Posted February 2, 200718 yr the following is a paper I wrote because of getting caught at my dorm smoking in order to stay in housing (I'm moving to a new dorm which is ironically a lot better for indoor smoking). I whipped it up in about 45 minutes and its 4 1/2 pages double spaced. I didn't even really proofread so if there are mistakes, my bad. Marijuana: From Medicine to Menace An examination into the legality and historical implications of the drug. By James Thomas aka EyeReesh In this country’s great depression era, a movement swept across the nation to crack down on users of a drug which has its roots in ancient civilizations. Marijuana has been stigmatized by the U.S. governmental elite for very clear reasons. The following is a factual look into one of the biggest controversies of the 20th century: the drug war and more specifically marijuana policy. Please note that the point of this paper is in no way to encourage its use, but rather to give perspective to a government policy of which few people know the implications. Drugs have been used by mankind for thousands of years. Marijuana, opium, cocaine, and other drugs have been around for all of this time. In fact, next to opium, marijuana is one of the world’s oldest known medicinal substances. The Chinese applied it to menstrual pains (which Queen Victoria also did thousands of years later) and stomach cramps. From the east, the plant traveled to the rest of the world through trade and conquest. Napoleon introduced it to Europe after bringing it back from Egypt as a spoil of war. His soldiers preferred its use to alcohol because it did not (and does not) create hangovers. It grows anywhere but the Arctic Circle. The 20th century, however, is the first instance in which the world has seen a huge war against marijuana and other drugs. One could say that we, and not the plants which create these drugs, have changed in that time. Drugs are not healthy to use. That simply goes without saying. However, the drugs used throughout history have also not been healthy. One must ask the question, “Why are they illegal now if they have not been so in history?” The answer is, like with most controversial laws, that there has been an agenda behind their criminalization other than health implications or concerns which are touted as rationalizations for the laws. The first federal law against marijuana was enacted in 1937. Since then, over 20 million Americans have been arrested and incarcerated for using it. Marijuana captured the position of America’s drug of choice in 1920, when it was basically the only legal drug around. Prohibition of alcohol left Americans wanting a different way of becoming intoxicated. It was sold like cigarettes in pharmacies and jazz clubs. New Orleans in this time period experienced a crime wave and an ambitious newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hearst, was ready for his next sensational story. Perhaps you remember his name from high school U.S. history class, where you learned how he used yellow journalism to agitate the Spanish-American war. This man used his newspaper for his own political agendas, and to argue otherwise is absolutely futile. It is interesting to note that he was the first one to start damning the use of Marijuana in such a public way. The following is an example of one of his outrageously exaggerated headlines (the date of which is not clear): “MARIHUANA MAKES FIENDS OF BOYS IN 30 DAYS; HASHEESH GOADS USERS TO BLOOD-LUST.” As contemporary news tycoon Rupert Murdoch has shown us all in a very disturbing way, news need not be factual or unbiased. A decade before this wave of propaganda by Hearst, cocaine was made illegal based on the rationalization that it made negroes “immune to bullets” (PubH 1003 trivia). In New Orleans, marijuana was associated with violence among the black community, and subsequently Louisiana along with over a dozen states banned its distribution for non-medicinal purposes. This association was more of a stigmatization than a factual, researched explanation for a connection between the drug and violence. Use of the drug among minorities was more prevalent and in accordance with this country’s awful history of marginalization of its minorities, it was banned. In the southwest, the agenda behind the banning of marijuana was also one tied closely to racism. Remember that this was the time of the great depression, and unlike a decade or two earlier when the cheap labor of Mexicans was needed, the shortage of labor subsequent of the great depression left Americans looking for any job they could come across. In 1931, Mexican repatriation became law. What followed was a period of harassment of Mexicans in this region. Those who did not leave the country were often charged with vagrancy and because of the frequency of marijuana use among Mexicans, laws against it were used for the purpose of driving them out of the country or into prison (anywhere but back to the labor force). In Texas, for example, possession of one joint could land someone in jail for life. Aside from a handful of southwestern states, marijuana went unregulated and legal in most states. It was not until Harry J. Anslinger became the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics that the distribution of marijuana was widely made illegal throughout the country. Anslinger had the difficult task of convincing the nation’s legislature that they should outlaw a weed, something that went unprecedented at the federal level. His chief tactic was propaganda, associating marijuana with rape and murder and insanity. This tactic was manifested through movies which expressed exaggerated notions of the drug’s danger. What would a political agenda be without a few white lies, right? Eventually, marijuana becomes banned in the same way that machine guns had been essentially banned. The machine gun ban required stamps for the selling and distribution of the guns. The catch was that the government printed those stamps, and basically did not distribute any. This was a way to stop the distribution entirely. Anslinger found his model for a national ban against marijuana. Hilarity ensues when one realizes that Anslinger convinced the legislature that marijuana is as dangerous as a machine gun. Part of the way Anslinger convinced congress that marijuana is so dangerous is that it is a stepping stone, or a gateway into other drugs. This is a widely cited reason for why marijuana is and should be illegal. However, logic would dictate otherwise. The idea of a gateway drug is based on the possibility that the devious people supplying one with marijuana would likely know people who supply more serious narcotics. If marijuana were legal and regulated and taxed by the government, however, it would take the “black market” factor out of the marijuana culture which is the basis on which the gateway theory is founded. Few government commissioned studies have ever taken place about marijuana relative to its widespread use. One year after Anslinger’s law is introduced, a powerful man became a critic. This man was none other than mayor of New York City Fiorello Henry LaGuardia. LaGuardia commissioned a study of his city’s marijuana “problem” and medical professionals from the New York Academy of Medicine conducted it. The conclusions that these professionals made showcase the irrationality of men such as Anslinger and Hearst, the latter of which resided in New York. After 4 years of study, some amazing conclusions were drawn. Some of these were that smoking marijuana does not lead to addiction, marijuana was not widespread among schoolchildren (Hearst and Anslinger used that point repeatedly), and that marijuana is NOT a determining factor in major crimes. LaGuardia obtained the marijuana for the study from Anslinger, and after this Anslinger did not allow the distribution of the drug for further study. Due to political party pressure, the drug remains illegal in New York City despite the study’s findings. Anslingers law was overturned by the Supreme Court 30 years after its introduction, and a new federal law against marijuana was enacted in 1970 citing that it was of no medicinal use, which is a subject on which one could write a doctoral thesis because of its complexity. In conclusion, the reasons for which marijuana is illegal are many, they are complicated, and they are widely irrational or racist. The ultimate basis for why marijuana is illegal on a federal level is that it has no medicinal use. Suffering cancer patients may tell you otherwise and a handful of states now either have medicinal marijuana legalized, marijuana in general decriminalized, or both. Tell me what you think.
