A Call For the Emancipation of Marijuana
by Robert Reese, 2001
"Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to the individual than the use of the drug itself" said President Jimmy Carter in a message to Congress in 1977 (Family Council on Drug Awareness). Unfortunately, congress did not and has not listened to him. Even though numerous government-sponsored studies have proven that the use of the cannabis plant is safe and has many benefits, it is still illegal. Cannabis sativa is a flowering plant that has two main variations: marijuana and hemp. Marijuana contains the chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which alters the mind when smoked, eaten, drank, or taken in the pill form. It is often called grass, pot, reefer, Mary Jane, herb, weed, or one of over 200 slang terms (National Institute of Drug Abuse). Hemp is bred to have lower THC content so that it does not have mind-altering capabilities. It is often used to make fibers, clothing, oil, ropes, and to aerate the soil in crop rotation. The qualities of both strains of the cannabis plant are not new discoveries to humankind. In fact, the Chinese first recorded use of marijuana in the year 2727 B.C. (Schleichert 5). People in every inhabited continent legally used marijuana for recreation and medicine for thousands of years. It was not until after the "Reefer Madness" campaign of the 1930s that marijuana became illegal in the United States. The campaign gave exaggerated stories and false information to scare people away from the use of cannabis. Ever since, studies have shown that marijuana is safe and beneficial and activists have pushed for legalization, but governments refuse to legalize it. Instead, they have harsh laws prohibiting the use of marijuana. If convicted in a federal court for having an amount of marijuana equal to about one joint, a year-long prison sentence and a $10,000 fine can be imposed (Simmons 427). If the governments looked at the information about cannabis outside of their biased views, certainly they would come to the same conclusion I did: the use, cultivation, and sale of marijuana, hemp, and all other products from the Cannabis sativa plant should be fully legalized, both for medicinal and recreational use.
Imagine yourself being so nauseated that you can not even keep an anti-nausea pill in your stomach long enough for it to work. As a result, you can not keep any food down and are slowly withering away into nothingness. Now imagine that your doctor told you that there was a medicine that could take away your nausea and your pain, and give you a chance of living again. But, you cannot have this medicine because federal bureaucrats think that it will have adverse effects on society. You are given two choices: you can break the law and smoke marijuana or you can slowly die from lack of nutrition. There are thousands of people that have to face this decision everyday.
AIDS Wasting Syndrome is a condition that affects 98 percent of HIV patients (Potter 148). It is caused by the deadly combination of the nausea that HIV produces and the nausea that the medicines used to combat the virus produce. One of the most effective drugs in fighting AIDS Wasting Syndrome is THC. Seventy percent of patients put on a legal, pill form of THC, Marinol, gained a significant amount of weight (148). But, there are downsides to the pill form of THC. Marinol causes anxiety and disorientation and often cannot be digested by patients with severe nausea. Smoking marijuana, on the other hand, usually does not cause anxiety or disorientation and cannot be vomited (Hugghins). If smoking marijuana can bring relief to these AIDS Wasting Syndrome patients who find themselves in so much pain, it should be used often as a treatment and definitely should not be illegal.
AIDS Wasting Syndrome is not the only ailment that can be eased with marijuana. There is a long list of conditions that marijuana is used to treat (both legally and illegally) including arthritis, asthma, back pain, cancer, depression, epilepsy, glaucoma, insomnia, menstrual cramps, migraine headaches, multiple sclerosis, and even withdrawal from harmful drugs (1). It has been proven many times that marijuana has legitimate medical benefits, but the federal government will not allow it to be used as a medicine. Even though many local communities and states have legalized medical marijuana, the federal government still keeps it illegal. One of the more recent studies on medicinal marijuana was performed by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine. The institute found that "Marijuana can be effective in treating pain for some terminally ill patients, and legalizing it for medicinal use would not lead to wide spread abuse" (Haynes). The government needs to listen to the facts from numerous studies on marijuana, it needs to listen to the cries of agonized patients unable to use their medicine, and it needs to respond to these by legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.
