The Legalization Of Marijuan Marijuana

“The oldest known written record on cannabis use comes from the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung in 2727 B.C. Ancient Greeks and Romans were also familiar with cannabis, while in the Middle East, use spread throughout the Islamic empire to North Africa. In 1545 cannabis spread to the western hemisphere where Spaniards imported it to Chile for its use as fiber. In North America cannabis, in the form of hemp, was grown on many plantations for use in rope, clothing and paper” (Cannabis + Coca). Marijuana used to be listed in the United States Pharmacopeia from 1850 until 1942 and was prescribed for numerous conditions such as labor pains, nausea, and rheumatism. Increased use of pot as an

Cannabis has been used as an agent for achieving enlightenment throughout all of time. It is described in an Oriental medical compendium traditionally considered to date form 2737 B.C. It has a long history of being used as a medicinal herb. Its origins spread from China to India and then over into North Africa and could be found in Europe as early as 500 A.D. It was a major crop in the colonial North America. It was extensively grown during WWII.

Cannabis was used by almost every ancient civilization for, but not limited to, ropes, clothing, medicine, and recreation. Marijuana has only been illegal for the past 73 years. The interesting thing about it’s illegality is the fact that Cannabis used to be very legal in the United States. Prior to 1937, cannabis was the largest agricultural crop in the United

Jumping ahead a few thousand years: according to Marty Ludlum and Darrell Ford the first American law concerning cannabis was passed in 1619, the law required every household to grow hemp since it was viewed as a strategic necessity. By 1890 hemp had placed right behind cotton as a major cash crop in southern states. Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and a few other colonies later made hemp a legal tender, which increased production by farmers greatly. Some of the Founding Fathers including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson even grew hemp. (Page 37-51). Today the list of government officials who have admitted to smoking pot includes: mayors, governors, members of the House of Representatives, Senators, and presidents.

The use of marijuana has been around for thousands of years. As reported by Caroline Cahill in the article “Marijuana 101: A Brief History of Cannabis Geography,” the writer notes “with roots planted in prehistoric China and seeds unknowingly sewn along the Silk Road, evolutionary and

When we imagine the uses of marijuana, we see the dazed hippies of the 1960s and 70’s, but really the first written record of cannabis goes back to 2727 B.C. by Chinese Emperor Shen Nung and it has been dated through almost every historic time. Not only was cannabis used for recreational and medicinal properties, but hemp was also used for cloth and textiles, paper, soap and hygiene products, food, and even industrial products such as fuel. Marijuana is not just the idolized drug mentioned in countless songs and movies that we tend to dismiss as just a joke. It appears in our daily life in various ways mostly to eliminate it, but recently it has become a more controversial topic with the legalization in some states. The debate to end the prohibition has gone into the recent presidential campaign and with the knowledge of Colorado’s recent change to legalizing marijuana we can know evaluate the evidence. The Federal Government should legalize marijuana across the country because of the economic benefits, the societal impacts, and the economical effects.

Cannabis has had a much more troubled history in recent times, but it wasn’t always so. In the early modern period, cannabis was still very much an important part of European culture and industry. Spanish explorers actually brought the plant with them to North America as early as 1545! During this time, the hemp plant was used for a number of different products. Clothing, paper, and shipping ropes were all manufactured from it.

Marijuana was first discovered in China around 2727 BC. People from China called marijuana Cannabis Sativa. After that it was spread from China to the Greeks, Romans and Mideast. People from northwest called the plant hemp. Hemp was used to make fibers for rope, paper and clothes (drug enforcement administration ). Marijuana was brought by Spanish people in 1545 to the Americas. It was the big commercial crop in America but was slowly replaced by cotton. In 1937 it got banned at the national level by “Marijuana Tax Act 1937.” The main reason was that the most states believed that marijuana is an addicting drug and use of marijuana lead people to harder drug like meth , heroine etc . In 1969, in a debate about marijuana legalization in the United States,

In today’s society, marijuana is utilized by many adults and even teenagers. Whether the reason for the use is for medical reasons, obtain a high, for socializing, escaping depression; marijuana has impacted many live for the better. Marijuana or cannabis has been known to man since as early as 7000 B.C. In 1619, the colony of Jamestown in Virginia passed the first cannabis-related law, stating that it is required for all farmers to grow cannabis sativa or hemp plant because of its strong fiber that where being used to make sails, ropes and even clothing. During the 1800s, cannabis extract medicines were produced by American pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly, Parke-Davis and Squibb. In 1910, in the Southwestern United States, Mexican immigrants introduced recreational use of cannabis, in which the immigrants referred to as “marihuana” (Mark, 2015)

“The first recorded mention of cannabis used in a medical context comes from the Shennong pên Ts’ao ching of the earliest texts on herbal medicine, which dates back to 2700 BCE.” ("Sensi Seeds, 2015, "What is medicinal marijuana?", para.2).

