Of all of the drugs in America deemed illegal, marijuana is the least addictive with the least harmful side effects. It offers medicinal benefits to patients and is a highly profitable commercial commodity. Marijuana has been prescribed to patients as early as 2737 B.C. [1] Hemp has also been used to make fabric for many centuries, dating back to 8000B.C. [2] With the war on drugs seemingly never-ending and extremely expensive, marijuana can be more useful and profitable to our country if it were only legal to grow and use. So, why should it remain illegal or more importantly why did it ever become illegal to begin with?
If you think that Cannabis Sativa (hemp or more commonly known as marijuana) was brought into this country for the sole use for recreational or medicinal purposes, think again. During our country's infancy, marijuana seeds were used to make oil which was, at the time, a necessity for food and fuel and the stalks were used to make paper, rope, fabric for clothing, and many more valuable resources. [3] Marijuana was an essential resource to the colonists because it helped them attain the necessities in order to survive.
The first laws that regulated the use of marijuana were designed specifically to increase its availability, profitability, and usability. In 1619, Virginia passed a law that required the colonist to grow hemp on their land. [3] Other states followed and also made it mandatory for colonists to grow hemp on any land not purposed for food. Even Thomas Jefferson stated that "Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth & protection of the country." [4] He also put his life in danger when he successfully smuggled out “prized seeds out of China”, if caught taking he would have faced the penalty of death since the Chinese treasured their high quality hemp seeds and had made it illegal to export them.[4] Hemp was a valuable resource for Russia, Europe, North America during the 16th and 18th centuries mostly used for sails and rope because they were very strong and rot resistant. [2]
Up until the 1900's its use, as a drug, for medicinal purposes was widely known and worldwide, it was used to treat ailments such as earaches, malaria, gout, and "oddly enough poor memory". [1] But recreationally, it was barely known to middle class Americans until Harry J. Anslinger made it his mission to rid the United States of America of marijuana which he coined the “killer weed”.[5] He was also on a mission to teach the American people of the dangers of the “killer weed” so he had education films, pamphlets, and books created to help educate them. [5] As the commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry J. Anslinger made minorities his sacrificial lambs in his crusade, testifying at the 1937 Tax Act hearings, “Most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz, and swing results from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negros.” [3] At the time, Anslinger concocted stories of Negros becoming violent and murderous after smoking marijuana and cited jazz music as a catalyst to its use. He even made up a story about “two Negroes” who, kidnapped “a white fourteen year old girl and kept her for two days in a hut under the influence of marijuana” and when she recovered she was found to have syphilis. [3] This he repeated several times to the members of Congress to scare them into making marijuana illegal.
In 1937, fearing that masses of violent Negros under the influence of marijuana, rioting and raping white women, as Anslinger so eloquently put it. Fear drove Congress to pass the Marijuana Tax Act “with little debate, let alone input from the medical or scientific communities”. [6] The Act made the possession and use of marijuana taxable. There was never any medical evidence that marijuana caused its users to become violent psychopaths. What little data there was before 1936, none of it led scientist or doctors to believe the drug had any ill effect on people who used it medically or recreationally. During the hearings, preceding the Act’s vote, no doctors were questioned about the effects of marijuana on people much less Negros or Mexicans, “in fact, the only doctor who showed up to testify spoke out against the law. [6] No research or studies were ever presented for either argument. None of the concocted stories which Anslinger made during his testimony were ever checked or investigated to verify that they actually occurred. [3] The marijuana laws simply passed due to its racially ignorant lawmakers not to due to evidence that would help their decision. [6]
Even though marijuana is still prohibited it is still readily available to anyone seeking to buy it and use it, and the only ones to profit are the cartels which are collecting “65 to 70 percent” of the enormous profits marijuana brings in. [7]
Currently drugs like cocaine, heroin, and marijuana are deemed illegal or controlled and yet children are still able to obtain it. Drug dealers aren’t asking for identification when selling drugs to an individual. [7] Today, teens can obtain a marijuana joint a whole lot easier than they can a get a beer or booze simply due to the fact that alcohol is regulated. [8] With regulation of marijuana it would also make it hard for children and teens to obtain marijuana.
If marijuana was legalized the country would not need to spend billions of dollars to fight the war on drugs. The United States government spent $20 billion dollars every year in the first decade of the twenty-first century on drug control. [5] It would also bring the cost down when it comes to arresting and housing those that have been arrested for marijuana offenses. Currently, police throughout the United States arrests “more than 700,000 Americans” for marijuana offenses each year. [5] Of those arrested yearly, 86% are for “simply possessing marijuana.” [5] Police could be focusing on crimes that are more violent in nature like murders, rapes, and robbery; instead they are spending time arresting and incarcerating Americans for simply having marijuana.
Once marijuana is legal the cartels would go out of business because the import of the plant could then be taxed making it less expensive to obtain locally. It can also be grown locally and on virtually any climate and won’t require pesticides or chemical fertilizers since it is resistant to insects all on its own. [4] It could also be used to create all the resources it once created for the colonists at our countries inception. It could make things like paper and save a few acres of trees and won’t require chemicals to make, or it could be used to create biofuel to maybe one day minimize our dependence on foreign fossil fuels. [5] Much needed research could be done and eventually more medical drugs could be created for the benefit of all who need it. Currently, since marijuana is illegal there is very limited research done on the effects of it because the government restricts access to the marijuana. [9] We can learn more of all its possibilities if only the government would admit that it should not have become illegal to begin with due to lack of evidence or possibly the lack of intelligence in the Congress of the 1930’s.
A plant that grows quickly in soils even too poor for food crops, requires no extra nutrients or pesticides, revitalizes ravished soils, and can be used as a medicinal aid for pain and nausea is a wonder plant with many possibilities awaiting. Yet, the federal government deems it illegal because of racial indifferences, scare tactics, and ignorance. Marijuana is a commodity traded all over the world and has a large number of industrial, commercial, and medicinal uses with biodegradable properties. How could it be such a horrible thing when there is no scientific or medical proof? If there was any drug that should be legalized, taxed, and regulated, it is Cannabis Sativa or more commonly known as marijuana.