throwbackweedsm

Hi I have to write a school paper on the legalization of marijuana and also give a persuasive speech on it and I'm all for it I just wanted some feedback on what u think pros and cons of the situation and also people from any country other than the usa could you please state you country and just tell me if weed is legal in you country or not for argumentive purposes thank you very much please email me @ janae15@excite.com or send me a private message

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every dog has its day

marsram

This society should worry about how an individual acts after he is under the influence rather then worrying about what someone puts in their system. Many people of legal age get "high" on substances and do nothing but stay in their own homes minding their own business. Just because a small segment of society can't control themselves when under the influence(this includes alcohol)why should the rest of society be put on a "witchhunt." I am now 52 and have been persecuted for over 30 years because I smoke "weed." If Nevada would have decriminalizes Marijuana then what a joke it would be to go to a court in any other state for a Marijuana offense. We need a nation wide refereneum to once and for all stop the madness surrounding "Reefer Madness."
I wish to discuss with you about a plan I am beginning, ironically we shall call it "Grass Roots Movement" heres how it works. You can grow up to 12 plants in your home. You would go to your local "pot tax city dept." and pay $7.50 a month for each of your up to 12 plants. Hell I can write a web page to pay your monthly "pot tax" if you wish. Since female plants are the only ones you can smoke if one of your plants is a male you turn it in to the "pot tax city dept." and now you are only paying for 11 plants per month. If another one of your plants dies you can also turn that into the "pot tax dept." and be credited with that plant. Since everyone doesn't have a green thumb I as would many Americans rely on our friends to do the growing. You see under this new law what the grower does with his 12 plants is his business as long as he pays his monthly taxes. This "pot tax" could be used for alot of things use your imaginations. Of course strict guidelines would be in place for minors. Adults who would offer Marijuana to minors would be strictly punished. Parents who grow Marijuana would have to keep it locked up like a gun cabinet.
The South American countries would be offered a chance to mass produce Marijuana for various products. (Hemp clothes, Hemp seed Diesel Fuel, Car Tires from Hemp oil residue, etc.) This would be done in an attempt to rid America of Cocaine Addiction. Lets face it Fellow Americans the South Americans aren't making any money growing coffee beans and bananas and thats why they resort to Cocaine production. Its easier to transport than Marijuana and is more profitable. If we give an inch we gain a mile and with this idea I believe we could all but eliminate the cocaine production in South America. These people just wish to make a living and I believe in substituting one product for another if it means less death and destruction.
Finally I wish to touch on the term "GateWay Drug" in reference to Marijuana. If Marijuana is the "GateWay Drug" to harder drugs then Beer must be the "GateWay Drug" to harder Alcohol? Thats funny because most stats state that the majority of people who drink beer or wine don't have any desire to go on to "hard liquor." Just like Marijuana leading to Cocaine or Herioin only a small minority of beer drinkers go on to be hooked on Moonshine, Bourbon, Scotch etc etc. America we need to take control of our homes and tell the Government that what we do behind our doors is our business as long as we abide by what I wish to call a "revamped Judicial System of Modern Law." As long as I don't Molest Children, Rape Fellow Humans, Kill for any reason, Steal from my brother or sister or publicly debacle another human being I should be able to do what I wish in my home without any repercussions from the US government!!

SoMaBlaZe

Well that sucks you ahve to write a paper but at least its about Marijuana .

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(: SoMaBlaZe
-BlaZe iT uP-
420

xlite

This should make it easier, my research paper ... its good stuff. i got published in the university english book for next year



