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Marijuana Prohibited: The Price Society and the Human Habitat Pay
Jason Waligoske
Freshman Composition
April 29,1992
The evil "killer weed" marijuana, hemp, cannabis hemp, Indian (India)
hemp, true hemp, muggles, pot, reefer, grass, ganja, herb, marijuana, etc. all
refer to the same plant - - cannabis sativa (Herer 1). Throughout history it
has been used for a variety of things - - to make sails, sealants, clothes,
paints, varnishes, homes, medicines, and even cans and the fuel to run them -
- and would continue to do so today in a more economic and environmentally
safe way than any alternative if marijuana was not illegal. Marijuana has
been outlawed unfairly; It should be re-legalized to allow access to its
medicinal properties and to stimulate the economy.
America's first marijuana law was a law that, instead of prohibiting,
actually ordered farmers in Jamestown colony, Virginia to try to grow hemp in
1619. Mandatory growing laws were enacted in various places through the mid
1700s. These were the times in which Founding Fathers George Washington,
Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin grew hemp (Herer 1). Even as late as
1943, Kentucky 4-H clubs were promoting a "Hemp Seed Project" to their members
(U of KY 1-6). Attitudes towards the, as Jack Herer wrote in The Emperor
Wears No Clothes, "strongest, most durable, longest lasting natural soft-fiber
on the planet (marijuana)"(2) have changed drastically from these early times.
The first prohibitive law at the national level was the Marijuana Tax Act,
passed in September 1937. It had been prepared in secret Treasury Department
meetings between 1935 and 1937. After the Supreme Court decision to uphold
the prohibition of machine guns through taxation, Henry Oliphant introduced
the Marijuana Tax Act directly to the House Ways and Means Committee, instead
of a more appropriate committee, to avoid debate of the bill (Herer 25-27).
Despite Oliphant's political tactics, certain groups did speak out against the
bill.
The American Medical Association (AMA) did not even recognize the bill
labeled by the slang term 'marijuana' as a bill to outlaw the vast medicinal
properties of cannabis until two days before the Spring 1937 hearings on the
bill. Dr. James Woodward (also an Attorney) testified on behalf of the AMA.
Dr. Woodward said:
'We (AMA) cannot understand yet, Mr. Chairman, why this bill should have
been prepared in secret for two years without any intimation, even to the
profession, that it was being prepared (United States 15). I say the medical
use of Cannabis had nothing to do with Cannabis or Marijuana addiction. In
all that you have heard so far, no mention has been made of any excessive use
of the drug by any doctor or its excessive distribution by a pharmacist. And
yet the burden of this bill is placed heavily on the doctors and pharmacists
of the country; and I say very heavily, possibly of all, on the farmers of
the country'(United States 12).
The National Oil Seed Institute also lobbied against the Tax Act. Ralph
Loziers, testifying on their behalf, said this:
'This bill is too all inclusive. This bill is a world of encircling
measure. This bill brings the activities -- the crushing of the great
industry under supervision of a bureau - - which may mean its suppression' (
Herer 26-27).
PART 2
The supporters of the Marijuana Tax Act were, for the most part,
conspirators. First of all, the modern harvesting machinery for hemp was just
beginning to be used by the wealthier farmers and harvesting crews. Articles
in the Feb. 1938 Popular Mechanics and the Feb. 26 1937 Mechanical Engineering
represent some of the first press coverage of this modern marijuana machinery,
and they called hemp the 'New Billion Dollar Crop' and 'The most profitable
and desirable crop that can be grown' (the names of the main articles in these
issues, respectively). These developments would have been very detrimental to
some large industries if marijuana was not prohibited as an agriculture crop;
DuPont and Hearst Paper Manufacturing Division (owned, along with a vast
newspaper chain, by William Randolph Hearst) booth stood to lose untold sums
of money. This is due to the fact that 80% of the cannabis plant is in the
cellulose hurd. This cellulose hurd is the cheapest, most environmentally
safe way to make plastics, paper, even rayon. The trees used to make paper
produce much less product at a higher cost, and DuPont's newly gained
chemical-plastic monopoly would be relatively worthless if hemp would have
remained legal (Herer 23).
In hopes of outlawing marijuana, Hearst led a deliberate 'yellow
journalism' campaign throughout his chain of newspapers from 1916-1937. This
fed a public fear of blacks, their 'voodoo satanic' music (jazz), and Mexican
'dope fiends' that rape white women. The hysteria caught quickly, and soon
absurd movies such as 'Reefer Madness' and 'Marijuana-Assassin of Youth' were
showing at movie theaters (Herer 24-25).
At the same time, Andrew Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury under Hoover,
protected his interests (Mellon Bank of Pittsburgh was and still is DuPont's
chief financial backer) by appointing Harry Anslinger to the head of the
Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (FBNDD, and later the DEA).
Anslinger was Mellon's nephew-in-law, and he returned the favor to his uncle
by repeatedly opposing marijuana and minorities using, mostly, Hearst's
tabloids as facts (Herer 22-27). So, since marijuana was outlawed unfairly,
what are the objections to re-legalizing it?
Other than the corrupt politicians that run America today (if there are
any doubts about high level corruption today, look at how Reagan, Quayle,
bush, Rangel, Biden, Bennet, DuPont, Martinez, Noriega, The CIA, DEA, Eli
Lilly, and the Iran-Contra Scandale al fit together), there are few objections
to legalization, and none whatsoever from a scientific standpoint; however,
many rich (and polluting) industries - - pharmaceutical companies, paper
companies, lumber companies, oil companies, chemical companies, plastic
companies, fertilizer companies, pesticide companies, automobile companies - -
oppose legalizing hemp because they would lose money. In general though, most
educated people do know that marijuana has legitimate uses.