Cannabis use is not limited to the pharmaceutical world; there are many industrial uses for the plant in the form of hemp. Even though there are many uses, the cultivation of hemp has been illegal in most countries since the 1930s. Recently, however, many nations, including Canada, Great Britain, Germany, and Australia, have legalized it again (Cauchon 13A). They have found that it is completely safe because the cannabis grown for hemp is bred to have a low THC content, so people cannot get high from smoking it. In addition to being safe, the use of hemp can be very useful to our environment. According to Dennis Cauchon's article, "Canadian Hemp Isn't Going to Pot," many large corporations say that hemp can help the environment by supplying products formerly produced with timber and synthetic fibers. Clothes, sails, ropes, paper, and carpet are just a few of the many things that can be made with hemp. And, growing hemp for these items is not a new idea; George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew cannabis for hemp and Washington even said, "Make the most of the hemp seed, and sow it everywhere" (Schleichert 9). The cannabis plant's usefulness is not limited to its products. The growth of the plant actually benefits the soil that it is grown in. It can be rotated with soybeans, wheat, and potatoes to replenish nutrients in the soil that these other plants use up (Cauchon 13A). The farming and harvest of hemp has many practical uses and no negative side-effects. Therefore, it should be legalized again in the United States as it is in most of the world.
The most controversial use of the cannabis plant is the most common: the use of marijuana as a mind-altering substance for recreational purposes. Although the benefits of smoking the marijuana for fun are not as obvious as the benefits of medicinal marijuana or hemp, they still exist and they outweigh the many troubles that the prohibition of marijuana is causing our society. The current marijuana prohibition is as harmful to America as the alcohol prohibition of the 1920's was. One of the most notable results of the alcohol prohibition was the rise of violent mobs that made their living by selling illegal alcohol. Many drug dealers and gangs are doing the same today through the sale of marijuana. David Boaz, vice president of the Cato Institute, says that crime has increased because drugs are illegal (Oliver 85). Because drug dealers cannot settle disputes in court, they often resort to drive-by shootings and other violence. The huge profits that dealers are making could be given to legitimate businesses and could be taxed to bring in revenue to the government. It is estimated that every year, over 7 billion dollars profit is made through the illegal sale of marijuana in the United States (84). If the government put a ten percent tax on that, it would bring in over 700 million dollars each year. If marijuana were legalized, tax dollars from its sales could be going towards education, transportation, and many more beneficial uses instead of supporting a world of crime.
Another serious problem that stemmed from the alcohol prohibition was that alcohol became much more dangerous. Instead of drinking beer and wines, many Americans turned to hard liquor that was easier to hide. In fact, much of the illegal alcohol sold during the prohibition was as high as 190 proof, or 95 percent alcohol (84). The same thing is happening today with marijuana. Its purity is often compromised. Because marijuana is illegal, the FDA cannot regulate the sale of it and therefore cannot check to make sure that it is safe (63). America quickly realized that the alcohol prohibition was harming society more than it was helping, but they have not been as quick to realize that the same is true with the marijuana prohibition. As we learned from the alcohol prohibition, the only way to deal with these problems is to legalize marijuana.
When the prohibition of the 1920's suddenly ended and alcohol again became legal, our nation did not become a country full of drunkards. Many people fear that if we legalize marijuana, there will be wide spread abuse of the nation, and the whole nation will become a bunch of "stoners." With alcohol's history as an example, we can confidently say that this will not happen. It has been proven to be a safe drug, so even if everyone decides to go get high, it will not bring problems to our society. The majority of people will use marijuana responsibly and enjoy its benefits. As with anything, there will be abusers of the substance, but we should not let their poor judgment hinder everyone else's right to use marijuana.
Marijuana can be used as a safer substitute for alcohol. People use marijuana and alcohol for the same reason: they enjoy the mind-altering qualities of the substances. Instead of getting drunk, people could get high on marijuana -- and it would be better for them. Dr. Leslie Iverson of Oxford University found that marijuana was less toxic than alcohol and high drivers were less dangerous on the roads than drunk drivers (Woolf). He was quoted as saying that "Cannabis is a safer drug than aspirin and can be used long-term without serious side effects." Smoking marijuana is less harmful to the body than alcohol. In a typical year, over 150,000 people die because of alcohol (Family Council on Drug Awareness 3). There has never been a death caused by marijuana, not even one. In fact, more people die from using aspirin than from using marijuana. Users can become physically addicted to alcohol, they cannot to marijuana. Even foods like coffee, sugar, and chocolate are more habit-forming than marijuana (4). Because marijuana is not addictive and has never caused a death, there is no reason that it should remain illegal.
