Ryan Terres
Professor: Maenhardt
English 1010: Section 054 at 11am
11 November 2012
I greatly enjoyed this class, and feel that it has helped me to become a better writer.
When creating this essay, I felt at ease with my creative mind. When writing I was able to keep
a good mental flow, and feel that I didn’t experience writers block nearly as much as I had in
the past.
I hope you enjoy my topic; this is one close to my heart. I’ve had many family members
pass due to cancer’s and other sickness’ and their condition of life was not really benefitted by
the medications at the time. I think the history of Marijuana is fascinating, and I hope I did
justice to the cause with my writing.
Hemp: Friend, Foe or Drug Abuse?
There is a government withheld secret within the farming industry. This secret is a
simple, easy to grow plant that has nearly 30,000 uses. This industrious plant has the ability to
power our cars, create biodegradable papers and plastics, heal wounds, create innumerable
beauty products, and potentially cure multiple types of cancers. This product has been stolen
from the populous; removed from the market because of special interests. What is this mystery
plant you may ask? The answer is hemp.
The discussion of hemp is a long sad story across the span of humankind. This resource
is abundant, easy to grow, and has more uses then most give it credit for. I intend to address
the subjects of its benefit, its misclassification, conspiracies behind the movement, its current
political issues, and the reasons it should be more talked about and socially accepted.
The large textile and tobacco companies of the early 1900’s feared the competition that
hemp would create. Hemp produces cheap paper, clothes, and the plant’s waste can be used
for fuel’s and plastic’s. They theorized their profit would diminish, and lobbied against this plant
claiming it would drive the populace to loot, burglarize and pillage from using it as a narcotic.
They used racism to promote their cause. Hemp was originally brought from Mexico by the
immigrants who would use it to relax after a long day’s work. “The stereotype of the Mexican
was that of a thief, an untamed savage, hot-blooded, quick to anger yet inherently lazy and
irresponsible.” Marijuana, The First Twelve Thousand Years -Reefer Racism. They used this
rhetoric to scare people, and to diminish the plant’s potential benefit. Under this pretense
hemp was banned. I found this article to be a blow to my understanding of justice in America.
The thought that something so useful would be put out of the reach of the people, is simply
unjust. Hemp has numerous uses, and is friendly to the environment. The article continued to
explain that hemp wasn’t illegal until Richard Nixon’s war on drugs. However in 1937 the
Marijuana Tax Act was passed, which outlawed the growing of hemp, unless you were in
possession of a hemp stamp to grow the same.
The issue, of course, was that the government in general would never sell the stamps.
The prices per stamp would vary by state. But in general they were nearly impossible to attain.
This was the preferred method of outlawing the plant.
You can see from this great article written in 1937 “[Hemp] is used to produce more
than 5,000 textile products, ranging from rope to fine laces, and the woody ‘hurds’ remaining
after the fiber has been removed contain more than seventy-seven per cent cellulose, and can
be used to produce more than 25,000 products, ranging from dynamite to Cellophane” Popular
Mechanics – Billion Dollar Crop
that hemp had many enemies. Because of this, the plant was
condemned.
In the book The Emperor Wears No Clothes, the author delves down in to the depths of
the conspiracy of marijuana. At times the FBI had even planted this substance on people in
order to increase revenues or at least to give them cause to detain. It also touches on the smear
campaigns used against hemp to promote the Marijuana Legislation; which, along with hemp,
was illegalized. Another important topic brought about by this book is the medical properties
that this plant possesses. It describes the ancient origins of this plant and notes that it was
found to be used for creation of fabrics and medicinal purposes over 8000 years ago and has
been in continued use by some cultures all through the intervening centuries.
Another issue with marijuana is that it is listed as a Schedule One Narcotic under Federal
law. This was, of course, due to Richard Nixon’s war on drugs. This topic is at an interesting
point in the world today. Two states have moved to complete legalization, and several
countries around the world are looking to do the same. Hopefully this will help to lift the
international laws regarding the hemp plant. However, for those currently seeking liberation
from the federal marijuana laws; this results in a conflict of interest. Since federal law trumps
state law, many will face federal charges, for the growth, sale, or even consumption, of hemp in
these areas.
In Reason’s “Marijuana and States' Rights: A Reason Debate” we see a contradictory
argument; one perspective, that of Kevin Sabet; disowns the idea of breaking national and
federal law and insists that this must occur before a state should be able to legalize. The
opposing view, that of Ethan Nadelmann; is that states have the right within the constitution to
govern themselves. This could also be a tipping point; it could bring about a call to action for
other states to mirror the actions of Washington or Colorado. But complete legalization is not
the only victor in these elections. An Increasingly large amount of states are legalizing medical
marijuana which is becoming more of a humanitarian issue. In this article I would see the issue
as being best resolved from the states up to federal/national and even international levels of
governance. Freedom of self governance is the theme at the soul of our constitution; and it is
the right of the few, the state, to govern their sovereignty as they see fit to be governed.
