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.
It does seem about to boil over doesn't it?
Marijuana is a dangerous drug that leads quickly for kids to other drugs and it is best we NEVER let that genie out of the bottle to give it legitimacy.
I know it is the libertarian wet dream to legalize this and other drugs, but conservatism is about being the best you can be, not be the most MEDICATED you can be.
This lust for drugs IMO is a big liberal issue. I don't know how it gets posted at FR at all.
Here is a link showing studies that pot causes a five fold leap in depression and also can cause schizophrenia.
This link is offered by John Hopkins: http://www.jhunewsletter.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/04/11/3e95e7d8a6ea7
I think the conservative message is to be the best you can be.
I believe the self medication lust some may have here belong on a liberal democrat board, especially in the area of ethics.
Although I'm for legalization, the reasons that the Pharmaceutical, tabacco or alcohol industries not wanting to legalize is not valid in my opinion.
If it were legalized, they would all benefit by just switching products - and marketing to a whole new audience.
No it isn't. It's your opinion that that is what it is about.
Compared to chasing a drug lust, conservatism is most certainly on the other side seeking to be the best you can be, not being well MEDICATED illegally.
I do not agree with you.
If that is the case, then the best response would be to legalize and regulate it so it won't get into the hands of children.
That would sure spoil Soros' plans.
How many people died from using marijuana last year?
that leads quickly for kids to other drugs
Correlation is not causation. Rather than showing that hard drug users use marijuana, tell me how many marijuana users end up using hard drugs? A small percentage.
but conservatism is about being the best you can be, not be the most MEDICATED you can be.
One of the major tenets of conservativism is that goverment should interfere with people's lives as little as necessary. The WOD goes against that tenet.
This lust for drugs IMO is a big liberal issue. I don't know how it gets posted at FR at all.
Many conservatives believe that the government should not ban an activity unless that activity infringes on the person or property of unwilling people. You don;t have to be pro-drug to be anti-WOD.
Might as well as legalize ecstasy too, right?
Though conservatives may be in favor of people being the best they can be (who isn't in favor of that?), they are not in favor of government telling people how to achieve such an ideal.
Almost no non-marijuana users end up using hard drugs ...
Yes. I steal the hearts of attractive young ladies everywhere.
I'll keep it short and sweet for you.
Here in California, nearly EVERY violent offender locked up in jail are regular marijuana users. So pot is not THAT innocent at all since the sub-cultures dive so heavily into it's use.
PS, a third of all the violent offenders locked up are illegals.
It's best to give even stiffer sentences to those trafficking it into the US.
We don't need it in the culture, we already suffer some bad effects with alcohol. Because we suffer one thing, we do not have to add another bad thing.
The simple fact of the matter is that regulating substances is not an enumerated power of the Federal government, not is it an enumerated power of most state governments. Some self described "conservatives" think that the concept of a constitutional republic is burdensome. Amusingly so do those on the "left".
I guess, once again, those who believe in a limited government, by the people and for the people, based on reason and the laws of nature, are once again branded radicals.
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?
Just like you say you are agianst the WOD but you flame everyone else who is against it as well because "it's the law." I like your logic. You're just like the nazi soldiers when they exterminated the Jews...I was only following orders sir.
Glad we have people with your backbone on FR.
LOL--I can tell this writer didn't grow up during the 70's!!
Do yourself a favor and don't admit to your own illegal drug use in the past, it tends to lead to people disregarding anything you have to say on the drug or conservative issues.
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