It has actually been an integral part of human civilization for most of history. It has followed the greatest civilizations and traders all around the world. At one point fields of it grew in every part of the world except the poles. Hemp is the most abundant source of fiber, oil, plant protein (the ONLY plant with complete protein) and medicinal compounds in the world. There are hundreds of known compounds in hemp that are directly symbiotic with the human body. It has been used in medicine for thousands of years and is unlike any other plant. Companies like Merck and Bayer began extracting and patenting it in the 19th century. The US government encouraged the growing of hemp through WWII and even gave subsidies.
My grandmother spoke of entire fields of it in Ukraine and couldn't believe it is illegal now. And yes, many many people smoked the tops. It was just considered very cheap tobacco with a kick and nobody cared. Tops were most commonly used in preparations by midwives for nearly every single birth in the villages.
Show me one historic document that shows it to be bad or evil. Most documents paint it quite positively. The truth is people have been using various grasses in their surroundings (smoking, eating, cooking) since the beginning of time. It was JUST A PLANT AND NOBODY CARED until the ludicrous 'reefer madness' propaganda campaign came along.
"There's not some grand conspiracy to keep pot underground. It's a simple recognition over thousands and thousands of years that humans and pot are NOT a good combination."
The conspiracy is to make and keep making MONEY. Numerous entrenched special interests were threatened by mechanized hemp production that began in the early 1930s (with the invention of the decorticator). Prohibition came soon in 1937. The prohibition of hemp was one of the greatest examples of government corruption ever seen. The reason they called it by the mongrel word "marihuana" was to pass the law without people knowing it is hemp. It was not even billed as a prohibition, only a tax. However, they never issued the tax stamps.
Ho do you explain all the deception in this bill? How do you explain the obvious false testimony from the government experts claiming to do experiments that are impossible and obviously lying about the drugs effects? It was obviously a bought-and-paid-for, carefully crafted, corrupt, underhanded law made purely to serve special interests.
Today, the conspiracy continues to prop up the law enforcement industry, connected dealers, alcohol companies and big pharma (who are the true dope dealers slowly making it mandatory to give addictive dope to your kids in school).
"It stunts the emotional and spiritual growth of people. Stops it dead in it's tracks. Legalize it and we have a whole generation in arrested development. A whole generation of idiots stuck at 14 or 15 or 16 years old or whenever they first started smoking dope."
How do you know this for a fact when not ONE study of twin humans or animals has shown any long-term difference when using pot? Not ONE study has shown any direct observation of brain changes.
What if people with arrested development, laziness, etc are simply more likely to abuse pot publicly and it doesn't actually cause it?
The law also changes your perception of the average pot consumer. I know many very successful people who have used it daily for decades but they can't say so in public due to the law.
We know for a fact that people with mental illnesses are several times more likely to be heavy tobacco smokers. Does that mean tobacco causes mental illness? No, it simply shows a correlation.
"It's EXACTLY why we have leftist thought dominating our government and society...because a bunch of idiot, hippy, dope smoking potheads ARE in charge and are perpetually stuck in an adolescent mindset and figure that their mindset is good for the country."
No, it is because the entire government is corrupt and their only goal is take our money at all costs. The "left", "right", etc issues are manufactured with the help of media to make 50% of the population feel like they won each election while they take turns robbing all of us. They repeat every 4-8 years, the next special interests get their turn at the trough and they all laugh at us fighting.
My feelings are summed up here:
5 Pro-Marijuana Arguments that Aren't Helping
Nobody gives a rip about hemp products. Nobody gives a rip about hemp versus paper. That's such a stupid argument. It's like saying that people who have trees on their property are threats to the paper industry. What a pant load.
The only reason, the ONLY reason, there is EVEN any argument is that pot smoking degenerates WANT to get high without fear of being illegal or being thought of as pot smoking degenerates.
In many ways the pro-pot lobby is like the homosexual lobby. Both want to engage in behavior that is harmful and socially unacceptable. They both pull out all kinds of crap to obscure the fact that they want to engage in behavior that is harmful and socially unacceptable. They both work very hard to brainwash and propagandize others into thinking that what they want to do isn't harmful and socially unacceptable.
Gee...homosexuality has been around for thousands of years.
Geee...pot has been around for thousands of years.
Gee...homosexuality was everywhere around and nobody cared until Christianity propagandized against it.
Gee...pot was everywhere around and nobody cared until big paper propagandized against it.
Gee....homosexuals are loving and accepting community members in all stratas of society...
Gee...pot smokers are loving and accepting community members in all strata of society....
Gee...some of our founding fathers were homosexuals.
Gee...some of our founding fathers smoked dope and grew hemp.
And so on and so forth. Pro-pot proponents ALWAYS use the tactics of the left. Demonize big business, make an emotional argument and tear down American institutions.