Part One: The Lies Behind Prohibition "There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers [...] marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others." "Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death." "Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men." "Marijuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing" "You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother." - Harry J. Anslinger, United States Drug Czar 1930-1962 Regardless of political affiliation, anyone living in a modern society would be shocked and offended to read the above quotes ... especially from a man who held public office in what is considered to be a free and civilized nation for a total of 32 years, from FDR to JFK. Today even the most conservative people know that marijuana use doesn't lead to homicide or communism. And provided they have a conscience, they recognize the equal rights of “darkies,” or those of Caucasian women who choose to sleep with them. When Harry Anslinger was appointed head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1930, he knew that opiates and cocaine alone would not be enough to scare the public into expanding the power of his agency. He needed to create a new drug problem to secure his ambitions. And though most assume that the government criminalized cannabis in the best interests of its people, the actual story is much different. Propaganda, racism and scare-tactics were the favoured tools of Anslinger and co. And in 1930, they were put to use as an all-out-war was launched against cannabis. The fibrous stalks of the cannabis plant (known as “hemp”) are widely used to make paper, cloth and rope. One acre of hemp can produce four times the paper than one acre of trees, and can be grown in a single year as opposed to three decades. Hemp was the United States' fastest-growing industry at the time of Anslinger. Americans knew only of its industrial purposes; almost no one had heard of it being used as a recreational drug. Which meant they knew nothing about it. Anything they were initially told about its effects would be accepted as fact. And Anslinger knew this well. He gave the drug a Spanish name, “marijuana,” because racism against Mexicans was rampant in the US. His friend in the media, William Randolf Hearst, owned a large chain of newspapers. He had also invested heavily in the timbre industry, and did not want to see it replaced by hemp. So in his papers he started to run stories about a deadly new drug corrupting America's youth, a drug that lead to insanity and mass-murder, that rendered its unfortunate users completely unpredictable and “likely to do anything”. More and more of the media started to spread the message, despite it having no factual basis whatsoever. A few years passed and the American public began to pressure their lawmakers into doing something to stop the imaginary madness. A bill was drafted to outlaw cannabis. And on August 2nd, 1937, the Marijuana Tax Act was signed into law. All forms of cannabis, including hemp, were now classified as an illegal substance in the United States. The rest of the world quickly followed, and seven decades later its citizens still don't realized they've been lied to. Part Two: The Facts About Cannabis Cannabis subspecies sativa & indica have more useful medicinal properties than any one substance on planet earth today - a fact which is nearly indisputable no matter your views on prohibition. One of the most notable medicinal benefits of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and the plant in general is its inhibiting effects on cancerous cell growth. Though anti-drug lobbying groups would claim the opposite, nearly every modern study conducted shows that multiple chemicals in marijuana, including CBD and THC (also the main psychoactive in the plant) can slow or reverse tumour growth and have a preventive effect on the development of cancer in general – in the latter's case by causing aging cells to die before they can become cancerous. Studies have also shown that among those who smoke tobacco, smoking marijuana as well reduces their risk of developing lung cancer. In countries where medicinal cannabis use is legal with a prescription, it is often prescribed to cancer patients. The plant has also been shown to reduce nausea and increase appetite (the “munchies”) which can have a positive effect on those who suffer from cancer as well as HIV/AIDS. Cannabis can also be incredibly effective in treating Chron's disease, bipolar, anorexia, insomnia, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, asthma (by opening airways in the lungs) etc. Its pain-killing properties make it effective in treating more illnesses than I am willing to type. And I know first-hand the beneficial effects it can have on depression. Every one of the conditions listed it treats safely, with no addictive properties and far fewer negative side-effects than almost any other drug prescribed for them. It costs next to nothing to produce – you need water, you need dirt. If cannabis were discovered today, it would almost surely be regarded as the greatest medicinal discovery in human history. There are likely thousands of physical and mental health conditions of which cannabis can help neutralize the symptoms. Yet because of prohibition, most of the planet's population is deprived of this simple medicine that could help millions, if not billions of people world-wide. One of the most dramatic arguments for legalizing marijuana is this: Every year, alcohol kills almost 2 million people world-wide. Tobacco kills 5 million. Cannabis? Precisely zero. There's not been one death from cannabis in its thousands of years of use. Marijuana has a very low toxicity, and estimates are that one would have to smoke approximately 20 to 40 000 joints in under 45 minutes for their body to have a lethal reaction to THC. That's not possible to do. Besides, you would pass out from oxygen deprivation long before you could possibly overdose. Alcohol also makes people aggressive, which can lead to violence and sometimes death. Marijuana is known to make people passive and friendly, and the only violence it leads to is caused by crime fueled by prohibition. Tens of thousands of people die every year from drunk driving. Some argue that driving high can be safer than driving sober, as it makes drivers more cautious and doesn't delude the senses the way alcohol often does. Some would argue that comparison to legal drugs isn't relevant to the legalization issue. Actually, it is. It's a question of justice. If we overcrowd our prisons with users of a drug safer than both alcohol and tobacco, it doesn't seem right that the latter two remain legal. Not that those drugs should be outlawed, either. Prohibition of any drug always does more harm than good. When the US outlawed alcohol in the 20's and 30's, it effectively handed control of the country over to the mafia. Usage of the drug rose to record levels. Organized crime was rampant. This is the same of marijuana. The illegality of cannabis fuels a ruthless criminal industry that benefits from being illegal. In the Netherlands, where cannabis use was partially legalized in the 70's, use has actually gone down from when it was completely illegal. Use of hard drugs, which have also been decriminalized, has notably declined as well. Then there's the argument that marijuana use kills brain cells. Not true. The study anti-drug organizations cite when making this claim is a government-sponsored study done in the late 70's, in which a small number of test monkeys had excessive amounts of high-potency marijuana smoke pumped through masks strapped over the monkeys' faces. This was done routinely, and at the experiment's end, the monkeys had lost substantial amounts of braincells. That's fine, except that the study had one major flaw. Exclusively marijuana smoke was pumped into the masks, resulting in a serious lack of oxygen for long periods of time. Oxygen deprivation kills braincells. It was not the smoke from the marijuana that yielded the study's results. It was the lack of oxygen. Nearly every study done since has shown no braincell loss whatsoever; in fact, some have even suggested that cannabis use can stimulate brain cell production in some areas of the brain. And then there's the misleading claim that cannabis is addictive. It's not. It's often habituating, but anything enjoyable can be. You can make a habit out of eating cookies. That doesn't mean they should be illegal. Drugs like alcohol, tobacco and even caffeine are all physically addictive; i.e, a user develops a physical dependence on the substance after long-term use, and when deprived of it, go into withdrawal. But coffee remains legal. Not that marijuana use is completely harmless. I myself have experienced noticeable short-term memory loss since I started smoking heavily. Smoke inhalation in general can't be good for your lungs. And it can definitely lead to amotivational syndrome. But these risks are minimal and nothing compared to the disastrous effects of prohibition. In conclusion, the illegality of cannabis is bad for everyone except the growers and dealers. Legalize it, regulate it, and tax the fuck out of it. "They must find it difficult...those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority." - Gerald Massey
Good article, but a couple of points: 1) It's also worth mentioning that Portugal has decriminalised (all?) drugs, with the result that usage has gone down. 2) I realise it's not a scholarly treatise, but references would do much to improve its credibility - while I don't doubt that marijuana has some medical uses, the range of ailments claimed pushes towards the extraordinary.
God made weed, man made booze. Who do YOU trust?
God made weed, man made booze. Who do YOU trust? Man, because he made Ecstasy and then all was forgiven.