Another topic is how hard it is to pass legislation at the federal government for a fringe issue
such as this. Also, obedience shows unity, and in effect it represents the tyranny of the few,
passing judgment for all. Oppose to the freedom shown when people unite for a cause and
stand up against that tyranny they see unfit.
Dr. Jeffrey Miron of Harvard University argues that “…legalized marijuana would
generate between $10 and $14 billion in savings and taxes every year.” Over 300 Economists
agree: “It’s Time to Legalize Marijuana” (norml.org). To put that amount of money into
perspective, it is enough to cover the 2009 government budget for the entire state of Utah,
which is $11.3 billion according to le.state.ut.us. Tieing this amount of money in with the
amount of money that would be saved by not prosecuting these individuals, the total becomes
stagering. It makes me wonder why this hasn’t already been accomplished. It seems that an
extra sector of the private market would be awash with that much more capitol and
investment, and during such an economic time as today I would expect these results to be
accepted with open arms.
The hemp plant is currently harvested for commercial purposes in over 30 countries,
including Canada, Japan and the European Union. Although it grows wild across much of North
America and presents no public health or safety threat, the U.S. government still finds it
necessary to spend money destroying a product that we end up having to buy from other
countries. So not only are we the only industrialized nation that doesn’t produce our own
hemp, we actually waste resources to destroy it in our nation. The U.S. annually imports
approximately 1.9 million pounds of hemp fiber, 450,000 pounds of hemp seeds, and 331
pounds of hempseed oil from Canada and other nations that regulate hemp farming.
Meanwhile 98 percent of all the ‘marijuana’ eliminated by the DEA is actually hemp according
to norml.org.
The most exciting news I had found about Marijuana and hemp reform, is that it is now
going to be used actively in Spain; they have studies out that have shown the direct correlation
between hemp oil and the cure for cancer. This will be another great example in the saga of our
world, how social pressures impeded the progress of medical growth for society. It is appalling
to think of how many lives could have been saved had there never been such allegations made
towards this natural, curative plant. This fact becomes even more infuriating when looking at
the reasons for deaths today, where alcohol and tobacco rank very high on the list. In contrast,
Marijuana has never been directly related to the cause of death of any person.
In light of my research, and my personal feelings about freedom and its meaning, I feel
that there is no question. Marijuana and Hemp products should be legalized today. Consider
the fact that marijuana has the lowest mortality rate of any drug and the fact that hemp and
marijuana can be harnessed for medical purposes. It is sad to think that people have had this
miracle plant refused to them based upon the greed of a small minority of powerful
industrialists.
Works Cited
"Health Endorsements." NORML.org. National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, n.d.
Web. <http://norml.org/aboutmarijuana/health-organizations-endorsements>.
"Hemp: The New Billion-Dollar Crop - Popular Mechanics - 1938." Hemp: The New BillionDollar Crop - Popular Mechanics - 1938. Popular Mechanics, Feb. 1938. Web. Dec.
2012<http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/popmech1.htm>.
Herer, Jack. The Emperor Wears No Clothes. 11th ed. Calif.: Ah Ha Pub., 2007. Print.
It's Increasingly Normal to Support Marijuana Legalisation. Digital image. Norml.org. N.p., n.d.
Web. Dec. 2012<http://assets.blog.norml.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/LegalizationGallup-2011.jpg>.
"Marijuana - The First Twelve Thousand Years Reefer Racism." Drug Library. N.p., n.d. Web.
Dec. 2012 <http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/history/first12000/11.htm>.
Nadelmann, Ethan, and Kevin Sabet. "Marijuana and States' Rights: A Reason Debate."
Reason.com. N.p., 9 Oct. 2012. Web. 03 Dec. 2012.
<http://reason.com/archives/2012/10/09/marijuana-and-states-rights-a-reason-deb>.
"Personal Use." NORML.org. National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, n.d. Web.
Dec. 2012<http://www.mpp.org/issues/dui--dwi/>.
Ring, Dan. "Voters in Massachusetts to Consider Ballot Measure on Medical Marijuana."
Masslive.com. The Republican, 28 Oct. 2012. Web. Dec. 2012
<http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/10/voters_in_massachusetts_to_con.ht
ml>.
United States. Section 1308.11 - Schedule I. DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION,
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. Section 1308.11 - Schedule I. N.p., n.d. Web. Dec.
2012<www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2012-title21-vol9/xml/CFR-2012-title21-vol9-
sec1308-11.xml>.
Utah State Marijuana Stamp. Digital image. MARIJUANA TAX STAMPS. N.p., n.d. Web. 03
Dec. 2012. <http://terrefhosting.net/gerry/marijuanastamps/utah.htm>.
Zandocomm. "News World Wide." News World Wide. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012.
<http://newsworldwide.wordpress.com/2012/12/01/spain-study-confirms-hemp-oil-curescancer-without-side-effects/>.