Life often meets us face to face with many choices. We often have to decide between left or right, yes or no, legal or illegal; choices that we base on common sense and our best interests or those of our associated groups. If you were presented with a mystery product that was capable of providing the overall majority of the world's paper and textiles; meet all of the world's transportation, industrial and home energy needs, while simultaneously reducing pollution, rebuilding the soil and cleaning the atmosphere all at the same time (Herer 1)... but had mild side effects if someone decides to smoke it, what choice would you make? It’s obvious; you would choose to have this product incorporated throughout the nation. Well, this product exists. It’s a naturally occurring plant called cannabis, more commonly known as marijuana.
For some reason, our nation regards this plant as a dangerous drug that only violent criminals use. Many people do not realize the full potential of this amazing plant and are being fed half-truths and misleading information by the leaders of the Drug War; the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), and other organizations. There are many myths which people believe are true that influence their standpoint on the legalization issue. Such myths range from harm
it causes to the body (including deadly overdoses), to addiction factors, to the idea of cannabis being a gateway drug. Many people also do not have the facts on what the drug-war is costing our country and exactly how effective it is; nor do they know it has a racist edge to it. Most people never question what they hear, because they hear it from people they know and trust, such as their parents, teachers, or government. It’s sad that our nation is so set on keeping this plant illegal simply because they don’t know the truth.
First, in a strategic approach to inform the public and legalize the cannabis plant, the myths must be dispelled. Many people believe that cannabis is very harmful to the body, in more ways than one. Some think that it causes brain damage, and others think it suppresses the immune system, both notions are misleading.
Marijuana is not proven to cause any damage to the brain. According to Paul Hager, Chair at the ICLU Drug Task Force, this myth is based on the a study done by Dr. Robert Heath, in the late 1970s on monkeys. Heath’s work was strictly criticized by those in the medical field for “its insufficient sample size (only four monkeys), its failure to control experimental bias, and the misidentification of normal monkey brain structure as ‘damaged’” (Hager 1). In fact, there were two studies done later in the 1970’s by the Journal of the American Medical Association that showed no evidence of brain damage within heavy marijuana users (Hager 1). The American Medical Association even officially came out to the public in favor of decriminalization of marijuana. That speaks for itself.
Another myth many people seem to believe is that marijuana “numbs” your brainwaves and inhibits thought. This is a completely false statement fed to the public by the Partnership for a Drug Free America when they ran a TV commercial showing a normal person’s brainwaves compared to a 14 year old boy who had used marijuana and was exhibiting “flattened” brainwaves while laying in a hospital bed; a blatant lie. Marijuana actually slightly increases brain activity. It is known to increase the output of alpha waves which are associated with meditative states and also creativity (Hager 2).
Now that its known what marijuana does not do to the brain, many people might ask “Well what exactly does it do?”. Why exactly do so many people, young and old, use this drug? What does it do to the body and the mind? Most of the people who use this drug for recreational purposes are trying to achieve a state of mind that is impossible to attain in any other manner. According to political historian Richard Miller in his book The Case for Legalizing Drugs, marijuana is what many doctors “like to call an ‘active placebo’ that produces trivial physical effects and a psychological reaction which is due to the set and setting and not by pharmacological reactions” (Miller 18). The ‘high’ cannabis gives you is not actually forced upon the user, instead it is due to the thoughts and feelings the user is having at the time. It increases thought capacity and creativity. A perfect example of this would be a graphic artist that has been working all day on an assignment and is consistently having trouble overcoming an aspect of his work. He/She may choose to smoke a bit of cannabis to increase his or her focus on what (s)he is currently working on. In essence, (s)he is choosing to ‘think harder’ on what she needs to by smoking cannabis.
The false idea that cannabis, when ingested, hinders the immune system is simply based on the studies where animals are given near lethal does of cannbinoids. These such circumstances are nearly impossible to replicate in humans. However two studies done in the late 70’s and early 80’s shows that ”marijuana may have actually stimulated the immune system in the people studied” (Hager 2).
When considering illegalization of a drug, one should take in account the number of deaths caused by the substance. When we compare marijuana to other legalized drugs, absurdities and questions emerge as to why cannabis is illegal and other drugs aren’t. America experiences, on average, 430,700 deaths per year due to tobacco use, 110,640 due to alcohol related deaths, 27,000 legal drug overdoses, 3,800 from ‘hard’ drug overdoses, and 1000 aspirin deaths (suicide and accidental), and zero deaths have been recorded for marijuana use (Annual Causes for Death in the United States). These statistics alone make you question the common sense abilities of the people making our drug laws.
The lethal dosages of marijuana are nearly impossible to achieve. In fact, not a single case of someone overdosing on marijuana has ever been reported. The active chemical in marijuana is known as delta-9 tetrahydrocannibinol or THC for short. The amount of marijuana the average user smokes to attain their ‘high’ is about 2 grams. A user would have to smoke 40,000 times that amount to die from an overdose; 80,000 grams which is equal to 2821 ounces which is equal to 176 pounds. It would be safe to say that a user would have to consume their own body weight in marijuana to run the risk of dying from an overdose. Miller demonstrates the safety of marijuana in his comment, “Deaths from marijuana overdoses are no more common than the deaths from drinking too much water at one sitting” (Miller 19).
Now that the myths have been expelled, what can cannabis do for us aside from increasing our creativity? According to Jack Herer, the author of the authoritative historical record of the cannabis plant, hemp prohibition, and how marijuana man benefit the world, cannabis is a very versatile plant. It is the only known plant that can be grown from the Equator to the Arctic Circle and to the Antarctic Circle; from the mountains to the valleys, from the oceans to the plains, including arid lands and everywhere in between (Herer 1). This means to society as a whole, that cannabis can be mass produced by every culture for their own benefit. Also, it “has a root system that grows 10 to 12 inches in 30 days compared to one inch for rye, barley grass, etc. The roots penetrate up to six feet deep, pulverizing the soil and making it arable. After harvest it leaves a root system that is mulched into the ground, revitalizing the land…(Herer 2). Of every mass produced plant, cannabis is the best plant for crop growing. Not only does it have a very quick growth rate, but its soil aeration properties and re-fertilization properties would allow for farmers to stop crop rotations, and making them plant such things as peanuts or soybeans every 5 or so years to re-fertilize the soil - a very beneficial property, as farmers will not lose a years worth profit.
Cannabis can be used to make many textiles and materials. A century ago, about 80 percent of all textiles, ropes, cords, twine, ship sails, canvas, fibers, and clothes were made out of cannabis. It is four times softer than cotton, four times warmer, four times more water absorbent, has three times the strength of cotton, is many times more durable, is flame retardant, and doesn't require pesticides (Herer 1). The cannabis seeds are also the best-combined source of essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, globulin edestin protein, and essential oils all combined in one plant, and in a form which is most naturally digestible to our bodies (Herer 2). The idea that our nation decided to illegalize such a versatile plant boggles the mind.
Since cannabis has so many positive benefits, why would it have ever been illegalized in the first place? Why is it illegal when alcohol and tobacco cause numerous more deaths annually? It’s simple. It was originally illegalized due to racist propaganda. The notion of marijuana being a threat to society overall started in the 1920’s as a racial stereotype that was spread by a certain newspaper franchise owned by a man by the name of Hearst. His newspapers spread the rumor that “marijuana intoxicated blacks and Mexicans have started a rage of hate crimes toward white Americans” (Lusane 37). There was no actual recorded evidence for these claims but these ideas were spread so rapidly that a panic swept over the populous and eventually society started to view marijuana as a substance that “caused hyperactive insanity and brutal crime among the minorities” and eventually it was made illegal in the state of Louisiana in 1925 (Miller 20). Hearst had personal interests involved in making marijuana illegal as he saw hemp as a threat to the lumber and newspaper industries he owned. The racist idea of the connection between people of color and the drug spread across America, a California Newspaper editor wrote, “I wish I could show you what a small marijuana cigarette could do to one of our degenerate Spanish speaking residents” (Weir 45). Soon after Jacob Anslinger, a known to be racist politician, illegalized the use and selling of marijuana through the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act (Lusane 37). Anslinger later made the comment in Hearst newspapers, while defending his stance, that "Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice." (Hearst newspapers nationwide, 1934).

