...we need to go over the background history of this plant. For a substantial time of human history, marijuana was completely legal. As a matter of fact, it has been illegal for just over 1% of the time its been discovered and used. Marijuana was used known as far back as 7000 B.C, and legal as recent as 1910. It was introduced to the United States as early as the 1600’s , but wasn’t recognized as a recreational drug until the early 1900’s. The very first marijuana law was enacted in 1619 in Jamestown Colony, Virginia. Believe it or not, this was not a law against marijuana, this law was made to order every farmer to grow hemp seed, and they weren’t the only ones. Over...
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...marijuana overweight its harm. 1. The short story of marijuana prohibition Since early times people cultivated marijuana, or cannabis, or hemp, and used it for food. The fiber of young plants was the good raw material for clothes and paper. Cannabis also has a long history of medicinal usage, with evidence dating back to 4,000 B.C. In 19th century tincture of cannabis was the popular medicine. After the prohibition of alcohol beverages in 1919 young people in the USA began to smoke marijuana instead of liquor. In 1937 Harry J. Anslinger, the first Commissioner of the Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), inspired the “Marihuana Tax Act”. This act made possession or transfer of hemp illegal. At the USA hemp could be used for medical and industrial purposes only. However some critics noticed that Anslinger’s activity was supported by paper and plastic manufacturers who wanted to exclude hemp from the market. It is interesting, that due to Anslinger’s campaign many people believed that marijuana and hemp are different plants. “Mr. Dingell: I want to be certain what this is. Is this (Indian hemp) the same weed that grows wild in some of our Western States which is sometimes called the loco weed? Mr. Anslinger: No, sir, that is another family.” (Anslinger, 1937) However if we look in the “GRIN Taxonomy for Plants” by the United States...
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...The Legalization Of Marijuana for the Benefit of America Marijuana under the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 is a schedule I narcotic and therefore has been made illegal in the United States[1]. Marijuana has been illegal in the United States since the early 1900’s and has been demonized for what it does to a person that uses it. Through the great propaganda of the 1900’s by the United States government they convinced an entire nation that marijuana is evil and will cause horrible side effects without having to prove just about any scientific or research data at all. Basically people chose to go against marijuana without knowing what it is, how it works, or how even America can benefit from breaking apart from the 1900’s way of thinking and legalize it. As it is normally known and referred to as marijuana but its scientific name is cannabis. It comes from the cannabis sativa plant, which is native to Asia and Africa but now is being grown just about world wide. Cannabis has many forms other than its plant one that is widely used. In its most common form, marijuana consists of flowers and leaves while as hashish it is found as a type of resin liquid. There were many prominent Americans that used to grow the plant and use the cannabis as a cash crop similarly to how tobacco plants were grew for profit. George Washington used to grow cannabis as his primary cash crop on his plantations, it was a good profit for him as it had its medicinal and recreational...
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...have the freedom to gamble away all of their belongings, drink away their livers, and smoke tobacco until cancer takes their lives, yet the ownership or use of marijuana is prohibited by law. In 1937, the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act was passed with the help of untruths spread by Harry J. Anslinger, who was the first Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Less than a year after the acceptance of the Act, the mayor of New York City at the time, Fiorello La Guardia, assembled a group of illustrious scientists to investigate the effects of marijuana and found that their research contradicted Commissioner Anslinger’s arguments (Lupien). The question is: why is marijuana still illegal? Lawmakers and the medical community still fight the marijuana war when there is sufficient proof that it is not as harmful as Anslinger and his associates led the American people to believe, that the physical impairment from marijuana use is comparable to alcohol or tobacco use, and that the economy could benefit immensely from the legalization of marijuana. The media and members of the medical community still support the illusion that marijuana has many detrimental side effects. For example, the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) news release states, “people who abstain from smoking marijuana appear to have a better quality of life and higher levels of educational achievement than marijuana users. Also, early use of marijuana was associated with lowered income and reduced health later in...
