...Legalization of Hemp Before you can understand my philosophical belief we must first take a brief look at the history of Marijuana and its more resourceful counterpart Hemp. Hemp has uses for over 20,000 things including fuel, food, construction material, clothing, paint, and even making more durable and longer lasting paper. Hemp was so versatile and heavily cultivated that during the mid-1600 to the early 1800’s you could pay taxes with hemp. There was even a law in Colonial Virginia that made it illegal to not grow hemp. Marijuana was a word created around the 1930’s to slander the good name of hemp. Marijuana, otherwise known as hemp, was quickly regarded as evil and eventually became illegal in September of 1937. Why was this plant that was so heavily cultivated seen as violence causing drug? When, it was in fact used in numerous healing products around the world. Why are we still enforcing this barbaric law when our great ancestors cultivated it for thousands of years? After the prohibition law of marijuana was passed it was known to be the root of all evil. People were soon pumped full of yellow-journalism about this miracle plant saying “Marijuana makes people full of anger” during the 1930’s. When communism was beginning to be suspected in America, marijuana was again falsely linked to “Pacifying soldiers and making them not want to fight”. This legalization of Hemp needs to be now. In today’s world there are so many problems that hemp could easily solve. Hemp oil, which...
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...important that one knows the reasoning behind the illegalization of cannabis. According to Pete Guither, Cannabis was made illegal in the 1930's due to anti-Mexican feelings, personal greed, yellow journalism, and corrupt politics. Today, in the new millennium, the Anti-Cannabis movement is mostly caused by propaganda left over from the early to late 1930's. Our countries leaders simply don't know better. They have effectively been brainwashed by the very organization they are a part of. The history of the prohibition of cannabis undoubtedly shows this. To understand why Cannabis should be legalized, one must understand why it was made illegal In the first place. We call the beginning of the 20th century ‘the gilded age’ because of the sense of false economic security. Sure, the numbers looked good on paper, but morality was at an all time low at the time. In the inside, corporations were cheaper then a $2 carnival game. Henry J Anslinger was not an uncommon person for the 1930's. He was racist, hated Mexicans, and wanted to use the government for his own benefit. He was a pro-Nazi, and had skills in rhetoric, propaganda, and yellow journalism. Anslinger had ties with two large influences in Cannabis prohibition: William Randolph Hearst, and Lammont DuPont. These two men were the owners of the two largest super-companies in the 30’s. William Randolph Hearst was the owner of Hearst Newspaper Company. He had privately invested large sums of money in the Lumber industry...
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...of a lazy and unmotivated America is the result of over seventy years of propaganda and misinformation spread by private interests who needed cannabis illegal for their own personal gains. I strongly believe that marijuana should be legalized for all uses. Using marijuana for medicinal purposes is not a recent discovery. In fact, written references to use medical marijuana date back nearly 5,000 years. Western medicine embraced marijuana’s medical properties in the mid-1800s, and by the beginning of the 20th century, physicians had published more than 100 papers in the Western medical literature recommending its use for a variety of disorders (http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5441#f2 Accessed on June 5, 2010). These disorders include pain relief, nausea, glaucoma, and movement disorders. It is also used as a powerful appetite stimulant which helps patients that had HIV/AIDS or cancer patients going through chemotherapy. Today, thousands of patients are able to use marijuana as an effective method of treatment for their ailments. This is possible because fourteen state governments across the country have acknowledged cannabis’ effective healing properties and legalized its consumption for medicinal purposes with the consent of a licensed physician. However, these patients are at the mercy of the federal government and its authority. One of the biggest positive impacts that the legalization of marijuana would produce is the reintegration of hemp into our society, and more...
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...you heard of someone losing their life from alcohol poisoning. Approximately 80,000 deaths are caused by alcohol per year. How many cases have you heard of someone overdosing on marijuana; Alcohol is an addictive drug that can cause a person to not only ruin their life, but could end it as well. To most people Marijuana isn’t an addictive drug. The harmful effects of marijuana aren’t as harmful as the effects of alcohol is. Initially according to Rawson, cannabis was only used to make industrial goods; its recreational use in America didn’t become popular until the early 20th century. Recreational use of cannabis was pushed up in the ranks with drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Since the beginning of its recreational use there has only been one recorded death due to an overdose. Many drug advocates as well as the government have made marijuana illegal; There are two types of cannabis one is called hemp and the next is called marijuana. Hemp contains less than one percent of THC, which can be used in the production of different industrial...
