Up in Smoke
Marijuana. Right now, it's taboo. Right now it's something parents dread talking to their children about. Right now it affects over half of the United States population. How can we make marijuana more useful to humanity without it having serious repercussions on today's society? Marijuana law reform is the answer. "While public officials admit to and the media jokes about 'youthful indiscretions,' thousands of Americans who are now imprisoned have lost property, the right to vote and have been fired from their jobs," said Journey for Justice Director Kay Lee. Lee's Journey for Justice program is one of several to march from Houston to Austin, spreading the idea of marijuana law reform. Lee continues, "To them this is no joke. The drug war has damaged and destroyed millions of Americans, the credibility of our representatives and the future of our children." To average Americans, the issue of marijuana raises many concerns. Many people have children who, at one poin!t in their lives, may be affected by this "gateway" drug. An idea that aims to solve this issue is the reformation of the laws surrounding marijuana. People who are interested in marijuana legislation should communicate to those who aren't
1. It must not have more undesirable side effects than competitive medicines. Sale to minor: 2 - 20 years; $10,000 Potter, Mich. "Reefer Blandness, and Pot Goes Mainstream." Sept. 2000 http://my.marijuana.com To perhaps better understand why the use is so punishable, envision the early uses of marijuana and what laws commenced. Marijuana can trace its cultivation throughout America for some 400 years now. Not until the 1920's did it become known as an intoxicant. The newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics blamed terrible crimes for people under the influence of marijuana. Potter, a known hemp activist, says in his book "Smoke In The Wind" "Congress then approved the 'Marijuana Tax Act of 1937' based almost entirely on this propaganda and misinformation." America tried alcohol prohibition between 1919 and 1931, but discovered that the crime and violence associated with prohibition was more damaging than the evil sought to be prohibited. With tobacco, America has learned over the last decade that education is the most effective way to discourage use. Yet, America fails to apply these lessons to marijuana policy. n personality, development, and motivational states, and its addictive potential. Although these studies did not answer all remaining questions about marijuana toxicity, they generally supported the idea that marijuana was a relatively safe drug -- not totally free from potential harm, but unlikely to create serious harm for most individual users or society. In the years since, thousands of additional studies have been conducted, many of them funded by NIDA, and together they reaffirm marijuana's substantial margin of safety (Zimmer 3). Our review of that body of work reveals an occasional study indicating greater toxicity than previously thought. But in nearly all such cases, the methodologies were seriously flawed and other researchers could not replicate the findings. However, the harmful effects to the individuals
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Approximate Word count = 1319
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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