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...leaves and flowering tops of the cannabis plant. Marijuana is a tobacco like substance produced by drying the leaves and flowering tops of the cannabis plant. Marijuana contains a natural chemical called THC (delta-9-tetrahydocannabinol) which gives users of the drug a ‘high’ when smoked” (What is Marijuana). Marijuana has several different effects, all of which are not severe or extremely harmful. “Some of the effects of marijuana use include increased heart rate, dryness of the mouth, reddening of the eyes, impaired motor skills and concentration, and frequent hunger” (What is Marijuana). According to Pete Guither, marijuana has been recorded to have been used as far back as 7,000 B.C.E. Its common use at the time was to weave fabrics and make rope, shortly after it was used as a recreational drug. Even though it is illegal now, in 1609 Virginia passed a law that required farmers to grow hemp (1). Marijuana should have never been made illegal. There are several reasons as to why it was made illegal, including false statements made to legislature, racist principles, and people’s misconceptions of the drug today. “In 1930, a new division in the Treasury Department was established – the Federal Bureau of Narcotics – and Harry J....
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...was proposed by Harry J. Anslinger the acting commissioner of Federal Bureau of Narcotics. In his testimony to Congress he stated, "There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most 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, entertainers and any others" (ukcia.org, (n.d), para. 1). Since this time, the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 has spawned more strict laws that have many unintended side effects. After many decades, effective federal propaganda has won public support for these laws. Only recently, U.S. citizens have started to question why marijuana is illegal. I feel that it would be beneficial to discard these laws and beliefs of the past. We need to analyze how the legalization of marijuana would positively affect the United States and its citizens in the following fields: medical, criminology, and financial. I support the legalization of marijuana not because I use this herb, because I do not and would not even if it was legal much like a majority of our populous. I have taken this stance because of the benefits that would arise from legalization. Marijuana has been criminalized for private citizens since 1930’s bringing over 80 years of undue turmoil. The criminalization of marijuana and the war on drugs has imprisoned countless American citizens for nonviolent crimes, and is fueling Mexican drug cartels. Marijuana...
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...CHAPTER 2. A HISTORY OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE IN AMERICA Written by: Tammy L. Anderson To appear in: Harrison, L., Anderson, T., Martin, S., and Robbins, C. Drug and Alcohol Use in Social Context. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing -1- A HISTORY OF DRUGS AND ALCOHOL IN THE UNITED STATES Introduction The purpose of this chapter is to review the history of drug use and its social control in the United States so that students can gain an improved and thorough understanding of today’s problems and policies. Our approach to this matter is sociological, i.e., exploring how the interconnection between culture, social institutions, groups, and individuals function to create drug-related phenomena. A sociological approach integrates many kinds of social, cultural, political, and economic factors that manifest themselves in everyday life. While pharmacology helps us comprehend how specific drugs impact brain activity, sociology can inform us about the social roots of drugrelated behaviors which ultimately shape beliefs and behavior and motivate social policy. Therefore, a review of drug use in the U.S. and the social response to it must consider many diverse phenomena. This broader framework will move us beyond domestic borders and into the international community, for the history of drug abuse is an international, socio-political marvel. Another idea warrants mentioning before we begin our history lesson. It centers on the idea that drug use and abuse are socially...
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...Legalization: The War on Drugs and Criminal Law Howard R. Burke Strayer University Abstract This research will point out that the United States’ current policy on drug prohibition, the so called “War on Drugs,” is ineffective. The current draconian prohibition policies against drug consumption may actually increase their use. As well, contrary to claims made by current drug policy supporters, increased drug enforcement can reduce public safety and compound the individual and social costs of drug use. The U.S. drug policy, born over a hundred years ago, has gone through several transformations becoming more voracious with each new invocation. The War on Drugs is an expensive and failed concept which has incorporated racism in its administration, increased crime rates, imposed harsh sentences for nonviolent offenses, facilitated police corruption and aggressively eroded civil liberties. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION Introduction to the Problem Background of the Study Statement of the Problem Purpose of the Research Research Questions Significance of the Research Assumptions and Limitations Organization of the Remainder of the Study LITERATURE REVIEW CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Marijuana Legalization: The War on Drugs and Criminal Law INTRODUCTION The United States has conducted a long experiment of drug prohibition. The prohibition of marijuana and other illicit drugs has only increased...
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