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...to grow and learn for the first time in five years. (Gupta, 2013) This is just one of many ways marijuana has helped people with their diagnosis and has continued to work. In 1930 medicinal marijuana was put on the Schedule 1 list for narcotics by Harry J. Anslinger, the Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN). Decades later, after marijuana became illegal, states around America are starting to take a new position on the drug and have legalized marijuana. Knowing this, people around the nation are still hesitant of pro-legalization and the Federal Government is taking little interest in the matter. The legalization of marijuana would increase crop cultivation in America, provide jobs for those in need during this economic downfall, and decrease the amount of criminal activity involved with the use and distribution of marijuana. Before marijuana was made illegal by the FBN and before the roaring twenties, marijuana cultivation produced valuable products such as paper, rope, canvas, and textiles. Canvas is a Dutch word in which its meaning is cannabis, hemp or marijuana. All around the world professionals are finding ways to recycle materials in order to avoid cutting down trees and greenhouse gasses. These professionals are aware of hemp and its increase production, for example; an acre of hemp can produce four times more paper than...
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...Release the Green! Marijuana is a very noticeable and scandalous issue in the world today. Although many malicious entitlements have been said about cannabis in current history, the certainties are slowly starting to reappear. Unluckily, these facts are being very heavily criticized because of the clichéd view of what people see as the classic “weed smoker.” This twisted observation of a lazy and unenthusiastic America is the consequence of over seventy years of information and deception spread by private interests who needed weed illegal for their own particular gains. As just a regular citizen and someone that doesn’t even use marijuana, I think that the drug should be legalized for all uses. Consuming marijuana for pharmaceutical purposes is not a new discovery. Actually, written references to consume medical marijuana go back to almost 5,000 years ago (herer, 167). Western treatment included marijuana’s medical properties in the mid-1800s, and by the start of the 20th century, doctors had issued more than 150 credentials in the Western medical literature recommending its use for a variety of disorders (Miron, 117). These conditions include relief from pain, glaucoma, nausea and movement disorders. It can also be used to help patients that have or had HIV/AIDS or cancer patients that have to go through chemotherapy because it motivates their appetites. In our day, thousands of patients are capable of use marijuana as an effective technique of cure for their illnesses. This...
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...Abstract: The prohibition of marijuana has been a heated debate for years. This paper will examine the question of whether or not it will be beneficial to the population as a whole, smokers and non-smokers to legalize marijuana. This paper will begin by giving a historical overview of marijuana and how it became illegal. Then, it will attempt to examine and illustrate the many valuable, and beneficial qualities that marijuana has. Relying on the facts found to ultimately come to a conclusion on whether or not legalization would positively effect our country. Introduction Background Information The legalizing of marijuana for both recreational and medical purposes will have significant benefits for smokers and non-smokers, the economy, and the population. Currently any production, sale, distribution, or consumption of the drug marijuana is illegal in forty-eight states in the nation. Legalizing marijuana in this situation would mean executing the same or similar laws as are imposed on to alcohol. “On November 6, 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize the sale and possession of cannabis for recreational use since the Marijuana Tax act of 1937 when they passed Colorado Amendment 64 and Washington Initiative 502” (Szalavitz). The few states that have legalized marijuana are instituting practices to integrate the substance into society. To continue, consumption of marijuana would be illegal as well as the purchase of the substance by minors...
