School report on weed

Check out some info on NORML and read the recent thread about "why marijuana is illegal" or something along those lines.

 

I give you permission to copy and paste this... Its for a good cause. I am teh author of this, and to my knowledge, its only on this website, and www.paintballforum.com

Humans have cultivated cannabis for years. The use of the plant goes back as far as agricultural history goes. It has uses such as a food source, as a material for clothes, and even as a religious herb. For years the US government banned cannabis, but in 2006, twelve states have decriminalized the cultivation of the plant.

It is important that one knows the reasoning behind the illegalization of cannabis. According to Pete Guither, Cannabis was made illegal in the 1930's due to anti-Mexican feelings, personal greed, yellow journalism, and corrupt politics. Today, in the new millennium, the Anti-Cannabis movement is mostly caused by propaganda left over from the early to late 1930's. Our countries leaders simply don't know better. They have effectively been brainwashed by the very organization they are a part of. The history of the prohibition of cannabis undoubtedly shows this.

\tTo understand why Cannabis should be legalized, one must understand why it was made illegal in the first place. We call the beginning of the 20th century ‘the gilded age’ because of the sense of false economic security. Sure, the numbers looked good on paper, but morality was at an all time low at the time. In the inside, corporations were cheaper then a $2 carnival game.

Henry J Anslinger was not an uncommon person for the 1930's. He was racist, hated Mexicans, and wanted to use the government for his own benefit. He was a fervent pro-Nazi, and had skills in rhetoric, propaganda, and yellow journalism. Anslinger had ties with two large influences in Cannabis prohibition: William Randolph Hearst, and Lammont DuPont. These two men were the owners of the two largest super-companies in the 30’s.

William Randolph Hearst was the owner of Hearst Newspaper Company. He had privately invested large sums of money in the Lumber industry. This is called vertical integration, and was a common process in the early 1900's. The purpose of this is to own all the companies your product depended on for production so the owner of the corporation can make heaps of money.

Hemp is a product of Cannabis. It can be used as a food, fuel, plastic, paper, mortar, and cloth. The plant is ready to harvest in just 3 months after rotation. Not only is hemp able to grow at a fraction of the rate of trees, but also it can grow on a fraction of the land. It is important to note that hemp was a serious threat to William Randolph Hearst's investment in the lumber industry.

Lammont DuPont was the owner of the DuPont Company. DuPont held the rights to several patents, including one for a process of creating paper with the sulfate and sulfite process, one for fuel additives, and countless other synthetics, such as nylon, cellophane, Teflon, and other plastics. Hemp could be made into similar products, except much cheaper, and extremely environmentally safe.

Large companies such as Ford purchased synthetics from the DuPont Company. Ford had already used, and planned on developing a car body based on cellulosic hemp fiber, and with this technology, the DuPont Company would have gone to waste. What is more important is that the companies producing the hemp were in or around Mexico, and were farmed by Mexicans. Politicians hated Mexicans at this time.

\tHenry Anslinger received money from DuPont as well as Hearst Newspapers. In return, Anslinger launched a campaign of hate. Using the money, he created propaganda advertisements that brainwashed the public. He used his connections with Hearst Newspapers to have fake articles posted in the news.

During a meeting before the US Senate, Anslinger started a fiery debate. He claimed "There are 100,000 total marijuana [Cannabis] smokers in the US, 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." Most of the sources Anslinger used were from the same newspapers that funded his war on Cannabis. This is called Yellow Journalism.

This speech led to the formation of The Marijuana Stamp Tax in 1937. This was a $100 tax on every pound of hemp. For comparison, $100 in 1937 is $1405.52 in 2006 dollars (according to inflation rates). This was effectively the government's attempt at banning Cannabis by making a tax so high, nobody could afford to buy or sell it.

