Should Marijuana Be Legalized?

Should Marijuana Be Legalized?

In this year of the millenium, the American populace, even while in the midst of the most prolonged economic boom in the history of the Republic, is confronted with some serious problems. Any randomly chosen group of people asked to list the most dangerous of these, would include among their immediate answers: "The Drug Problem". By the "Drug Problem", do they mean the proliferation in our communities of all illicit, mood-altering, physically dangerous drugs? Or do they really mean the accompanying problems bought on by these proscribed substances: crime and the threat of crime, violence, disease, the growing number of users on public welfare, the loss of productivity to the country's industry, the congestion of the court system, the over-crowding of our penal institutions, the diversion of our tax dollars from more productive areas, the corruption of our law enforcement agencies, and directly and indirectly the erosion of our civil rights? Since I am confining this paper to discussing the laws prohibiting marijuana use, I will concede that it fits the first two categories above; i.e. it is by law, illicit, and by its nature, mood-altering. With the third category we enter upon shaky ground. There is no scientific proof that the prolonged use of marijuana exacts a greater physical toll on the user than the equivalent abuse of nicotine or alcohol. Under the name Extract of Cannabis, marijuana was once widely used medicinally in the United States, and still has minor medicinal uses in other countries. There is only one species - Cannabis Sativa - which yields both a potent drug and a strong fiber long used in the manufacture of fine linen as well as canvas and rope. The seeds are valued as birdseed and the oil, which resembles linseed oil, is valuable because paints made with it dry quickly. A Chinese treatise on pharmacology alleges to date from 2737 B.C. contains what is usually cited as the first reference to marijuana. Through out the history of man in just about every culture the mention of this substance is found used both as a fiber and a drug. The first definite mention of the marijuana plant in the New World, dates from 1545 A.D. when the Spaniards introduced it into Chile. The Jamestown settlers brought the plant to Virginia and cultivated it for its fiber. In 1762 "Virginia awarded bounties for hemp culture and imposed penalties on those who did not produce it." George Washington was growing hemp at Mount Vernon three years later - presumably for its fiber, though it has been argued that Washington was also concerned in increasing the medicinal or intoxicating potency of his marijuana plants. The argument depends on a curious tradition, which may or may not be sound - that the quality or quantity of marijuana resin (hashish) is enhanced if the male and female are separated before the females are pollinated. There can be no doubt that Washington separated the males from the females. Two entries in his diary supply the evidence. May 12-13, 1765: "Sewed hemp at muddy hole by swamp" August 7, 1765 "- began to separate (sic) the male from the female hemp at do- rather too late". George Andrews has argued in the Book of Grass (1967): an anthology of Indian hemp that Washington's August 7 diary entry "clearly indicates that he was cultivating the plant for medicinal purposes as well as for its fiber". He might have separated the males from the females to get better fiber, Andrews concedes - but his phrase "rather too late" suggests that he wanted to complete the separation before the female plants were fertilized - and this was a practice relating to drug potency rather than to fiber culture Brecher, Edward M. and the Editors of Consumer Reports Licit and Illicit Drugs 1st ed. Mount Vernon, New York: Consumers Union, 1972 The plant has many names: marijuana, hemp, ganja... The list is almost endless. To the ancient Hebrew it was Kaneh Bosm, a name that can still be found in the Hebrew version of the Holy Bible (Exod. chapter 30, verse 23; Isa. chapter 43, verse 24; Jer. chapter 6. verse 20; Ezek. chapter 27, verse 19; Song of Solomon chapter 4, verse 14). The Chinese were using the plant as a medicine 6,000 years ago. The first American law concerning hemp commanded all land-owning citizens to grow a certain amount per year; and taxes could be paid with hemp in all 13 of the original British-owned American colonies. George Washington grew hemp on his estate, as can be seen in a letter he sent to the gardener at Mount Vernon: Make the most of the Indian hempseed, and sow it everywhere! Hemp has over 60,000 different uses. Anything that can be made from petroleum can be made more cheaply and cleanly from hemp. The government's own USDA Bulletin 404 states that an acre of hemp will produce 4.1 times as much paper as an acre of trees. The plant that our own great-grandfathers grew, used, and depended on for food, fiber, medicine, and paper is today illegal to grow or possess in all 50 states. One of the largest issues concerning hemp is its usefulness as medicine. Today research shows its effectiveness in treating ulcers (Bateman, D.N., 1987. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and gastric emptying. Br. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 15: 139., Glaucoma Colasanti, B.K. et al., 1984. Intraocular pressure, ocular toxicity and neurotoxicity after administration of cannabinol or cannabigerol. Exp. Eye Res. 39: 231-259.), Parkinson's Disease Frankel, J.P. et al., 1990. Marijuana for Parkinsonian tremor. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 53: 436., Multiple Sclerosis Meinck, H.M. et al., 1989. Effect of cannabinoids on spasticity and ataxia in Multiple Sclerosis. J. Neurol. 236: 120-122. Asthma Tashkin, D., et al., 1973. Acute pulmonary physiologic effects of smoked marijuana and oral delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in healthy young men. New Engl. J. Med. 289: 336-341., and other illnesses. Harris, L. Analgesic and antitumor potential of the cannabinoids. In The Therapeutic Potential of Marijuana Cohen and Stillman, Eds. Plenum Press, New York, (pp. 299-305), 1976 Hemp remains an excellent, non-addictive painkiller that is completely non-toxic. In fact, it is physically impossible to overdose on even the most potent marijuana. Marijuana has never killed anyone, in the history of recorded medicine. It is a drug that patients or their caregivers could grow themselves, rather than pay the thousands of dollars per month that other, often less effective, medicines would cost. Since it is so safe, it can be self-administered with no fear of accidental overdose or side effects. In fact, on September 6, 1988 the administrative law judge for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Judge Francis Young, ruled that: Marijuana is less harmful than many common foods we eat... Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of he safest therapeutically active