Argumentative Essay: The Legalization Of Marijuana

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.

lowest number since 1951, when the nations population was about half its present size.”(CQ Researcher 530) Marijuana was not only more safe than the effects and harm of alcohol but also it

because of the Mexican Revolution. These immigrants brought along a new culture and customs one of them being the use of Marijuana as a medicine and relaxant. Marijuana which had been known as “cannabis” by Americans was not illegal in the U.S. and was in fact commonly used for industrial and medical purposes. Citizens in the Western states were uneasy of the newcomers and with rising tensions in those states it was not a difficult task for the media to take advantage of the citizen’s unease and pit them against the newcomers and their customs. Harry Anslinger, who is considered the father of the war on weed was a prominent figure of prohibition during the time, used the media to demonize marijuana by using racist tactics. He made several racist claims such as, “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S. and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others”(huffpost.com). In succeeding in painting the Mexican immigrants in a bad light, the media also managed to arouse people’s fear towards the unknown effects of Marijuana The outlawing of marijuana would provide authorities with an opportunity to control Mexican immigrants.( Although the prohibition of marijuana was founded on racism one has to wonder if things are really the same today. Facts have continuously managed to show that

Marijuana, weed, bud, or whatever you call it, has always been a topic of mystery and debate in the United States. It was once seen as a harmless plant that young veterans and hippies loved in the 1970s and was even decriminalized in over a third of the states across the country. It had not become a problem until 1978, when nine percent of High School seniors reported smoking weed everyday. Parents had enough and sought to close many of the booming smoke shops (which attracted dealers), making weed much less accessible by ending decriminalization, this was called the “Parent Movement”. The Parent Movement influenced Nancy Reagan’s “War on Drugs”, and demonized the once peaceful and harmless plant. The United States’ relationship with marijuana

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

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..

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 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

Legalization of marijuana has been an extremely controversial topic in the united states, as well as many other countries, for years. There is evidence that marijuana has been consumed since around 2700 B.C. It often served as a substitute for alcohol in the middle east, as the Quran banned followers of Islam from drinking alcohol. Marijuana was first introduced to America in 1545 by the Spanish. The colony of Jamestown used hemp, a variety of marijuana, as a means of creating paper, clothes, and many fibrous materials, creating a fair amount of jobs and income. The production of cotton took over as a cheaper and faster means of making those goods, replacing marijuana. Marijuana was then mostly used for recreational use, sparking clubs called “tea pads” to pop up. The increase in popularity of reefer in the 1920s is often argued to be the spark that birthed jazz music. In the 1930s, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs) intended to give marijuana a bad reputation, stating that it is highly addictive, and would lead users into doing other narcotics. It was made illegal in the 1930s to give the alcohol market much more room to grow. Marijuana is now considered a schedule 1 substance, meaning it is very easy to abuse and has no medical value, despite the evidence that it has many potential uses in medicine. It is considered as dangerous as heroin, despite

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

Marijuana has been used in religious ceremonies or for medical purposes for thousands of years. I have always been against the use of Marijuana up until four years ago when my husband at the age of twenty seven underwent invasive surgery on his knee and has never been the same since. Colorado took a huge step several years ago legalizing marijuana for medical use and in recent years took the plunge to legalize it for recreational use. Marijuana is not always a bad thing nor is it always a good thing. A lot of people will compare it to any other mind altering substance and have very valid points. I would rather have a loved one or myself smoke marijuana or ingest it, instead of popping pain pills or other harmful substances put on the market by the pharmaceutical industry; Recreational use can be safe and accepting if it is regulated correctly and used responsibly.

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 the late 1920s and 1930s, Hearst’s newspapers ran stories about the horrors of marijuana. Readers learned that it was responsible for everything from car accidents to loose morality. Films such as Reefer Madness in 1936, Marijuana: Assassin of Youth in 1935 and

In the 1900’s, anti-drug hysteria grew due to racial stereotyping, as marijuana at the time was used by immigrants and the lower class. These were the driving forces behind the establishment of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse, Prevention and Control Act in 1970. (this was under the Nixon Administration)

Up until the late 1930s marijuana was, in fact, legal until the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), Harry J. Anslinger, argued that the FBN had noticed an increase in reports of people smoking marijuana. He had also, in 1935, received support from President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the adoption of the Uniform State Narcotic Act, state laws that included regulations of cannabis, including hemp, the fiber of the cannabis plant that is extracted from the stem. Anslinger argued that the hemp plant was dangerous and testified at hearings saying that the hemp plant needed to be banned because of its “violent effect on the degenerate races” this was specifically aimed towards Mexican immigrants, who had entered the country seeking jobs during the Great Depression. However the cannabis plant is far from harmful in the fact that every part of the plant can be used for various things. For example, hemp can be used to make rope, stout fabrics, fiberboard and paper, as well as can be woven into canvas. The “hurd” of the hemp provides pulp that makes different types of paper, oil to make paints and varnishes, and seed for food. Marijuana plants produce a high-protein, high-carbohydrate seeds that can be used in granola and cereals. Hemp oil and seed contain only trace amounts of psychoactive chemicals, not nearly enough to cause any kind of psychedelic effects. The Marijuana Tax Act, introduced in 1937, required sellers to obtain