Even social workers today (i.e. drug counselors) recognize that people can
and do use marijuana safely (Smith 17). As Steven Jonas, MD, MPH wrote "..
overall the safest of the recreational drugs (referring to alcohol, tobacco,
cocaine, heroin, and marijuana) appears to be marijuana..." (303). Marijuana
is not addictive, it has been used for thousands of years, and it has little
or no toxicity (Family Council on Drug Awarness). The combination of its
relative safety and its therapeutic effects make cannabis ideal for medical
purposes.
"For more than 3,500 years, cannabis/hemp/marijuana has been, depending on
the culture or nation, either the most used or one of the most widely used
plants for medicine" - Jack Herer (31). Among the medical uses of marijuana
are these: asthma, glaucoma, tumors, nausea relief, epilepsy, multiple
sclerosis, back pain, muscle spasms, antibiotic/antibacterial CBD
disinfectants, arthritis, herpes, cystic fibrosis, rheumatism, lung cleaner
and expectorant, relaxation and sleep, stress and migraine relief, appetite
increase, and saliva reduction (Herer 35-39). In the cases of glaucoma,
nausea relief, and epilepsy, cannabis is considered to be one of the best, if
not the best treatments. Dr. Chandradhar Dwivedi, a professor of
pharmaceutical sciences at South Dakota State University, said, "It's as good
anti-epileptic as currently available drugs." Dr. Dwivedi also believes that
there are strong grounds for the legalization of marijuana for medicine.
PART 3
Despit these facts, the "War on Drugs" policy of the Bush Admisitration
led to the suspension of the "compassionate" Medicine Program on March
10,1992. It was set up to give marijuana to patients that has passed the
necessary approval procedure; however, this program was not very compassionate
anyway - - 28 cases were approved by the FDA, but only 14 people in the United
States can legally use and possess marijuana for medical reasons (Gibian
1,9). A recent case in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals involved the
national Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and the Drug
Enforcement Agency (DEA). NORML was trying to get marijuana moved from
Schedule I to a Schedule II drug. In doing this, the DEA would be
acknowledging that marijuana has medical value and allowing doctors to
prescribe it. The court remanded the case, and the DEA did not have to do a
single thing (Potpourri 1,4)!
These infringements of justice, disguised as prohibition, have placed a
large economic burden on the U.S. The dependency that our nation has on
polluting petroleum products, contaminating chemicals, and deforestation is
unbelievable, especially when a better resource exists! If the prohibition on
hemp was repealed, a series of economic reactions would take place; farmers,
instead of the petroleum -rich Middle East countries, would be the backbone of
the economy. This, too, would greatly reduce pollution because hemp ethanol,
which can be produced at very low costs and burns cleaner than petro-fuels,
would replace gasoline. Also, the rate of deforestation would fall thanks to
the fact that hemp is the best source of paper, and it can be made into
compressed building (wood-like) material. Hemp could be used to make almost
everything around us in a cheaper, more environmentally sane way.
The socioeconomic effects of re-legalizing marijuana would also be
favorable. Crime would definitely go down, along with prison overcrowding,
and the tax money that was used to prohibit trade of the most widely used
illicit drug in the world would be freed up to use for drug education or
alcoholic treatment. Milton Friedman, the Nobel laureate in economics, wrote
in a recent article:
"There was a steady rise (in homicides) through World War I, and even then
an even steeper rise when the 18th amendment prohibiting the production,
distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages became effective. The rise
peaked in 1933, the year in which the Prohibition amendment was repealed. The
homicide rate then fell,a t first sharply, and then more slowly to the
mid-1950's, except for a brief but sharp rise during and after World War II
repeating behavior during World War I. In the mid 1960's, the homicide rate
started to rise, and then soared after the war on drugs was launched by
President Nixon and continued by his successors. ... there seems little doubt
that the war on drugs is the single most important factor that produced such
drastic increases. Even if only half the effect is attributed to the war on
drugs, 5,000 extra homicides a year and 45,000 extra prisoners is a high
cost..."
PART 4
Legalizing cannabis sativa would also effect the future generations of
America.
With the legalization of marijuana, the use of alcohol, tobacco and other
illicit drugs would probably decline greatly. Because many teenagers today
try alcohol and or tobacco at some time, whether it be to fit in high school
or in college, a non-addictive drug like marijuana, which is already
established itself as being safer (remember it can be digested, and is often
smoked out of a water-bong) than alcohol or tobacco, could save many of them
who do choose to try drugs. Hopefully, a significantly lower percentage of
teens would turn into nicotine addicts and alcoholics. Since alcohol and
tobacco kill about 432,500 people a year, and marijuana kills none, this
consideration alone should convince any American to urge for the legalization
of marijuana (Herer).
Upon close inspection of the facts, the evil 'killer weed' marijuana seems
more like the unfortunate 'hope for the future super plant' cannabis sativa.
Marijuana was outlawed unfairly; it should be re-legalized to allow access to
its medicinal properties and to stimulate the economy. If re-legalized,
marijuana would turn the economy around, let the farmers take control of a
vast natural resource, allow patients suffering with expensive synthetic drugs
to use marijuana, slow or halt the rapid environmental decay, and re-establish
American free trade and personal choice.
WORKS CITED: