely unstudied and appear in
uncontrolled strengths
Smoking marijuana can be harmful some of the consequences of smoking
marijuana could include, but are not limited to the following: premature
cancer, addiction, coordination and perception impairment, a number of
mental disorders including depression, hostility and increased
aggressiveness, general apathy, memory loss, reproductive disabilities,
and impairment to the immune system
12 to 17 year-olds who smoke marijuana are 85 times more likely to use
cocaine than those who do not. 60% of adolescents who use marijuana
before age 15 will later use cocaine. These correlations are many times
higher than the initial relationships found between smoking and lung
cancer
Some believe that legalizing marijuana may increase crime as people
involved in illegal trade of the drug are also involved in other crimes. They
consider society is safer with marijuana offenders incarcerated
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One huge benefit of legalizing pot
(which is almost universally accepted
as a pretty harmless substance these
days) is its negative effect on revenue
for the drug lords and cartels. One of
the primary sources of income for
these groups is marijuana, and
conversely one of our primary costs in
the "War on Drugs" is fighting
marijuana imports, jailing pot users
and petty pot dealers, and diverting
law enforcement to deal with stoners
when it could be fighting the real bad
guys.
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Selfishness, one major con in
legalizing pot for many
investors and business
owners would be a loss in
revenue. Thus reinforcing
separate classes
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At Mount Vernon, George
Washington grew hemp as
his primary crop in 1797.
Thomas Jefferson grew
hemp as a secondary crop at
Monticello. So this cartoon
simply reminds you that one
of our own presidents got
some use out of hemp
plants.
In the perspective of America's war on drugs, marijuana is one of
the biggest enemies. And since alcohol and tobacco, two life
threatening substances, are legal it is a relevant question to ask
why marijuana is illegal. The taxpayers of America can partly
answer this question when they fill out their tax forms and when
they hear the hash rhetoric used against marijuana by the
government. The fact that marijuana is illegal is sufficiently caused
by the amount of money, jobs, and pride invested in the drug war.
In other words, the government cannot turn back now.
*http://thepoliticalcarnival.blogspot.com/2009_1
9_archive
*http://economics.about.com/od/incometaxesta
xcuts/a/marijuana.htm
*http://www.balancedpolitics.org/marijuana_le
galization.htm