From the way Anslinger spoke in front of US Senators, we can see that he is a racist bigot. Since when can the US government make laws based on someone's opinion of 'bad music'? Since when do laws based on nothing more then corrupt politics and racism hold merit in 2006? The laws against Cannabis were not created to protect the United States from a narcotic threat; rather it was a successful attempt at ruining an industry for personal greed.

Not only are the laws about Cannabis based on nothing more then political games by super corporations, but the propaganda from the period left our society ignorant about Cannabis. There are many major misconceptions about Cannabis. They have their roots in propaganda such as the notorious Reefer Madness film.

\tCannabis is classified as a Schedule 2 drug, which means the government classifies it as being an illegal narcotic with no medicinal values. This could not be farther then the truth. Currently, Cannabis has been rescheduled for medicinal use in twelve states, and the number grows with each election. The government is deciding what drugs have medicinal value- not the doctors with the PhD’s. In fact, according to PowerOneMedia inc., the government has known that Cannabis contains protein inhibitors that slow or eliminate tumors in mice. The government has stopped most experimentation with Cannabis and cancer.

Many Cancer patients use cannabis to relieve nausea from chemotherapy. Its intriguing that the government sanctions pumping our bodies full of toxic chemicals to the point where patients actually die from the treatment, yet it is still illegal to use a natural plant to relieve nausea and help fight cancer.

\tIt is often said and posted in propaganda ads that Cannabis contains over 200 chemicals. Most organic compounds contain this many chemicals. There is nothing unusual about this number. To the ‘average Joe’, this makes Cannabis sound like it is some sort of toxic waste.

\tAnother common misconception is that one Cannabis ‘joint’ or cigarette contains up to 30 times more carcinogens then cigarettes. This is almost laughable when one uses knowledge and statistics to avoid wading through propaganda. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Bureau of Mortality Statistics, 400,000 people die annually of tobacco related problems. 100,000 people die from Alcohol related issues, 20,000 from legal drug side effects and accidental overdoses, 15,000 from Illegal drugs, 2,000 from caffeine, and 500 from Aspirin.


\tNot one single person in the history of mankind has ever died from Cannabis. It is almost physically impossible to overdose on Cannabis. When people ingest large amounts of Cannabis, they feel tired, and fall asleep. When people ingest large amounts of Alcohol, they get sclerosis and die. However, Alcohol, which causes 400,000 more deaths per year then Cannabis, is legal.

Cannabis is not a gateway drug. This is claimed by many propaganda ads. Cannabis is illegal. Therefore, the government has created a black market for Cannabis. The same people who sell Cannabis illegally also sell elicit drugs illegally. Therefore, the government has created a convenience for Cannabis users to easily use other ‘hard drugs’. If legalized and regulated, the black market is eliminated, creating a much safer environment, not to mention a stronger economy.

Cannabis has not proven to be physically addicting at all. Like anything that gives the user pleasure (sweets, games, etc), Cannabis can be mentally addicting. There are absolutely no withdrawal signs or symptoms from Cannabis. The only long-term effect is bronchitis, which can be avoided altogether by using a device called a vaporizer, which extracts only the psychoactive THC in Cannabis, leaving any harmful substances behind. Ingestion through baked and other goods have no adverse effects on the respiratory system.

When the laws about Cannabis were created, the objective was not to protect Americans from a harmful drug. The objective was for Henry J Anslinger to pull a few favors for Hearst Newspapers and DuPont Plastics. It is long overdue that Cannabis laws be reformed, not only for personal recreational use, but also for medicinal, as well as industrial use.

Thousands of acres of rainforest are being harvested for lumber products, when the same products can be grown year round on Cannabis plants that offer higher yield, lower costs, and almost no need for pesticides. Billions of dollars may be saved.

Millions of lives may be saved or made more enjoyable by the medicinal values of Cannabis. Even though the government has yet to acknowledge Cannabis’ use as an anti-cancerous substance, it still eliminates the nausea related with chemotherapy. It is also known to relieve common symptoms of asthma when used sparingly.

