Posted on 07/23/2004 7:55:29 AM PDT by cryptical
Marijuana Prohibition: Who Does It Protect?
By Henry Koch
Is marijuana illegal in the United States to protect Americans or to protect a handful of well-connected industries that believe ending prohibition would affect their profits?
Every study, whether privately or government sponsored, has declared the penalties against cannabis far out of line with the substance. Every study has illustrated how tobacco and alcohol do far more damage to individuals and society than marijuana. The draconian laws against this naturally occurring herb have ruined millions of lives. These laws have done far more damage during the current 66-year period of prohibition than the plant has done since its first recorded use and cultivation nearly 6,000 years ago.
Yet today, a cadre of individuals and industries is spending billions of dollars to keep marijuana illegal. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Office of National Drug Control Policy contribute to these private efforts by refusing to acknowledge the validity of reports whose results run contrary to current drug policy. The DEA and the ONDCP even reject studies commissioned by the Congress and other U.S. government agencies.
When the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed there was no scientific evidence as to the effects marijuana had on consumers. (The psychoactive component of cannabis, THC, was not isolated until 1965.) The congressional hearings leading to the passage of the Tax Act were held in secret and considered no scientific evidence. Harry Anslinger, director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1930 to 1962, presented popular fabrications about marijuana as fact to the congressional committees investigating the substance.
Here are a few of Anslinger's more memorable quotes about marijuana:
"Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."
"Marijuana is taken by ... musicians. And I'm not speaking about good musicians, but the jazz type."
"Marijuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing."
Industries that have a high interest in keeping marijuana illegal include the tobacco industry, the alcoholic beverage industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the petrochemical industry, the pulp and paper industry, the prison-building industry, the prison guard unions and organizations, and law enforcement organizations.
The tobacco and alcohol industries realize that when people smoke marijuana, they use less tobacco and alcohol. Nicotine and alcohol are both highly addictive. Current research has not shown marijuana to cause physical dependency.
The pharmaceutical industry knows of the medical benefits of the Cannabis sativa plant and does not want individuals cultivating their own medications.
The petrochemical industry knows that industrial hemp and its myriad products could replace 98 percent of our hydrocarbon-based petroleum. Instead of pumping an exhaustible resource out of the ground, we could produce enough hemp seed to provide nearly all the petrochemical raw materials we need.
The pulp and paper industry knows that hemp can provide more fiber for pulp per acre than trees. Plus, hemp fiber can be converted to pulp without the pollutants created by the sulfuric acid process currently used to turn trees into paper. Converting to hemp for fiber would cost millions up front but would save billions in the long run, with the added bonus of greatly improving the environment.
The American prison system is the largest in the world, with more than 2.1 million prisoners at the end of 2003. This has made the prison-building industry one of the fastest growing industries in the country. The major growth of prison population in the United States is due mainly to the war on drugs. Marijuana arrests account for almost 80 percent of all drug arrests. Having the largest prison system also requires the largest prison guard industry, and this industry depends on the current drug policy for its members' job security.
Many law enforcement organizations receive more funding from the war on drugs budget than they do from their respective municipal budgets. If the laws against marijuana were changed to eliminate arrest for possession, almost every law enforcement organization in the United States would be required to eliminate personnel.
Prohibition has never worked, and it isn't working for marijuana. According to a nationwide poll conducted by Time magazine and CNN in October 2000, 80 percent of Americans support the medicinal use of marijuana and 72 percent say that adults who use marijuana recreationally should be fined, but not jailed. Only 19 percent of respondents favored jailing recreational pot smokers. In addition, 40 percent of respondents also said that they favored the legalization of small amounts of marijuana.
Who is marijuana prohibition really protecting? Is it the American public and our way of life or is it protecting the interests of the giants of industry who have friends in high government positions?
Henry Koch is president of the Midlands chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). For more information on Midlands NORML, visit www.midlands-norml.org.
Disadvantages of Hemp for Paper Making
Wood pulp paper makers have complained that hemp is an impractical fiber source because it is so different from wood fiber (Judt, 1994). In order to make hemp paper commercially competitive with wood paper, processes are being developed to use hemp fiber to best advantage. For existing mills, this can involve prohibitively expensive re-tooling to accommodate the different fiber.
HempÕs long, strong fibers can get tangled up in the beating stage and cause uneven sheet formation. Problems with slow drainage on the paper machine have been reported too, perhaps due to the waxy, water-repellent resins naturally occurring in the fiber. Slow drainage is a significant problem to the paper industry since it affects production times.
The fact that hemp has two different kinds of fiber also poses some difficulties. The fiber types can be separated and used to make various qualities of paper, or combined into one hybrid pulp. This is a situation that calls for thorough testing to find the best mixtures and techniques.
Yet another challenge to paper makers, one offered by any annual plant, is harvesting and transport. Trees may be harvested at almost any time of the year, ensuring a steady supply. The harvest time for a crop of hemp is quite specific, however. Storing adequate fiber supplies without spoilage is a big stumbling block when production is on a scale of 1000 tons per day and is expected to continue year-round.
In any case, you need to choose a defense. A minute ago you lied and said you never made such a post and challenged me to provide a link. Now you admit you made the post but claim I erred. Which is it?
You have used illegal drugs and have admitted it. I suppose now you will deny. It won't work. Everyone knows. You know, I know, everyone knows. It's a crime. You are a criminal by definition. You advocate others pay for the same crime as you, but you refuse to pay.
I don't take lectures on crime from criminals.
Nowhere did I admit to being a criminal. Please retract your post.
I made no lie.
I retract nothing. You admitted using illegal drugs.
Geez, if all the dopers marijuana users smoked at home like you there wouldn't be 700,000 marijuana arrests each year.
I guess we can conclude that there are quite a few pot smokers out there that aren't as responsible (using the term loosely) as you. I bet they're not as successful either.
As a matter of fact, I'd bet that you're not even a good example of the average pot smoker now are you?
Where did I say 'illegal'?
31 posted on 07/23/2004 9:53:29 AM PDT by Protagoras
You should get FireFox.
IMHO, the WOD has been an expensive failure. The solution would be to allow the states to experiment with varying degrees of legalization and criminalization. Let's give it a couple of decades and see what approach works out best. If Alabama wants to ban pot, fine. If California wants to legalize it, fine.
Yes they are the same plant. Marijuana is the slang term used to make it sound "foreign" and somehow more fiendish.
Cannabis has three species: Sativa, Indica, and Ruderalis. The last two are short bushy varieties, Cannabis sativa is a taller preferred species, because you would get more useful quantity of bast (the fiberous outer stem) from that variety. Thus the name (sativa = useful).
Yes, and right after that he added:
" Now, I can’t say that I will agree with all the things that the present group who call themselves Libertarians in the sense of a party say, because I think that like in any political movement there are shades, and there are libertarians who are almost over at the point of wanting no government at all or anarchy."
-- Reason magazine, 1975
Thought you could slip one by the ol' robertpaulsen, eh?
I'm sensing a Class 1 Cinflagration coming on.
Bob, you know as well as I do that libertarianism and the Libertarian Party are two different things. You also know that VagThang's graphics are boring and overused.
I can't remember. Are you an admitted criminal?
Right. libertarians are too weak to hold true to the libertarian philosophy.
You would not be the final word on who won any debate. I am more than happy to stand on my posts.
A friend of mine drank a beer once.
It made him want to rape and kill.
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