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Marijuana. Stinking Filthy Disgusting Marijuana. Your Church

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Marijuana. Stinking filthy disgusting marijuana. Your church says it 's the Devil 's tool. Your government says it directly accounts for almost all crime and skumbags on the streets. Your teachers said "just say no." Your grandmother says it 's a "dirty Mexican drug." But the question is: what do you think about it? Did you ever actually have a chance, or the educated means, to make an informed decision and personal policy on marijuana? Or did you just follow the judicial trend? You pick up this article and furrow your brow; maybe this article could really help you out. Afterall, you 're smart enough to look past the stigmas and stereotypes for a moment to see the bigger picture. *** From the federal government 's point of view, …show more content…

*** Also consider the historical context behind this war against marijuana. When the first laws against marijuana use were enacted in 1915, it was a reaction against the Mexican immigrants, the Mormons, and the African American jazz musicians. At a congressional hearing, Texas legislator Harry Anslinger testified, "All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff [marijuana] is what makes them crazy!" The whole congregation just nodded their heads. If that isn 't blatant racism, then what is? In Utah, half of the Mormons left to Mexico once polygamy was publicly denounced by the head of the church; when these Mormon missionaries came back with their new drug and Mexicans, they were met with harsh criticism and new laws. In 1947, Anslinger wrote in a letter to another legislator, "Jazz musicians aren 't good musicians; we 're going to round the up, but we need more agents." At this time, doctors tested marijuana on dogs (for reasons they couldn 't even explain); congressional hearings lasted twenty minutes at most; women on death row were latching onto the drug as a plea bargain; and after the Korean and Cold Wars, fighting drugs became a campaign to unite the country against a common evil. *** Today, marijuana prohibition symbolizes many things. It 's a way for the US Government to shirk responsibility for social problems like unemployment,

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