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... yet it has been classified as a schedule one drug? Since it has been harvested, hemp has become one of the most popular crops ever grown. Our founding fathers including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, all grew hemp on their estates. In the early 20th Century, hemp was outlawed in the United States; even though it had been one of the major crops in the U.S. and was super beneficial. Hemp can be used for building a stronger concrete than we have right now; it is one the most nutritious foods we can harvest today and can yield more than 400 times the amount of paper which we use from cutting down trees on the same land. Hemp can also improve the environment if cotton was substituted for hemp; plus it creates a stronger and more durable fiber. Today hemp is not illegal but we would be better off if it was completely legal and we could start to use hemp as it was suppose to be used. To get a better understanding, let take a look at the impact hemp has had on the world. “For the past twelve thousand years, industrial hemp has been harvested and used throughout almost every nation in the world” (8). “From its beginning, hemp has been used throughout the world for its fiber, seed, and psychoactive effect” (9). “Ancient Chinese techniques of hemp sowing, cultivation, and processing developed rapidly and became fairly advanced” (10). China would not have been the same if hemp hadn’t been discovered. The psychoactive affects were also discovered in China, and...
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...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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...illegal in America? Marijuana, also known as cannabis, has been around for ages. The earliest known use of cannabis dates back to the Stone Age in Asia. During the Neolithic Era, when the development of agriculture came about, the ancient Asian nomads discovered how to grow the plant and began to harvest it. It became much more common to people once they started farming because it grew wildly. “…some 10,000 years ago, nomadic groups scavenged, hunted, fished, and gathered plants in an unending search for food. The search ended when they learned to plant the native grains (grasses) and developed agriculture. Agriculture requires a commitment to the land and grants a steady food supply which enables people to form permanent settlements. Cannabis and Neolithic bands probably came in contact often as plants invaded the fertile clearings — the campsites, roadsides, fields and garbage heaps — that occur wherever people live.”(Mel Frank and Ed Rosenthal) It was primarily used for the production of hemp. Hemp is a fabric made of the fibers that separate from the stem of the cannabis plant when it decays. Hemp fabric is extremely strong and durable, especially when compared to cotton fabric. The ancient Asians used hemp to make their clothes, fish nets and ropes. Hemp eventually became so popular that it clothed the majority of the people during the time period. “As their culture advanced, these prehistoric people replaced their animal skins with hemp cloth. At first, hemp cloth...
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...Marijuana in America COM 220 Marijuana is a drug that has played a significant role in American history and culture. The drug has been used in several forms, from practical uses to recreational uses. Marijuana also once defined a generation of American people. As of today, marijuana is illegal for recreational use, with some states allowing the drug to be used for medicinal purposes only. The debate has begun in federal and state governments for decriminalizing the recreational use of marijuana, which has brought about questioning the effects that the drug has on people. Is marijuana a gateway drug that leads people to use harder, more dangerous drugs or is this theory a scare tactic to persuade people to keep from using the plant? Marijuana began its history in the United States as a plant that was grown to produce rope, clothing and sails for boats as early as the 17th century. The plant, known as hemp, was first brought to America by the Puritans, a group of people from England that immigrated to the United States to escape religious prosecution. As the people began to create communities, leaders encouraged farmers to grow hemp. In 1619, the Virginia Assembly approved legislation that “required every farmer to grow the hemp seed because the plant’s large role in producing material” (Booth, 2003, p. 173). The plant was also used as legal tender in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to pay property taxes. By the 18th century, marijuana...
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...1. 2900 BC - Chinese Emperor Fu Hsi References Marijuana as a Popular Medicine Emperor Fu Hsi Source: jaars.org (accessed May 25, 2010) "The Chinese Emperor Fu Hsi (ca. 2900 BC), whom the Chinese credit with bringing civilization to China, seems to have made reference to Ma, the Chinese word for Cannabis, noting that Cannabis was very popular medicine that possessed both yin and yang." 2. 1450 BC- Book of Exodus References Holy Anointing Oil Made from Cannabis "Holy anointing oil, as described in the original Hebrew version of the recipe in Exodus (30:22-23), contained over six pounds of kaneh-bosem, a substance identified by respected etymologists, linguists, anthropologists, botanists and other researchers as cannabis, extracted into about six quarts of olive oil, along with a variety of other fragrant herbs. The ancient anointed ones were literally drenched in this potent mixture." Chris Bennett "Was Jesus a Stoner?," High Times Magazine, Feb. 10, 2003 "Marijuana proponents suggest that the recipe for the anointing oil passed from God to Moses included cannabis, or kaneh-bosm in Hebrew. They point to versions calling for fragrant cane, which they say was mistakenly changed to the plant calamus in the King James version of the Bible." Shannon Kari "Cannabis Involved in Christ's Anointment?," National Post, Apr. 22, 2010 [Editor's Note: The Revell Bible Dictionary (1990), by Lawrence O. Richards, estimates that the events of the Book of Exodus occurred around 1450 BC...