If the government legalizes the cultivation of cannabis, and taxes it rightfully, Massachusetts alone will save $24 million dollars per year on the war on drugs. The revenue generated could pay for just about any public project required. If cultivation is legalized, the black market for Cannabis will be eliminated, keeping our streets safer and our economy stronger.

The time is now for laws to be reformed. Prohibition did not work with alcohol. With prohibition, more lives are being destroyed then being saved. Peace-loving Cannabis users are being thrown in jail with violent sex offenders and murderers. These people don’t want anyone to be harmed; they just want to be left alone so that they may enjoy their life in their own way.

Every day hundreds of letters are being sent to state legislators rallying for the legalization of the plant that may cure cancer, or save the rainforests, or bring peace to those who want to enjoy life. Hundreds of letters are not enough. The numbers need to be in the thousands.

It is time for America to win the war on drugs- not by prohibition or throwing innocent men in jail, but by reforming the laws, keeping the drugs off the streets and out of our children’s hands. It is time for America to use its right to vote and put Cannabis on the ballot. It is time to legalize freedom.
\t
















Works Cited
Bouril, Thomas J. "Marijuana and Hemp Story: How Harmful Is Marijuana?" Marijuana and Hemp: the Untold Story. 1997. 15 Mar. 2006 <http://www.cannabis.com/untoldstory/hemp_9.shtml>.
Guither, Pete. "Drug Warrant." Drug War Rant. Userland. 05 Feb. 2006 <http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/>.
"Henry J. Anslinger- Wikipedia." Wikipedia.Com. Mediawiki. 06 Feb. 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_J._Anslinger>.
Nahas, and Latour. "Cannabis Cancer Threats." Ideas-Canada.Ca. Ideas-Canada Inc. 17 Mar. 2006 <http://ideas-canada.ca/medmj/cancerthreat.htm>.
"Norml." Http://Www.Norml.Org/. Communicopia.Net. 04 Feb. 2006 <www.Norml.org>.

 

+rep for doing that. I'm going to save a copy of that if you don't mind.


You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Alphå again. Damnit. I'll get you later.

 

damn alpha

 

well fuck that, cuz this man deserves props for writin that shit, so +rep in defiance of blazin'talon haha

 

LOL, rep for repping him for me. Or something.

 

nice report alpha im gonna make a copy of it if you dont mind. and i will aswell give you +rep for your brilliance. hahah

 

Damn alpha....I'm gonna save a copy too if it's cool. +rep

 

Wow, that was great. I just read it from begining to end. You should try sending that to your congressmen!

 

A few points on legalization of drugs in general can be found here:
http://forum.grasscity.com/showpost.php?p=938388&postcount=78
You might be able to use some of the info in your report.

 

I probably will end up printing it and sending it to our congressmen... Like I said, I forfeit all rights of this article to the people of earth. If you want to copy and paste half of it, go ahead. I know how tough school can be, so I'm sharing my hard work with you all... Use it for whatever.

Theres some things I know I would change if I was going to pass this off as a school essay again.. Just a few simple things like the word "anti-cancerous substance".. Maybe an anti-carcinogen or something. Like I said, the rights of this belong to you, so edit accordingly.

I'd love to maybe print it up and pass it around MassCann next september (Massachusetts NORML ralley in boston)...

 

i read that whole thing, and i usually would never read anything that long, but it was amazing. i definatly dont regret reading it

i feel much smarter now definatly +rep

and sorry for posting here without giving any info for you but i think alpha's got it covered

 

i read the whole thing and if you dont mind i am going to send this along with other things to my congressman and I would also print out copies for MassCann as I live in boston while it takes place.

 

make sure you address all the negative bs propaganda that our fascist regime puts out.

 

Awesome report alpha, + rep.

Leap (law enforcement against prohibition) has a lot of info on the subject as well.

peace

 

this thread is sorta old... But so is marijuana prohibition, so hey.