I personally don't care for pot, but do feel it should be legal. I have a few friends here in NJ that have medical pot and they say it helps them a lot!!!
On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 7:52 AM, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > > August 2, 2017 > > *It’s Been Exactly 80 Years Since the US Declared War on Weed and Weed > Is Still Winning *Carey Wedler > > *(ANTIMEDIA <http://theantimedia.org/>* *Op-Ed)* The government fought > cannabis and cannabis won. > > This Wednesday is the eightieth anniversary of the first major action the > federal government took against cannabis in the United States, and eight > decades later, that same federal government has still failed to reduce > Americans’ consumption of the plant. In fact, it’s on the rise > <http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/22/us/marijuana-use-up/index.html>. > > Long before the era of prohibition, druggists used cannabis as a medicine. > According > <http://origins.osu.edu/article/illegalization-marijuana-brief-history> > to *Origins*, a joint publication by the Ohio State University and Miami > University history departments: > > “*Cannabis, like opiates and cocaine > <http://origins.osu.edu/article/shifting-terrain-latin-american-drug-trafficking>, > was freely available at drug stores in liquid form and as a refined > product, hashish. Cannabis was also a common ingredient in > turn-of-the-century patent medicines, over-the-counter concoctions brewed > to proprietary formulas.*” > > Then, like today, it helped people relax: > > *“The hashish candy advertised > <http://books.google.com/books?id=Kk4oAQAAMAAJ&dq=vanity%20fair%201862&pg=RA1-PA134#v=onepage&q=hasheesh&f=false> > in an 1862 issue of Vanity Fair as a treatment for nervousness and > melancholy, for example, was also ‘a pleasurable and harmless stimulant.’ > ‘Under its influence all classes seem to gather new inspiration and > energy,’ the advertisement explained*.” > > Though in 1906 the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act required patent > medicine companies to list cannabis as an ingredient in products where it > was present – and between 1914 and 1925 26 states passed laws prohibiting > it it wasn’t until 1937 federal authorities took substantial action. > > On August 2, 1937, Congress passed the “Marihuana Tax Act,” which was > largely the result of anti-narcotic crusader Henry Anslinger’s mission to > ban the plant. As *Time* has explained > <http://time.com/4298038/marijuana-history-in-america/>, creating a “tax” > on the substance effectively outlawed it: > > “*As with the Harrison Narcotic Act in 1914, Congress deemed an act > taxing and regulating drugs, rather than prohibiting them, less susceptible > to legal challenge. As a result, the 1937 legislation was ostensibly a > revenue measure. Just as the Harrison Act used taxation and regulation to, > in effect, prohibit morphine, heroin and other drugs, the Marijuana Tax Act > essentially outlawed the possession or sale of marijuana*.” > > There are a variety of documented reasons for this ban. For one, Henry > Anslinger was hysterically opposed to drugs. According to *Origins*, > Anslinger, a “*former assistant commissioner of the Prohibition Bureau > who headed the U.S. Treasury Department’s Narcotics Bureau from 1930 to > 1962*,” had previously advocated against a ban on cannabis because he > believed it would be difficult to enforce (you don’t say!). > > *Origins* explained: > > “*However, Anslinger began to capitalize on fears about marijuana while > pressing a public relations campaign to encourage the passage of uniform > anti-narcotics legislation in all 48 states. He later lobbied in favor of > the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.*” > > Many of these fears were the result of calculated campaigns in the 1920s > by prohibition activists, who were inspired by their “success” in banning > alcohol. Further, William Randolph Hearst, the infamous publishing magnate, > launched a campaign to associate cannabis with violence and the degradation > of society. > > “*The association of murder, torture, and mindless violence with > marijuana was not borne out by evidence or actual events but blossomed > thanks to the vivid imaginations of the journalists charged with > sensationalizing the tired story of drug use and addiction*,” *Origins* > noted. > > Similarly, Anslinger sounded the alarm on the alleged murders and rapes > people committed while under the influence of the devil’s lettuce. In 1936, > the film *Reefer Madness*, which now plays like a comedy, warned of the > psychosis, violence, and dangers cannabis could bring about. The film > warned of “*marijuana, the burning weed with its roots in hell*.” Much of > the testimony advocating the 1937 tax act focused on these unfounded fears, > and Anslinger led the way. > > > > *https://youtu.be/sbjHOBJzhb0 <https://youtu.be/sbjHOBJzhb0> *“*How many > murders, suicides, robberies, criminal assaults, holdups, burglaries and > deeds of maniacal insanity it causes each year can only be conjectured*,” > he wrote in a 1937 article titled “Marijuana, Assassin of Youth > <http://www.redhousebooks.com/galleries/assassin.htm>.” (Today, some > research > <http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0092816> > suggests cannabis is not linked > <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/27/medical-marijuana-crime-study_n_5044397.html> > to increases in violent crime). > > The only witness who testified against the proposed ban was a > representative from the American Medical Association, who congressmen > dismissed (Anslinger also made an effort throughout his career to discredit > research suggesting cannabis was not dangerous). The bill easily passed, > undermining legal cannabis and also outlawed > <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/8-things-didnt-know-hemp/> the > production of hemp. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law. > > Another related driver behind the ban stemmed from racism within American > society. Though cannabis had been used in medicines and hemp was used in > industry to produce materials like rope (in the 1600s, colonists were > actually required > <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/8-things-didnt-know-hemp/> to grow > it), Mexican immigrants introduced the practice of smoking the plant, > which, “*in turn, generated a reaction in the U.S., tinged perhaps with > anti-Mexican xenophobia*.” This fear spurred the 1906 regulation in the > Pure Food and Drug Act and persisted into the 1930s. > > As *Rolling Stone * noted > <http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/blunt-talk-the-racist-origins-of-pot-prohibition-w477299>, > there had been conversations in the United States not just about cannabis > use, but other drugs, since the late 19th century. > > *“But in the next 50 years, concerns about inebriation only translated > into law if the substance wasn’t already controlled by a powerful industry, > and if there was a perception, accurate or not, that a given drug was being > used by poor people, immigrants, and people of color.