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...Heading Heading Title A lot of people in America perceive marijuana and people who use marijuana as something so horrible because of the way that the government portrays it, but most of those people who think this way fail to know the truth about marijuana. The fact of the matter is that the “dangers” of marijuana are over exaggerated and its classification is way out of proportion. Views about the use of cannabis have evolved over the decades. Cannabis has been around for centuries and legally used and distributed as a natural resource until it began to gain restrictions and regulations in the late 1800s and early 1900s soon leading to the illegalization of it in the 1930s with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 (Guither). In the eyes of many people, the reasons for the illegalization of growing and distributing the hemp plant are untrue or over exaggerated, and this paper will address why marijuana should be legalized in America. The reasons for why the government should take the action of legalizing the use of marijuana, or cannabis, are endless, but this paper focuses on the facts that cannabis has a multitude of known, positive uses, that legalizing it will take thousands and thousands of good people out of prisons, and that legalizing the use of marijuana could actually have economically positive effects on the country. Marijuana has been around long before it was known as a recreational drug in the early 1900s. The known uses of the hemp plant go back to as early as 7000 B.C...
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...Medical Marijuana Medical Marijuana Marijuana in today’s society is known as a recreational drug. However, Cannabis has been used in different ways by the Chinese dated back as early as 2737 B.C. The most interesting story is the one about emperor Liu Chi-nu. His story explains the connection between cannabis, snakes and illness. According to the article Marijuana- the First Twelve Thousand Years, “One day Liu was out in the fields cutting down some hemp, when he saw a snake. Taking no chances that it might bite him, he shot the serpent with an arrow. The next day he returned to the place and heard the sound of a mortar and pestle. Tracking down the noise, he found two boys grinding marijuana leaves. When he asked them what they were doing, the boys told him they were preparing a medicine to give to their master who had been wounded by an arrow shot by Liu Chi-nu. Liu Chi-nu then asked what the boys would do to Liu Chi-nu if they ever found him. Surprisingly, the boys answered that they could not take revenge on him because Liu Chi-nu was destined to become emperor of China. Liu berated the boys for their foolishness and they ran away, leaving behind the medicine. Sometime later Liu himself was injured and he applied the crushed marijuana leaves to his wound. The medicine healed him and Liu subsequently announced his discovery to the people of China and they began using it for their injuries” (Abel, 1980). Another emperor Shen-Neng of China discovered the...
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...ENGL 1100 Mr. Casey December 11, 2012 The Legalization of Marijuana Marijuana is currently the third most popularly used recreational drug in America. More than 100 million Americans have used the drug at least once in their lives. 14 million of those continue to use it regularly (About Marijuana). All of those Americans are breaking the law. Under federal law, marijuana is illegal in the United States. However, there is much controversy surrounding the illegality of the plant. The biggest controversy around marijuana is whether or not it should be legalized. Those in support of legalizing marijuana will bring up arguments proving the medicinal benefits of marijuana, the economic benefits, and the other positive effects it will have on the country. These arguments are backed by proven facts and studies. Because of this, the obvious answer is that marijuana should be legalized, taxed, and regulated in the United States. Marijuana has not always been illegal. It was used as medicine for hundreds of years. The first recorded medical use dates all the way back to 1500 BC in China. It wasn’t until the 1930’s that it first became illegal in the United States. In 1937, The Federal Bureau of Narcotics passed The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 (Guither). This made it illegal to possess or transfer cannabis in the United States under federal law, excluding people in the big medical industries and for its industrial uses, and those people had to pay an annual tax. Even though there was a new...
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