February 2, 200718 yr well, throw in some references and you might have a chance. at first glance and after a bit of line skimming it looks like a decent essay.
February 2, 200718 yr good job Eyereesh, its perfect. i adore it :D i especially like the part at the end: The ultimate basis for why marijuana is illegal on a federal level is that it has no medicinal use. then why not ban alcohol? we all remember how well that went, dont we? most current day crimes are directly related to drug trafficking or distrobution. most people in jail, are drug users or drug sellers. these laws are totally absurd and are destroying our country as we know it.
February 2, 200718 yr It looks like your going off personal knowledge, like >:D said if you put in some links would be good but the reaction will depend on the acessors own opinions, unfortunately. Everyone knows Americas political system is fucked but no-one affiliated with it likes to talk about it.
February 2, 200718 yr Author I posted references in the version I turned in. This was NOT an academic paper but more of a punishment paper so I didn't bother with parenthetical citations but I got all of the info from places other than the depths of my creative mind. And for everyone just posting grades, how about a comment on the content instead of the quality?
February 2, 200718 yr are you going to quit entirely? EyeReesh;440087']the following is a paper I wrote because of getting caught at my dorm smoking in order to stay in housing (I'm moving to a new dorm which is ironically a lot better for indoor smoking) If he said that i'd have to say he's not gonna quit...And that was a good paper give or take a few things.
February 2, 200718 yr I read the whole thing. Very good work, well structured. Maybe you should have included some examples of John and Dave and Sarah etc. to illustrate your points on the ridiculous marijuana laws. Tell me what they say! :wow:
February 2, 200718 yr CJ;440171']too much to read i just posted a grade cause i was following the band wagon sheep
February 2, 200718 yr anyone who has tried both marijuana and alcohol can you tell you that alcohol is far more dangerous
February 2, 200718 yr US government fails. Period. Unlike most people who replied to this thread I actually read the thing. I'd say if your professor's don't get convinced by that report than they're too biased to be teaching.
February 2, 200718 yr anyone who has tried both marijuana and alcohol can you tell you that alcohol is far more dangerous Both are depressants. THC is a far more effective depressant, slowing reaction times 5x as much as alcohol could. THC not only kills brain cells, but puts much more tar in your lungs than commercial cigarettes. THC stimulates the production of some steroids, one of them being estrogen. Moderate to high levels of estrogen in a male body lead to receding hair line, lower catabolic metabolism, and bitch tits. Alcohol kills brain cells only. The benefits of 2 drinks of alcohol far outweigh it's harmful effects. Alcohol clearly has benefits, while THC has none. If you stopped trying to act so smart, you wouldn't look like such an idiot.
February 2, 200718 yr You do not smoke a joint nearly as much as you drink beers or smoke cigarettes. name one person who has died as a direct result of marijuana smoke inhalation, i bet you cannot. but i can name a handful of people that have died of liver dieseases related to alcohol consumption. marijuana is far less dangerous then alcohol, its not popular opinion it is FACT. you should practice what you preach, ***got. p.s. you dont need to smoke marijuana, idiot.
February 2, 200718 yr Sobeit;440259']You do not smoke a joint nearly as much as you drink beers or smoke cigarettes. Correct, I don't smoke cannabis at all. You are assuming that because something is non-addictive that it is not harmful. Sobeit;440259'] name one person who has died as a direct result of marijuana smoke inhalation, i bet you cannot. but i can name a handful of people that have died of liver dieseases related to alcohol consumption. marijuana is far less dangerous then alcohol, its not popular opinion it is FACT. p.s. you dont need to smoke marijuana, idiot. 1.You are assuming that because something has an unattainable lethal dose does not mean it is healthy. 2.Stage 2 Cirrhosis only occurs in the extreme excess of alcohol consumption. Stage 2 cirrhosis only occurs in 2% of all cirrhosis cases. Consuming the proportional amount of THC would outright kill you. p.s. You don't need to drink alcohol, idiot.
February 2, 200718 yr you still cannot deny the facts. im not saying marijuana is healthy for you, and to spite alcohol's "benefits" the death toll related to it has to be in the hundreds of thousands for last year alone ( that is me lowballing ) there is nothing that can justify alcohol being legal and marijuana not being legal aside of the fine points in that paper. and also, if you read that paper and pay attention to the news marijuana does have some positive effects ( albiet only to people in severe pain ) why dont you tell me how many people have died in relation to marijuana and i will get the death toll from alcohol and we can compare numbers. :dunno:
