REVISED + Legalize Marijuana +

In order to effectively discuss the issue of the legalization of marijuana, we must first analyze the roots of the prohibition, then investigate the true physical, mental, and social implications of marijuana usage and its relation to other common abused drugs or federally banned Schedule I drugs, and lastly demonstrate the possible results of legalizing of marijuana. 

Origins of Marijuana Prohibition 

Marijuana in America originates back to the early Jamestown colony, where statutes were passed that declared all settles required to grow hemp, a form of marijuana. George Washington grew hemp at Mount Vernon as one of his staple crops, as hemp was an ubiquitous crop in the 18th and 19th centuries used to make everything from ropes to sacks.  

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This photo shows an 18th century American industrial hemp farm.

The prohibition of marijuana was catalyzed by two different yet important factors: 

1. Racial Sentiment 

2. Increasing Federal Approaches to Drug Regulation  

Racial Sentiment

Even when marijuana was completely legal, it was seldom used by Americans. Rather, those who used it typically were from the Mexican and Negro minority groups. 

The early 1900s was marked with significant tensions particularly in the west over the problems of the influx of Mexicans. The revolution in Mexico in 1910 sent a great increase of Mexicans into America. These immigrants were generally lower class and uneducated, and were taken advantage of in cheap farm labor. Their negative characteristics (including the smoking of marijuana) furthered America's racist sentiment. 1910 marked the first state marijuana law in Utah, and other states quickly followed suit with marijuana control laws (1915 Wyoming, 1919 Texas, 1923 Iowa, 1923 Nevada...). These laws tended to be targeted specifically towards the Mexican-American population. 

One legislator from Montana comments on the marijuana laws,

" When some beet field peon takes a few traces of this stuff... he thinks he has just been elected president of Mexico, so he starts out to execute all his political enemies"

Another Texan senator said on the Senate floor, "

"All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff [marijuana] is what makes them crazy."

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This is a cartoon describing the fervent attitude towards weed. 

Yellow Journalism also contributed toward the racial sentiment regarding weed. William Randolf Hearst, the owner of a huge newspaper chain supported the idea of completely banning marijuana. His prime reasons for this were:

1. Mexicans brought it over and were associated with it

2. Mexicans raping white men was based off the smoking of marijuana 

3. Hearst also needed the timber industry to support his newspaper business (hemp is a competitor of timber) 

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William Randolf Hearst's newspaper publications

Some quotes from his writings: 

"Was it marijuana, the new Mexican drug, that nerved the murderous arm of Clara Phillips when she hammered out her victim's life in Los Angeles?... THREE-FOURTHS OF THE CRIMES of violence in this country today are committed by DOPE SLAVES - that is a matter of cold record"

"Marihuana makes fiends of boys in thirty days- Hashish goads users to bloodlust"

Thus Americans during the time around 1910-1930 associated marijuana with Mexicans and tragic results, all WITHOUT the proof of medicine and science, just pure belief. 

Federal Approaches to Drug Regulation

Marijuana gained medical popularity beginning in the 1850s as its use was introduced into Western medicine practices. By 1905, medicinal marijuana was regulated on a state to state basis in twenty nine states. At this time, the US Department of Agriculture labelled marijuana as a "poison"; some states followed the federal government's call on marijuana as poison, while others continued to have unrestricted sales. However, over time marijuana control shifted from the hands of the states to that of the federal government. 

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Marijuana labelled "poison" mandated by the US Department of Agriculture

The first instance of federal drug control was the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 which required that all sales of non-prescription cannabis be labelled properly, and a certain drugs to be labelled correctly.

The first major law of control and tax was the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914, which regulated and taxed the shipment and purchase of opiates, and this law became a forerunner of federal control of narcotics.

This video highlights the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 and how it became the precedent for future drug regulation. 

Other approaches to control drug use on the national level include the alcohol prohibition in 1920. 

Five years later in Geneva, the Agreement concerning the Manufacture of, Internal Trade in and Use of Prepared Opium was signed, which stated that the signatory nations, including USA, were fully determined to suppress the manufacture and sale of opiums (also included marijuana). 

The establishment of federal regulations on drugs culminated in 1930 when a new division in the Treasury Department was created- the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN). 

The FBN sought to campaign against many different drugs, especially marijuana, using irrational "facts" from Gore Files that "documented" horror stories of marijuana usage. 

Some quotes from these files include:

"You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother."

"Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death."

"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."

Again, like the quotes of the politicians above, the "facts" that were being presented to the public were unproved and untested and mostly out of speculation and sentiment. 