Cannabis, is a flowering plant which can be divided into three distinct sub-species; Sativa, Indica, and Ruderalis, all of which contain varying amounts of the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. This green leafy plant has had a long time and tumultuously intertwined history with mankind. Archeological digs from thousands of years into the past have been a source to study ancient Cannabis and its significance in human development. Up until the 1930s, marijuana use as a natural resource and medicinal herb had been carried through since as early as the Neolithic Period (10,200 – 2000 BCE), when hemp was used to make textiles. The flowered buds and seeds have been found in burials ranging from China to Siberia, dating back as far

Before I proceed, however I will like to share basic information about Marijuana. The scientific name for Marijuana is Cannabis, and there are two main types or “strains” known as Indica and Sativa. The psychoactive drug in Cannabis which promotes the “high” is tetrahydracannibol or THC, which reacts with neuro-receptors in the brain. Cannabis is also known as: reefer, weed, grass, ganja, green, maryjane, buddah, bud, the devil’s lettuce, dank, and so on. It can be smoked in many different ways and has been used medically since the beginning of civilization. The oldest evidence of Cannabis use came from an Egyptian tomb dating around 300 BC, in which Cannabis was found in large bundles beside the tomb as well as in braziers around the burial chamber.

Hemp is identified as the first and oldest human agriculture crop,explained by Richard Hamilton in the 2009 Scientific American article on sustainable agriculture. Marijuana dates back all the way to 2787 BC in the writing of the CHinese emperor Shen Nung. They focused on its medication purposes; rheumatism, gout, and malaria. They ignored the intoxicating properties and thought the healing part was more important. In 1545 the spanish brought marijuana to the NEw World. The English then brought it to early JamesTown in 1611 and was grown alongside tobacco. BY 1890 Hemp became a major cash crop. Some historians say that its appearance came about during prohibition and Its recreational use was usually restricted to only jazz

The cannabis sativa plant, whose dried flower extracts can form potent recreational marijuana, was in great demand because of its long fibers which could be used for the production of clothing, ropes, and sails. In fact, The Assembly of Jamestown Colony, Virginia, passed legislation in 1619 making it compulsory for every farmer to grow the Indian hempseed – ironically America’s first marijuana law. Other colonial states like Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania allowed hemp to be exchanged as legal tender and could even be used to pay taxes. The plant was an essential requirement during war times and farmers would be jailed if they were not able to produce enough hemp. Men who Americans hold in great reverence grew and encouraged the growth of hemp. George Washington grew hemp as his primary crop in the late 18th century for fiber production at Mount Vernon. Thomas Jefferson grew the plant as a secondary crop at Monticello and urged farmers to grow hemp in place of tobacco due to its many useful qualities. Even Benjamin Franklin used cannabis as the raw material to start one of America’s pioneering paper mills.

Under the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, there was no chemical distinction made between the two substances. Because of this, hemp eventually became illegal when marijuana did. (Williams 4). While industrial hemp has been used for centuries to make rope, clothing, and other materials, it has never been used for smoking due to its lack of THC. Cannabis was used first in about 8000 BC for cloth and textiles, and by 2700 BC it was incorporated into most cultures for fabric, cordage, food and medicine. From 1000 BC to 1883 AD hemp was considered the world largest agricultural crop (Schreiber 159). Hemp didn't just have its roots in other cultures either; it has been used in America for a very long time. The first recorded hemp plot in North America was planted in 1606 by a French botanist named Louis Hebert (Jenkins 1). From the early 1600's to 1859 hempseed oil was the most used lamp oil in the world. In early America, most colonies enacted "must grow" laws that made it illegal for farmers not to grow hemp. The first U.S. flag was sewn with hemp fabric in 1777 (Schreiber 161). Famous people such as Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington were avid hemp farmers. George Washington was once quoted saying, "Make the most of the Indian hemp seed and sow it everywhere." Back then, hemp was recognized as a versatile crop, yet today, with other countries allowing the production of hemp, the U.S. still considers this