There are minor medical consequences of smoking marijuana, however. They have been reported as being similar to the effects of smoking tobacco, including coughing, wheezing, and vulnerability to chest colds (National Institute of Drug Abuse). But, because marijuana users generally smoke less often than tobacco users do, marijuana's adverse side effects are less of a problem (Zimmer 112). In fact, there has never been a reported case of lung cancer or emphysema solely caused by marijuana usage. This certainly cannot be said of tobacco. Overall, marijuana is a much safer substance than tobacco and should be legal just like tobacco is.
There are many good people that like to have a good time by using cannabis. These people are not hurting anyone and should not be classified as criminals just because they smoke marijuana. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that over 30 percent of all high school seniors have smoked marijuana (Swan). Should one out of every three people be a criminal? More than 70 million Americans have tried marijuana at some point in their lives (Zimmer ix). Certainly, all these people are not criminals just because they wanted to have a good time. These people are not a danger to society. In fact, the Shafer Commission report of the Nixon administration found that cannabis smokers were actually less likely to be involved in violent crime than people who do not smoke (Family Council on Drug Awareness). When a third of the nation smokes marijuana and it makes them less likely to commit violent crimes, it does not make any sense that the use of marijuana is illegal.
Many of the people farming marijuana are just trying to provide for their families and should not be criminals just for trying to put food on the table. A recent newspaper article reported that a 63-year-old farmer from Morgan County, Colorado who had marijuana growing in one of his corn fields was given a 21 month prison sentence and half of his farm was taken away (Abbott 7A). Should the old man that Morgan County residents called a "great guy" be sentenced to prison for trying to make some extra money for his family? He never hurt anyone, he was just trying to make a better life and he should not be in prison. The laws against the cultivation of marijuana are completely ridiculous and, by breaking them, the farmer was not doing anything wrong. If the government created a law banning the growth of tomatoes, it would be no different than the laws banning the growth of marijuana. Both tomatoes and marijuana are safe and provide many good uses to consumers. People who grow tomatoes for a living are not criminals, they are just producing a safe product that people use and enjoy. People growing marijuana are doing the same thing and should not be classified as criminals either.
The biggest problems that marijuana is causing our society is coming from the prohibition of it. Real crooks are profiting from the sale of illegal marijuana while good people are being labeled as criminals. By legalizing marijuana, we would be helping our society in a great way. There are countless benefits that nature has offered to humankind in the gift of Cannabis sativa. We should be appreciative and take advantage of the medicinal, industrial, recreational, and commercial uses of the great plant. We need to free marijuana!
Works Cited
Abbott, Karen. "Marijuana Farmer Sentenced." Denver Rocky Mountain News 8 Dec 2000: 7A.
Cauchon, Dennis. "Canadian Hemp isn't Going to Pot." USA Today 7 Oct 1998: 13A.
Family Council on Drug Awareness. "10 Things Every Parent, Teenager & Teacher Should Know About Marijuana." On-line. Internet. 15 Jan 2001. Available WWW: http://www.fcda.org/tenthings.html.
Haynes, V. Dion. "Analysis Shows Some Benefits of Medical Marijuana." Chicago Tribune. 17 Mar 1999.
Hugghins, Stephanie Y. and Mrugeshkumar K. Shah. "The Debate Drags on: Should Marijuana be Legalized?" New Physician December 1998: 11-12.
National Institute of Drug Abuse. "Marijuana: Facts for Teens." 10 Feb 2000. On-line. Internet. 15 Jan 2001. Available WWW: http://165.112.78.61/MarijBroch/Marijteenstxt.html.
Oliver, Marilyn Tower. Drugs: Should they be Legalized. New Jersey: Enslow, 1996.
Potter, Dr. Beverley and Dan Joy. The Healing Magic of Cannabis. Berkeley: Ronin, 1998.
Schleichert, Elizabeth. The Drug Library: Marijuana. New Jersey: Enslow, 1996.
Simmons, Michael. Afterword. "The Madness Continues." Reefer Madness. New York: St. Martin's Griffon, 1998. 397-435.
Swan, Neil. "Marijuana, Other Drug Use Among Teens Continues to Rise." NIDA Notes. Apr 1995. On-line. Internet. Available WWW: http://165.112.78.61/NIDA_Notes/NNVol10N2/Marijuanateens.html.
Woolf, Marie. "Cannabis less harmful than aspirin, says scientist." Independent News 20 Oct 2000. On-line. Internet. 23 Jan 2001. Available WWW: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/UK/Health/2000-10/cannabis201000.shtml.
Zimmer, Lynn, Ph.D. and John P. Morgan, M.D. Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts. New York: Lindesmith Center, 1997.