Why Is Marijuana Illegal?

In modern society marijuana has always been considered a sort of taboo subject in the United States due mainly to the fact that it is illegal. Many people don’t realize however that considering the history of our country, marijuana has only been illegal for a relatively short time span. Several of our founding fathers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, grew marijuana for hemp (the material derived from the plant) regularly and there is even speculation Washington smoked the plant occasionally. Back in those days marijuana did not have the sinister reputation it has today but instead was a vital part of colonial life, with the hemp material having a number of uses including rope, clothing, and paper (West, 1998). It wasn’t until the early 20th century that the public opinion regarding marijuana began to shift and restrictive laws were put in place that would eventually lead to illegalization.

Before one can begin to explore why marijuana should be made legal, the factors going into the original ban on marijuana must first be known. Since the early 1900’s a great number Mexicans began to move across the border and find a new home in many of the southwestern states. Unfortunately, the American citizens at the time were not very welcoming. They viewed the massive Mexican immigration as a problem that needed to be dealt with. Unlike most Americans, many Mexicans used cannabis as a recreational drug by smoking it. American law makers used marijuana as a way to drive out the Mexican population. Even though at the time scientific research had been completed showing that the drug was not very dangerous, the government blamed the drug for all the negative qualities the American people viewed in the Mexicans. Harry Anslinger, head of the Bureau of Narcotics, began releasing waves of propaganda depicting the drug as extremely dangerous. He claimed that marijuana contributed to insanity, violence, and rebellion. Thousands of newspapers, magazines, and other sources of media depicted

The legalization of marijuana has been a debated subject in America since the 1970's. The pro-marijuana society in America has made claims as to how marijuana can help cure or lessen the effect of some diseases and that by legalizing the drug; the use of pot will actually decline. The fact of the matter is that marijuana is a drug that can be placed into a similar category as cocaine or heroine. Like these other drugs, pot (marijuana) smoking carries with it serious side effects that can effect the user forever, and sometimes-even cause death. Marijuana was first cultivated in America during the colonial time period and was used as a fiber for rope and even clothing. The plant was not used for its psychoactive properties until 1910,

In 1545, the Spanish brought marijuana to the New World. It was introduced in Jamestown in 1611, where it became a major commercial crop grown as an innocent source of fiber (specifically, hemp). By 1927, the production and possession of marijuana had been outlawed throughout the United States, causing a prohibition that is still in effect 80 years later. Since then, the world has seen the violent rise of drug cartels and the high price of fighting illegal marijuana use (Narconon). Marijuana should be legalized because significant research shows that legalization will benefit our society socially and economically.

While marijuana was not actually outlawed until the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 it was a part of the country and society since before the arrival of its current transplanted inhabitants. Hemp is the name of a species of Cannabis that has been used throughout history for many things including rope, clothing, medicine, oils and other such novelties. Marijuana and hemp are both of the species Cannabis Sativa and occur naturally along with a score of other variations of the plant. Marijuana is simply a form of hemp that is higher in delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), marijuana’s naturally occurring psychoactive chemical. Today we hear many nicknames for marijuana including: weed, pot, budda, grass, and bud to name a few. Marijuana has long been used by the indigenous peoples of North and South America for many things, from medical to religious purposes. Of course a select few Europeans exploited narcotics and different types of marijuana. However, in Europe it was not a widespread phenomenon, and neither was it from the time of colonization or even industrialization in America. It was not until the era of the 19th amendment to the U.S. constitution, known as prohibition, that marijuana became a widely used substance in the U.S..

Have you ever wondered when and why marijuana was made illegal? The herbal plant, commonly used in medicines, was not considered a drug in the early 1900s. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 banned the use and sales of marijuana. This act was put in place due to careless slander. Marijuana, in America should be legalized because it is safer than alcohol and tobacco, marijuana funds gangs and cartels, and marijuana can replace toxic, addictive pharmaceuticals.

When cannabis was first introduced its primary use was not for smoking or even medical it was for creating other things like clay pots and a fiber for making rope. Its first human consumption recorded back in 2737 B.C. by the Chinese emperor as a treatment for gout, malaria, beriberi, rheumatism, and poor memory. This drug didn’t enter the United States until the mid-1800s but by that time it was used as an intoxicant and a medicine. Marijuana entered the states by Mexican immigrants in the 19th and 20th century but was not popular. Marijuana was limited to the lower society pretty much minority smoked the drug. After its extended period of continuous use the government began to crack down and created different acts and legislation in 1937 such as the Marihuana act which puts a

The article by Joseph Lowe about the legalization of marijuana provides a different kind of support for the argument, using facts and numbers rather than

In 1996 the first law for legalizing weed was in effect. Proposition 215 also known as the California Compassionate Use Act. This proposition allows patients to posses and cultivate marijuana. for their medical reasons. They were allowed to do so after being recommended and approved by a California licensed

Marijuana became a problem in America from 1913 to the late 1930s. California was the first state to ban marijuana in 1913, and Utah outlawed marijuana in 1914. From 1915 to 1937 it was banned by 30 states, in the southwestern states it was outlawed because of racial prejudice against the mexicans who used it. In other states they thought that marijuana was a “gateway” drug and lead to heroin addiction. Marijuana also became illegal because of Henry Hearst, he invested in the timber industry to support his newspaper business and he did not want hemp as a competitor. Another man was also trying to get marijuana banned, he was the director of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger. He saw a business opportunity, like many other corrupt

Marijuana was first outlawed in the United States in the 1930s by the Marijuana Tax act of 1934. At the time smoking was done primarily by black men and those in urban or poor communities as well as jazz Musicians. The expansion of users started in the 1960’s with the age of the baby boomers and the vietnam war along

The history of marijuana is quite interesting. Marijuana has gone from being an important crop of the early settlers, to being outlawed in many countries, including the United States. To better understand marijuana, I will trace it back to its origins, and explain how marijuana was used in the beginning. I will then take a closer look at the history of marijuana in the United States and how this plant has evolved over the years. An interesting fact that one should ponder is that ?in 1762 Virginia imposed penalties on those who did not produce it [marijuana]? (Sloman 21). This is quite a contrast to how marijuana is treated today. If one is caught growing, selling, or even using marijuana, there is consequences

Marijuana use is not uncommon in the United States of America. “In 1996, 68.6 million people— 32% of the U.S. population over 12 years old had tried marijuana or hashish at least once; 5% were current users” (Joy, Watson, and Benson 137). In the beginning of the twentieth century, marijuana was legal in all of the states until 1915 where California chose to criminalize use of the drug in twenty states by 1931. Moberly and Hartsig believed the regulation for marijuana came about for three reasons: “racial prejudice; an assumption that marijuana would be used as a substitute for narcotics and alcohol; and publicity surrounding the 1925 Geneva Convention’s attention to marijuana” (415). Then, in 1996, California

Throughout the years, marijuana play a major role in parts of the world. It had play a role of healing patients. According to Clare Wilson, a scientist, had support this fact by stating, “The plant is used in traditional medicine all over the world to relieve pain and muscle spasms.” (64) Not only the earliest people know the existent of the plant, but also made use of the plant as well. If the earliest people were comfortable of using marijuana as a medical use, then it shouldn’t be illegal to begin with. The earliest people didn’t have to rely on any medication pills since all they needed was just marijuana to make them feel a lot better. Marijuana became dub as an illegal pant by congress in 1937, called the Marihuana Tax Act, which stop the use of marijuana as a commercial use. (Katel 534) Ever since the act was passed, it was impossible for people to research on cannabis.

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