Decriminalization of Marijuana
The word marijuana means different things to different people. To doctors and pharmacists, it means a medication that can be used to treat pain and ease sickness. To police officers, it means an illegal substance that alters a person's mood, feelings, and personality. And to most law-abiding citizens, marijuana means something that will get them into trouble. It has not always been this way in America. Not until the early twentieth century did marijuana receive its bad reputation. Marijuana cultivation in the United States can trace its lineage some 400 years. (Stroup 1) For most of our nation's history, farmers grew marijuana {then known exclusively as hemp} for its fiber content. Colonialists planted the first American hemp crop in 1611 near Jamestown, Virginia. (Stroup 2) "Marijuana cultivation continued as an agricultural staple in America through the turn of the 20th century." (Stroup 2) Marijuana first earned recognition as an intoxicant in the 1920s and 1930s. Recreational use of the drug became associated primarily with the Mexican-American immigrant workers and African-American jazz musician community. During this time, hemp was renamed "marihuana" and the plant's longstanding history as a cash crop was replaced wit
None of Dr. Woodward's advice was taken, and thus began the criminal prohibition of marijuana that remains in place today. It was surely not a thoughtful or well-considered process that led to the federal prohibition of marijuana, and that tradition persists today whenever marijuana policy is brought up. Copley Newspaper, Inc.8sections, 98 pages. Sec A. November 28,2000 1997 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997- 1998 Kieth Stroup, Esq. NORML, Executive Director
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Approximate Word count = 1838
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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