The FBN finally brought the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 to Congress with those "facts" and it somehow passed, becoming the first national marijuana tax law. From then on, regulation increased as marijuana eventually became a Schedule I narcotic (the current status of marijuana) under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. 

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This chart shows the levels of federally regulated drugs in America. Schedule I is the highest (most severe) level. 

True Effects of Marijuana 

 Entertainment and propaganda portray marijuana as an extremely harmful substance, capable of causing disease and malevolent behavior. 

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Advertisement plays weed as a "bad" substance. 

The top three most "prevalent and harmful" effects (actually myths) of weed, by WebMD, are 

1. Marijuana causes lung disease. 

2. Marijuana is addictive.

3. Marijuana is a gateway drug.

These effects have long been exaggerated will now be discussed and dispelled using accurate scientific data and studies. 

1. Lung Disease 

~Science Daily says that marijuana smokers face lung destruction TWENTY YEARS ahead of tobacco smokers. They base this off how marijuana is

"inhaled as extremely hot fumes to peak inspiration and held for as long as possible before slow exhalation" 

and 

"marijuana smokers inhale and hold their breath four times longer than cigarette smokers". 

~The American Cancer Society states that marijuana

"delivers harmful substances and poses incredible risk to the development of lung diseases". 

~This Youtube video also details the risk of lung cancer in marijuana

Drawing from Science Daily's claim, marijuana's smoke is MORE potent than that of a cigarette. That means volume to volume, marijuana smoke contains more carcinogens than cigarette smoke.

However, according to the reputable International Report on the Effects of Marihuana , marijuana and tobacco smoke are nearly identical (the only difference being marijuana's THC). Also, marijuana smokers smoke LESS smoke (by volume) than cigarette smokers.

"Most tobacco smokers consume more than 10 cigarettes per day and some consume 40 or more. Regular marijuana smokers seldom consume more than three to five cigarettes per day and most consume far fewer. Thus, the amount of irritant material inhaled almost never approaches that of tobacco users."

A 1982 research at UCLA found that changes in the pulmonary function and bronchial cell characteristics in smokers were significantly higher in cigarette smokers than in marijuana smokers. 

"The nature of the marijuana-induced changes were also different, occurring primarily in the lung's large airways - not the small peripheral airways affected by tobacco smoke. Since it is small-airway inflammation that causes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, marijuana smokers may not develop these diseases."

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This is a satirical image of marijuana's effects.

2. Marijuana is Addictive 

Casa Palmera, a group of Californian marijuana experts, support the claim that marijuana induces physical and mental addiction. They claim that marijuana has numerous effects including dependency, which is both caused by mental and chemical factors. Ceasing to smoke after smoking habitually will also cause withdrawal symptoms, which are described as "most intense".

Drug Addiction Support also claims that "marijuana addiction is one of the common addictions in the United States, with more people receiving treatment for it than any drugs except alcohol." 

The video above is a news report that quotes the Department of Justice that marijuana has the same potential of addiction and abuse as heroin.

Essentially, all drugs are used in "an addictive fashion" by some people. However, for any drug to be identified as highly addictive, there must be substantial data to confirm this, that the users "repeatedly fail in their attempts to discontinue use and develop use-patterns that interfere with other life activities."

Also, the National Epidemiological Surveys show that a large majority of people who had experience with marijuana do not become regular users. 

"In 1993, among Americans age 12 and over, about 34% had used marijuana sometime in their life, but only 9% had used it in the past year, 4.3% in the past month, and 2.8% in the past week."

A study from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 

"A longitudinal study of young adults who had first been surveyed in high school also found a high "discontinuation rate" for marijuana. While 77% had used the drug, 74% of those had not used in the past year and 84% had not used in the past month."

Of course, there are people who continue using marijuana for years or more casually and are not necessarily "addicted" to it. There are many regular users, even daily users, who consume marijuana in a way that doesn't interfere with other life activities. Rather in some cases, marijuana may enhance these other life activities.

3. Marijuana is a gateway drug

Advocates for marijuana prohibition often argue that the usage of marijuana will lead to usage of other harmful narcotics. 

However, there are studies that show that most marijuana users have never used another illegal drug. 

"For the past twenty years, marijuana use has fluctuated, while the use of LSD hardly changed at all. "

"Cocaine use increased in the early 1980s as marijuana use was declining. During the late 1980s, both marijuana and cocaine declined. During the last few years, cocaine use has continued to decline as marijuana use has increased slightly."

Looking at Amsterdam, marijuana has been legalized and usage has increased, but cocaine use has decreased. 

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A legal marijuana retailer in Amsterdam. 

Marijuana in relation to other drugs

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This chart illustrates marijuana's effects relative to other popular drugs.

