MARIJUANA PROHIBITION: WHO DOES IT PROTECT?

Is marijuana illegal in the United States to protect Americans or to
protect a handful of well-connected industries that believe ending
prohibition would affect their profits?

Every study, whether privately or government sponsored, has declared
the penalties against cannabis far out of line with the substance.
Every study has illustrated how tobacco and alcohol do far more damage
to individuals and society than marijuana. The draconian laws against
this naturally occurring herb have ruined millions of lives. These
laws have done far more damage during the current 66-year period of
prohibition than the plant has done since its first recorded use and
cultivation nearly 6,000 years ago.

Yet today, a cadre of individuals and industries is spending billions
of dollars to keep marijuana illegal. The U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration and Office of National Drug Control Policy contribute
to these private efforts by refusing to acknowledge the validity of
reports whose results run contrary to current drug policy. The DEA and
the ONDCP even reject studies commissioned by the Congress and other
U.S. government agencies.

When the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed there was no scientific
evidence as to the effects marijuana had on consumers. (The
psychoactive component of cannabis, THC, was not isolated until 1965.)
The congressional hearings leading to the passage of the Tax Act were
held in secret and considered no scientific evidence. Harry Anslinger,
director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1930 to 1962,
presented popular fabrications about marijuana as fact to the
congressional committees investigating the substance.

Here are a few of Anslinger's more memorable quotes about
marijuana:

"Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."

"Marijuana is taken by ... musicians. And I'm not speaking about good
musicians, but the jazz type."

"Marijuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing."

Industries that have a high interest in keeping marijuana illegal
include the tobacco industry, the alcoholic beverage industry, the
pharmaceutical industry, the petrochemical industry, the pulp and
paper industry, the prison-building industry, the prison guard unions
and organizations, and law enforcement organizations.

The tobacco and alcohol industries realize that when people smoke
marijuana, they use less tobacco and alcohol. Nicotine and alcohol are
both highly addictive. Current research has not shown marijuana to
cause physical dependency.

The pharmaceutical industry knows of the medical benefits of the
Cannabis sativa plant and does not want individuals cultivating their
own medications.

The petrochemical industry knows that industrial hemp and its myriad
products could replace 98 percent of our hydrocarbon-based petroleum.
Instead of pumping an exhaustible resource out of the ground, we could
produce enough hemp seed to provide nearly all the petrochemical raw
materials we need.

The pulp and paper industry knows that hemp can provide more fiber for
pulp per acre than trees. Plus, hemp fiber can be converted to pulp
without the pollutants created by the sulfuric acid process currently
used to turn trees into paper. Converting to hemp for fiber would cost
millions up front but would save billions in the long run, with the
added bonus of greatly improving the environment.

The American prison system is the largest in the world, with more than
2.1 million prisoners at the end of 2003. This has made the
prison-building industry one of the fastest growing industries in the
country. The major growth of prison population in the United States is
due mainly to the war on drugs. Marijuana arrests account for almost
80 percent of all drug arrests. Having the largest prison system also
requires the largest prison guard industry, and this industry depends
on the current drug policy for its members' job security.

Many law enforcement organizations receive more funding from the war
on drugs budget than they do from their respective municipal budgets.
If the laws against marijuana were changed to eliminate arrest for
possession, almost every law enforcement organization in the United
States would be required to eliminate personnel.

Prohibition has never worked, and it isn't working for marijuana.
According to a nationwide poll conducted by Time magazine and CNN in
October 2000, 80 percent of Americans support the medicinal use of
marijuana and 72 percent say that adults who use marijuana
recreationally should be fined, but not jailed. Only 19 percent of
respondents favored jailing recreational pot smokers. In addition, 40
percent of respondents also said that they favored the legalization of
small amounts of marijuana.

Who is marijuana prohibition really protecting? Is it the American
public and our way of life or is it protecting the interests of the
giants of industry who have friends in high government positions?