A San Diego police chief, Joseph D. McNamara, states his opinion on the issue, “Most of the police officers I’ve hired in the 15 years I was police chief have tried [marijuana], so I believe in the system of legalization. Ninety million Americans have tried marijuana when you look at going to jail it is highly disproportionate-blacks and Latinos” (Stein 57)
The war on drugs seems to be racist… McNamera’s claim seems to bring the whole reason for illegalization full circle. America has the highest incarceration rate of every country in the world. One out of every 142 Americans is in prison (CNN), a good portion of those in prison have been convicted on drug charges. The majority of the drug charges are merely for possession, and the majority of those people incarcerated on possession are either of African American or Latino ethnicity (Lusane 53).
Now that its known why marijuana was illegalized, we can question why it still is legalized and whether the War on Drugs is actually working. Most people would say, yes, it work and it is beneficial to society. But is this really true? Not Hardly. When we first take a look at the war on drugs, consider a couple things. Is it efficient and is it fair?
When we take a look at the broad picture we see that the United States government spent 19 billion dollars (twice the amount spent on Afghanistan issues) in the past year on the war against drugs. Is this money being well spent? Are your tax dollars being effectively used? No, they are not. Since 1993, the drug usage among teens has actually doubled (McCaffrey 20). The government isn’t even using the money how the people want it to be used. “In 1990 only 4 percent of Americans believed that arresting the people who use drugs is the best way for the government to allocate resources” (McCaffrey 36). Not only do Americans not support this, but police officers are also starting to change their views. Andy Anderson head of Nevada’s largest cop organization announced to his board members that marijuana should be legalized so they could concentrate on more serious crimes (Stein 57).
America seems to be lacking confidence with the war on drugs. In May of 1995, fifty law-enforcement agencies held a two-day conference. Among one of those activities performed there was visiting a high school and asking them several questions about the drug war. The first question, “Have we won the drug war”, received a laughing response. When they asked the second question, “Are we winning the drug war?”, people shook their head no. When they asked the third question, “If we continue doing what we are doing, will we have won the drug war in 10 years?” The answer was a resounding no (McCaffrey 39). At the end of this conference, the police participants completed a survey evaluation form. Ninety percent voted no confidence in the war on drugs. They were unanimous in favoring more treatment and education over more arrests and prisons. They were also “unanimous in recommending a presidential blue-ribbon commission to evaluate the drug war and to explore alternative methods of drug control” (McCaffrey 39).
If police chiefs and policemen alike do not even have confidence in our drug policies, then why should the general public? It makes no sense to keep a policy where the enforcers agree that it is not working. Alternatives must be introduced.
The most obvious of alternatives is simply legalizing this plant. But how can we expect our nation to just dive into something like legalization? Couldn’t legalizing marijuana lead more people to harder drugs? Well, luckily for us, we don’t have to jump blindly into the “abyss” of legalization. Other countries have already forged ahead of the norm and tried new policies. The Netherlands, for instance, is taking the stance of “minimizing harm” over strict punishments. They still distinguish between “soft” and “hard” drugs but also realize that those addicted should not be forced into crime or underground trading to obtain it. Heroin and cocaine are available at government clinics with sterile hygienic syringes. Anyone can buy marijuana from any of the licensed coffee shops or lounges that are designated to do so, which are marked by a silhouette of a cannabis-leaf on a window. However, the sale of marijuana by unlicensed people is still illegal, to stop “pushers” from making profit off of new users. Contrary to what the majority of the United States public seems to think would happen if a legalization policy were enforced, the Netherlands’ drug policy, in combination with easy availability of treatment, has resulted in a reduction rather than an increase in the number of hard drug addicts. Also, they have a lower rate of incidence of overdoses and HIV in comparison with the United States (McCaffrey 51). If this alone doesn’t show, with the utmost clarity, that the United States is going about cracking down on drugs in the wrong way, there is no better evidence that will.
It’s obvious that our nation needs to change its laws. But how is this going to happen? The people running the country seem pretty stubborn about it. Well our country is a democracy, that’s what is so great about it, and the people of this country are starting to show more and more acceptance to cannabis. Due to the pleasing, mind enhancing and altering effects cannabis has, it has attracted a large number of users, a total of 71.1 million people (Inciardi 94). These citizens include not only teenagers but also many adults including teachers, professors at universities, doctors and many more that tend to use the drug for recreational purposes and are all doing so against the law. According a national survey 48% of American users are between the ages of 26 and 34 while another 39% are older than 35, this is over three-forth of the users in the U.S. being of an adult age. Not only has it been shown to be a highly accepted substance for recreational purposes, but also it is already being used by ten different states for medical use, and Maryland is considering being the eleventh. Recent polls taken by Time and CNN show that 80% feel that marijuana for medical use is O.K., 34% say that it should be totally legalized, and 72% say that people caught with it for recreational purposes should only be fined (Stein 55). The research shows that there are a great number of marijuana sympathizers within the country. Drawing from that, there must be a large number of users who are buying or growing marijuana under unsafe conditions, which would be eliminated if it were legal. Not to mention it would end terrorist funding that the government is so adamant about preventing and reap profits via taxation and regulation.
It’s so clearly obvious that the legalization of cannabis would be greatly beneficial to our society. If it were legalized, the average person could drive to the store in their hemp powered biodiesel car to buy a hemp outfit four times softer and stronger than cotton to wear to a safe and legal social gathering where responsible adults can enjoy the effects of cannabis while munching on some of the most nutritious hemp seed-based foods on the earth. While doing so they can rest assured that the law enforcement agencies are doing their job taking care of the violent criminals society should really be fearing, because they now have an extra 10 billion dollars to spend since they are not trying catch responsible citizens like you and me. It makes you wonder… what were our politicians were smoking when they made our drug laws?