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According to this chart from Spiritual River, marijuana is the least addictive of four popular drugs.

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Once again, marijuana is the least harmful out of other popular drugs. 

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The National Institute on Drugs Abuse rates marijuana as the safest abused drug.

While marijuana is generally the safest drug out of alcohol, caffeine, heroin, and cocaine, why is banning it logical but keeping others (such as alcohol) available to purchase legally? It has been shown through multiple studies above, that marijuana's effects are NO WHERE near those of legal substances such as cigarettes or alcohol. In fact, there are many benefits for legalizing marijuana.

Benefits of Legalizing Marijuana

In this video, the major benefits of legalizing marijuana are explained. 

Legalizing controlled sales of marijuana could prove to be huge profits for the federal government. It could be the solution to the current debt crisis, or just another method of increasing revenue and government expenditures without increased income tax or printing money. Legalizing has the potential to slow organized crimes, boost the economy, and increase social welfare. 

1. Tax Revenues 

In America, cigarettes are taxed heavily by both the state and the federal government, and is a huge method of acquiring revenue. In 2009, the federal excise on cigarettes grossed 8.5 billion and the states reaped in a combined 15.75 billion. Imagine the additional revenue in marijuana was legalized! 

According to recent figures, there are 25 to 60 million potential customers of marijuana if it was legalized, and its estimated that total spending on marijuana may add up to 45 to 110 billion dollars a year. That's a great sum of money, let's say even 1% was taxed, the governments both at the state and federal level would reap in an enormous sum of money. Government officials of California even estimate a 14 billion dollar tax revenue increase if marijuana was legalized and regulated under tax. 

Professor Jeffrey A. Miron of Harvard University published a report on the budgetary implications of marijuana prohibition. This report shows that marijuana legalization - replacing prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation - would

"...save $7.7 billion per year in state and federal expenditures on prohibition enforcement and produce tax revenues of at least $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like most consumer goods"

And if it were to be taxed similarly to alcohol or cigarettes, it might generate as much as 6.2 billion a year. 

Such an astounding number of revenue would place America in a much more favorable situation, on both the domestic and global stage, than the present.

2. Reduced Organized Crimes

This is a testimonial of one police officer of the brutal crimes that are associated with marijuana and cartels. 

Legalizing marijuana would weaken organized crime. This is from the decrease in value of marijuana in the illegal trade, as it is sold in stores legally, and reduced stakes and money reduces trade involving dangerous drug cartels. 

CBS recently covered a drug cartel battle in Chicago, where drug lords were apparently 

"battling over control of billions of dollars of marijuana." 

The black market will thus be less lucrative- the money that would otherwise be in circulation within the black market would be transferred over into the real economy. Crimes and the power of organized drug rings would decrease. 

~From revealing the truth behind marijuana prohibition, marijuana's true characteristics, and comparing marijuana to other drugs to describing the benefits of legalizing, it is clear that prohibition has done nothing for America but let her suffer. It's time to make a rational choice- legalize. ~

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Why We Should Legalize Marijuana

 It’s common to hear your friend or parents stigmatize weed as a “bad” or “unhealthy” activity, worse than alcohol or cigarettes. It’s so terrible for you! They say, LOOK AT ALL THOSE POTHEADS! They are failing school and have none future!

But hah, the effects of marijuana have long been over exaggerated in the press and in the government. Media and entertainment portray it as a super deadly substance and that it  will harm and transform us into low-IQ hoodlums.
                                                 
                                            

But according to data from science, weed does not actually have all these serious harms.

The three most prominent notions of weed are that is causes lung disease, is addictive, and is a gateway drug.  

They are all WAY over exaggerated.

1. MARIJUANA CAUSES LUNG DISEASE

Marijuana causes lung disease, maybe even in higher rates than in that of tobacco users? Ridiculous. Marijuana and Tobacco smoke are near chemically identical and the only difference is marijuana’s psychoactive ingredients (THC). (21)

Oh. Okay. But what about those BIG huge TOKES that marijuana smokers do like on gravities and waterfalls? Yes, it’s true that these deep inhalations are larger per hit, but it’s not the amount of smoke per hit, but total amount of smoke inhaled (total volume of smoke) that is what causes irritation and problems. Tobacco smokers smoke on average 16.8 cigarettes per day which is way more than the average of 2 joints per day.

                                            

2. MARIJUANA IS ADDICTIVE

            Anything can addictives. Anything from eating frosty from Wendy’s to Playing world of war craft can be addicting. Addicted can be defined as being physically or mentally dependent on a particular activity, and unable to stop without incurring adverse effects. Wouldn't you call this “addiction”? 