*” > > As fears surrounding substance use grew, *Rolling Stone* observed, they > dovetailed with racist stereotypes about the poor and minorities that > assumed these groups were more likely to commit crimes, be lazy, and lack > self-control when it came to “*sex, violence, and intoxication.*” > > By 1952, Congress had passed > <http://time.com/4298038/marijuana-history-in-america/> the Boggs Act, > which imposed strict mandatory sentences for various drugs, including > cannabis. In the 1970s, the Controlled Substances Act was passed, placing > drugs into “schedules” as we know them today. > > Though Nixon touted the war on drugs as an effort to save society, one of > his advisers, John Ehrlichman, reportedly claimed > <https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/> in the 1990s that > they pursued cannabis as an effort to criminalize black and anti-war > activist. Other former advisers then claimed > <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/richard-nixon-drug-war-john-ehrlichman_us_56f58be6e4b0a3721819ec61> > Ehrlichman was either joking or mistaken, but a cursory examination of > arrests for cannabis shows the war on weed has disproportionately > <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/us/marijuana-arrests-four-times-as-likely-for-blacks.html> > affected African-Americans though they use the substance at roughly the > same rate as white Americans. > > Overall, according > <https://www.aclu.org/gallery/marijuana-arrests-numbers> to the ACLU, > cannabis arrests accounted for over half of all drug arrests between 2000 > and 2010, and 88% of those were for possession. > > Though states across the country have begun to legalize cannabis both for > medicinal and recreational use, the federal government continues to dig its > heels in. The DEA recently insisted > <https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2017/02/06/cannabidiol-illegal-and-always-has-been/> > that even cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid, falls into the > ominous Schedule I <https://www.dea.gov/druginfo/ds.shtml> category, > which also includes MDMA, LSD, and mushrooms but fails to cover highly > dangerous and toxic legal drugs like alcohol and opioids. > > Many industries also continue to oppose cannabis legalization. The > alcohol industry <https://theintercept.com/2016/09/14/beer-pot-ballot/>, > the private prison industry, and prison guard and police unions all lobby > <https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2014/08/money-not-morals-drives-marijuana-prohibition-movement/> > against legalization. Most notably, pharmaceutical companies fight > <https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/oct/22/recreational-marijuana-legalization-big-business> > to keep cannabis illegal, all while at least one opioid > <http://fortune.com/2016/12/08/insys-execs-charged-bribing-doctors-fentanyl/> > producer concocts > <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/24/a-pharma-company-that-spent-500000-trying-to-keep-pot-illegal-just-got-dea-approval-for-synthetic-marijuana/?utm_term=.894af7dcb935> > its own synthetic cannabis with the approval of the same FDA and DEA that > opted > <http://www.npr.org/2016/08/10/489509471/dea-rejects-attempt-to-loosen-federal-restrictions-on-marijuana> > to keep cannabis a Schedule I drug. > > But against all these odds, cannabis continues to beat the government and > establishment’s decades-long fight against it. > > Many Americans have outgrown the fears instilled in them through films > like *Reefer Madness* and are beginning to accept a live-and-let-live > mentality. Though more research on the plant is undoubtedly needed (and > limited > <https://www.statnews.com/2016/08/10/marijuana-medical-research-dea/> due > to federal restrictions), preliminary scientific studies > <https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/cannabis-pdq#section/_7> > and anecdotal evidence suggest the plant has the potential to treat a > variety of ailments, from epilepsy > <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/first-marijuana-substance-reduces-seizures-epilepsy-patients-clinical-trial/> > to nausea to Parkinson’s disease > <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNT8Zo_sfwo>. Veterans are increasingly > using > <http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-pot-veterans-201707-story.html> > it to treat PTSD. > > The United States’ relationship with cannabis is coming full circle, > returning to times when it was a common ingredient in everyday medications. > Many Americans are opting > <http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/can.2017.0012> to > substitute opioids with cannabis for pain, and opioid overdose deaths are > lower <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25154332> in states with legal > medical cannabis. Cannabis also poses a threat > <http://www.salon.com/2017/05/27/medical-marijuana-could-cost-big-pharma-4-billion-a-year_partner/> > to profits from other pharmaceuticals. > > Beer company profits have fallen > <http://time.com/money/4592317/legal-marijuana-beer-sales/> in states > where cannabis is legal, and some states are even moving > <http://reason.com/blog/2014/04/29/industrial-hemp-legalization-in-states> > to legalize hemp. > > Meanwhile, cannabis industry is expected > <http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/09/news/economy/marijuana-legalization-sales/index.html> > to generate $20 billion annually by 2020, and police are frequently > trolled <http://theantimedia.org/nypd-pathetic-drug-bust/> for attempting > to enforce cannabis laws that Americans increasingly perceive > <http://www.newsweek.com/marijuana-legalization-legal-states-poll-pot-588105> > as petty and unproductive > <http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/november_2015/americans_still_think_war_on_drugs_is_failing> > . > > All the while, federal bureaucracies continue to lag behind, clinging to > outdated myths and prohibitions that over the course of the better half > of a century have been debunked and proven ineffective, which is > unsurprising considering humans have been consuming the plant for well > over 2,000 years > <http://www.newsweek.com/chinese-were-smoking-grass-2400-years-ago-508752> > . > > http://theantimedia.org/war-cannabis-80-years/ > > -- > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. 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