Works Cited

“Annual Causes for Death in the United States.” Drug War Facts. 8 Sep. 2001. Common Sense for Drug Policy. 21 March 2003 <http://www.drugwarfacts.org/causes.htm>

Herer, Jack. “Prove Us Wrong.” July 4, 2002. Jack Herer, 2002. <http://www.jackherer.com>

Inciardi, James A. The Drug Legalization Debate. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc., 1991. 94.

Lusane, Clarence. Pipe Dream Blues Racism and the War on Drugs. Boston: South End Press, 1991. 37.


Miller, Richard L. The Case For Legalizing Drugs. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1991. 18, 20.

“Recent Ballot Measures Indicate Need to Legalize Marijuana.” University Wire. 12 November 2002: 10. Lexis Nexis Academic. Reed Elsevier Inc. Univeristy Of Arizona Library, Tucson, AZ. 24 March 2003 <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/printdoc>

Smith, David E. The New Social Drug. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1970. 11-12.

Stein, Joel. “The New Politics of Pot.” Time. 4 Nov. 2002. 55.

Weir, William. In the Shadow of the Dope Fiend: America’s War on Drugs. Conneticut: Archon Books, 1995. 44, 45, 50.

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-xlite

Greenman

Well done. very well done.

I actually picked up a thing or two, thank you.

Peace.

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