Would You Inhale If It Were Legal For Personal Use?

We just might find out.

Marijuana. The possession, use, or sale of the plant became illegal in most parts of the world in the early 20th century after an increase in its use for recreational, religious or spiritual, and medicinal purposes. The plant, both it’s flowers and it’s leaves, had been highly sought after.

Big corps and governments stepped in to make their profits.

A study in 2006 discovered marijuana inhibits cancer cell growth in human breast carcinoma cells, human prostate carcimona cells, and human colectoral carcinoma cells both in vivo and in vitro, suggesting it’s use in cancer therapy. Prior to this study have been many others, including a Madrid study in 2000 discovering, among other benefits, it’s ability to shrink, even destroy, brain tumors.

Truth be told, this was actually known as far back as 1974 when researchers at the Medical College of Virginia, who had been funded by the National Institute of Health, found it slowed the growth of lung and breast cancer, as well as a virus-induced leukemia. President Gerald Ford put an end to all public cannabis research, and the DEA quickly shut down the Medical College of Virginia study and all further related research, granting instead the exclusive research rights to major pharmaceutical companies. In 1983 the Reagan/Bush Administration tried to persuade American universities and researchers to destroy all 1966-76 cannabis research work, including compendiums in libraries.

Fast forward to say… April 17, 2008. The year of Rep Barney Frank [Massachusetts-4] and Rep Ron Paul [Texas-14].

April 17, 2008, Rep Barney Frank and Rep Ron Paul introduced bill  H.R.5843.

April 17, 2008, Rep Barney Frank and Rep Ron Paul introduced a bill to Remove Federal Penalties for the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults. A bill to eliminate most Federal penalties for possession of marijuana for personal use, or for the not-for-profit transfer between adults of marijuana for personal use. Rep William Lacy Clay [Missouri-1] signed onto the bill April 24, 2008.

On this same date April 17, 2008, Rep Barney Frank [Massachusetts-4], Ron Paul [Texas-14], Rep Dana Rohrabacher [California-46], Rep Sam Farr [California-17] , and Rep Maurice Hinchey [New York-22] introduced an additional bill, H.R.5842. The Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act, to provide for the medical use of marijuana.

These two bills follow in the footsteps of a bill Ron Paul introduced last year, on February 13, 2007. H.R.1009 was introduced to amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana; aka `Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007′. The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007 claims the U.S. government eliminates American farmers from competing in a booming and profitable hemp market while promoting the careers dependent upon foreign hemp products. Ron Paul states that growing industrial hemp Stateside could significantly reduce the trade deficit and enable the U.S. to become a more energy efficient nation. Not to be confused with it’s psychoactive cousin, cannabis sativa. Removing the term ‘Industrial Hemp’ Paragraph (16) of section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act  from the definition of marijuana would clarify the term`industrial hemp’ as the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such plant, whether growing or not, has a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration that does not exceed 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.

Translation: No buzz found here.

Understanding hemp’s enormous impact on key industries such as petroleum, plastics, timber and the paper industry for example, supports the claim that the threat hemp posed back in the 1930s to special interests of these natural resource companies may well account for its ban in 1937 under the Marijuana Tax Act. The Act required a sizeable transfer tax for all marijuana sales. The American Medical Association (AMA) opposed the act because the tax was imposed on physicians prescribing marijuana, retail pharmacists selling marijuana, and medical marijuana cultivation/manufacturing. In 1969, the Marijuana Tax Act was found to be unconstitutional since it violated the Fifth Amendment. In response, Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, which repealed the Marijuana Tax Act.

The provisions of the Controlled Substances Act included increasing the regulation of pharmaceuticals. Of the 5 Schedules for drugs The Act provided Schedule 1 to include drugs with a ‘high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use’, among them listing marijuana. While Hemp products themselves are legal in the United States, the DEA ban prevents United States farmers from growing it. Domestic hemp product makers must therefore turn to suppliers in countries where it is legal to grow, such as Canada, China, and most of Europe.

So there you have it. Three bills that I for one want to see passed. Do your own independent, non-biased research and decide for yourself how you feel regarding legalizing Marijuana (H.R.5843) and  (H.R.5842) , and defining the difference between Marijuana and Industrialized Hemp ( H.R.1009).

While there are many people that have used Marijuana for personal use, there are also many who have not.  If Marijuana were legalized for personal use, would you inhale?

I see many benefits to legalizing Marijuana. The United States has the largest prison population in the world, with many of these convicted of minor felonies. Remove Marijuana from the picture, we could save the money spent on these crimes, from the point of arrest through jail time. Could you imagine if alcohol were a felony? Instead of Marijuana spending our tax dollars, tax the product itself.  Regulate Marijuana not unlike tobacco and alcohol, placing this money back into our economy. Providing for the medical use of marijuana can possibly save lives. Already known as a use for pain management, those living in pain could seek this option legally. Tax the plant itself, instead of using our taxes to support the crime.

Hemp grown in North America requires no pesticides. An acre of hemp can be turned into four times as much paper as an acre of trees. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper. This same paper can be recycled more times than tree paper and is naturally white, resulting in less sludge. There are more than 25,000 Hemp products, including cardboard, insulation, caulking, stucco and mortar, salad oil, margarine, oil paints, fuel, soap, shampoo and cosmetics. Cannabis produces monterpenes, which have been shown to slow global warming. This isn’t about drugs, it’s about creating goods in a sustainable method.

As George Washington wrote back in 1794:
“Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere.”

Those are a few thoughts, I could make this article longer and give you more. But more voices need to be heard. What are your thoughts on this subject, on any of these three bills? Do you see benefits, or do you see this backfiring if these bills get passed?

You can contact your representatives to voice your opinion on any of these bills. Your representatives need to hear from you, to know how you want your vote voiced; provide your representatives the incentive to sponser these bills by letting them know this is the direction you want them to go. If your representative is already supporting any of these bills, it’s always welcome to send a thank you!

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~ by dissfunktional on May 2, 2008.