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Going Green: The Legalization of Marijuana

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"Make the most you can of the Indian hemp seed and sow it everywhere."- George WashingtonMelissa KamererInstructor MoeResearch Essay27 April, 2011Going Green: The Legalization of MarijuanaMarijuana, its green, its smelly, its sticky, and it can get you high. Unfortunately, that’s in all probability the full scope of most people’s understanding of the plant scientifically known as Cannabis Sativa. When a person hears the term Marijuana, the first thing that may come to mind is that it is an illegal drug. The common assumption that the only use for this “drug” is to get high is ignorant and uneducated. Most people haven’t thought of the effects that marijuana can have besides the fact that it makes some people act without proper judgment and that it is potentially addictive; effects that always seem to give it a bad rap. For this exact reason it has become the most controversial drug, and quite possibly the most controversial plant on the planet. Besides the few states that allow the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, the use of marijuana is strictly illegal in the United States. The history of marijuana dates back many, many years and has been used in different cultures in various ways. Over the past few years, marijuana has been adapted to fit our lifestyles and societal environment and has benefited several people medically and economically. This isn’t a cry for the legalization of this wonderful plant and I don’t plan on forcing my opinions onto anyone who doesn’t want them; but it is an insight on the effects of this natural and powerful plant that could help in so many aspects of our lives.Cannabis Sativa, the scientific name of Marijuana, has been mentioned several times in manuscripts that date back to 2700 B.C. in China where it is referred to as the “superior herb” inthe world’s first medical text. The Jamestown settlers recorded the first cultivation of the plant in1611 and they used the hemp from the plant’s fibers to make rope and canvas. Marijuana was also used to make clothing, as the plant was very resilient. During this time, Marijuana was used more for survival than for any other purpose. Our own Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper (Facts). The fact that something that provided so many resources and materials for thousands of years is now illegal is just uncanny. Marijuana came into play when alcohol wasbecoming scarce. The use of the drug rose from there and slowly became a problem in the UnitedStates (Heerema). The United States could immensely benefit from the legalization of marijuana.Studies show that marijuana is the most widely used controlled substance with the lowest dependence rate among other substances such as nicotine, alcohol and caffeine. The difference between marijuana and the listed substances though, is that all of those substances are legal. What would happen if Marijuana was legalized? Would everybody become a pothead or adrug dealer? The legalization would inevitably add a new and powerful industry to our draining economy. The War on Drugs is something that has lasted for far too long. This last remnant of the Nixon era has long been the butt of all the jokes within the borders of the United States itself. But the same thinning returns are now having a shocking effect on America’s international efforts. You can consider the case of Afghanistan. It was once a vine -growing country, notorious for its raisins, but now it is so desolate that even the thought of a farmer planting a vine would beextremely optimistic but a farmer growing poppies is assured at least some income. While we burn Afghanistan’s only crop we are suffering ourselves in the United States for this exact thing (Hitchens). Why not instead buy the Afghan crop and use it to produce painkillers, and if necessary, burn and throw away the rest. This would offer incentives and aid to vine growers. Atthis point, we are paying the Turks to grow medical opium, but they don’t need the money. It would be beneficial to the War on Drugs and the war in Afghanistan if we did business with the Afghans. Drugs are already a successful and powerful industry due to the pharmaceutical endeavors. If someone has a headache or a back pain, they can go buy some aspirin and take a few doses every few hours and the aches will go away. But do they ever think about what exactlythey are putting into their body? With Marijuana, they wouldn’t have that problem. How about this: Go buy some weed from your local Rite Aid or Walgreens and take a couple of hits here andthere and the stress and aches will inevitably vanish. Many people think that this would just create problems but it could also create many solutions. With problems come solutions and with solutions, come more problems but what would happen if we actually legalized the plant? Well for one we could create a powerful industry. The Marijuana Industry instead of the Tobacco or Alcohol industry. Marijuana companies would be popping up like weeds (pun intended). Along with creating an industry, we would also be creating a workforce. Farm lands would be needed as well as laborers who would be needed to help grow and distribute the plant. Pharmaceutical companies would then distribute the plant to pharmacies like Rite Aid or Walgreens. The required expertise of marijuana would then have its effects on universities and colleges. They are going to have to call on the experts to help teach classes for the future pharmacists. This will increase the enrollment which helps the local economy as would the purchasing and payment of a proposed marijuana tax. Walter Block argues for the case of the legalization of addictive drugs such as marijuana. He maintains that there are no “market failures” which even come close to justifying the banning of this substance and that as in the earlier historical case of prohibition of alcohol, our present drug policy has increased crime,decreased respect for the legitimate law and created great social upheaval (659). It is clear that we would economically benefit from the legalization of marijuana but it doesn’t stop there. One of the most impressive characteristics of marijuana is its ability to heal.The government has its concerns and in my personal opinion it has everything to do with money. Most politicians are afraid that if marijuana were to become legalized that they would notbe able to make any money off of it to legitimize actually legalizing it (“Prop


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