There was a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (60) that found out that while 77% of young adults had used marijuana, 74% of those had not used in the past year and 84% had not used in the past month.

Also in 1976 Clinical Studies of Cannabis dependence were conducted on test patients. These test patients were administered the equivalent of 15-20 joints a day and then ceased abruptly. Symptoms that occurred include sweating, decreased appetite, restlessness, and disturbed sleep, evidence of physical dependence. However, this symptoms were quite mild in nature (even when the dose was 15-20 joints per day! Nobody smokes that much per day). Thus when marijuana is consumed in its usual dose (average 2 joints), it would be difficult to note any physical dependence. 

3. MARIJUANA IS A GATEWAY DRUG

            A “gateway drug” is considered to be a drug that leads to the act further use of other drugs that otherwise would not been consumed without the consumption of the “gateway drug”.  Findings of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that over time, there has not been a consistent relationship between the consumption of weed and other drugs. Thus there is no observable relationship between the consumption of weed and other drugs. (83)

          

Drugs like cocaine, heroine, and LSD all have huge detrimental impacts on health. But we see that marijuana has minimal adverse effects on health… so why should it be banned?

IT SHOULDN’T!

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 was the advent of harsh marijuana control in the U.S. The sale, control, and use of marijuana were now officially a punishable crime. 

But what has marijuana prohibition done for us? ALL it has done for us is further society’s susceptibility to violence, reduce economic efficiency, and decrease medicine availability.

1. VIOLENCE

            Remember the time when alcohol was banned? Yeeeah the ban from 1920 to 1933? Remember? The prohibition’s intention was to reduce alcohol and benefit society, but instead the rate of alcohol production / consumption and organized crime increase drastically, the exact opposite of the goal (^ Charles Hanson Towne, The Rise and Fall of Prohibition: The Human Side of What the Eighteenth Amendment Has Done to the United States (New York: Macmillan, 1923) p.159-162)

                                          

 Crimes in America during this time increased due to illegal production and transfer of alcohol. The prohibition was ended in 1933, and rates of crime dropped down to the low rates of pre 1920.

This is the current situation with Weed in America. 

Drug cartels are extremely dangerous many willing to murder in order to finish their job. Legalization will make these cartels unprofitable so many will have to shut down. A decrease in these groups could bring safety to many regions in both Mexico and the United States. 

2. Waste of Money and Resources

            Billions are spent on regulating something that has no harmful effects. Also, we waste tons of labor prohibiting marijuana. These people can be more productive (maybe some can even help grow it). Finally, the government spends even more money producing negative publicity for marijuana which all adds up to the population seeing it as far worse than it really is. (Here is a scientific look at the actual effect on your brain.)

… BENEFITS OF LEGALIZATION

1. Tax Revenues

      Billions and billions of dollars would be raised by state and federal government through a tax on marijuana similar to cigarette taxes. Our government is currently in a huge deficit, and has yet to find a clear remedy. Some government officials of California even predict a 14 billion dollar tax revenue increase if marijuana was legalized and regulated under tax (Source). Legalizing would be a huge boon not just to individual states but also to the nation as a whole and its reputation on the world stage. Currently, America is on the brink of economic disaster, having to service such an enormous debt to countries such as China, and legalizing weed at this juncture would alleviate America from all possibility of self-destruction. 

2. Shut down the black market f

Legalizing the sale and possession of marijuana would greatly weaken the illegal drug cartels. Weed is the largest commodity of the black market (stats), and taking this away from the black market would allow the transfer of money that would otherwise be circulating within the black market, to the legal American market. Money will naturally allocate back into the normal cycle of trade. Reducing the quantity of goods within the black market reduces the number of transactions. Illegal drug transactions is a crime itself, and is generally associated with other crimes such as murder to both involved and non-involved parties (crime). Thus legalizing marijuana will reduce the number of crimes, improving general welfare and safety. 

3. Hemp industry

      Cannabis hemp can be harvested and become a huge boon to the economy. Hemp industry has tremendous capabilities of anything from textiles to paper.  It would solve the problem of land. Some lands are not arable for some crops but may be arable for hemp. Hemp would maximize the use of land (resource) in America. The Hemp Industry will create tons of new jobs (YOU KNOW HOW IMPORTANT JOBS ARE RIGHT!) Hemp has very high yield, is environmentally friendly. Hemp has tons of good uses.

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4. Medical

      Marijuana could help alleviate many health problems.   It would also be a cheaper alternative to several other medications.

When the benefits outweigh the cons by this much, I think it makes the answer clear America...

LEGALIZE.