HEMP IN ILLINOIS

Dear Editor, M.L. Simon's June 6th column provides an excellent overview of
the many uses of hemp. The history of hemp's change from cash crop to
dreaded symbol of the counterculture is quite interesting. Prior to the
passage of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 and subsequent reefer madness
campaign, few Americans had heard of marijuana, despite widespread
cultivation of its non-intoxicating cousin, industrial hemp.

The first marijuana laws were a racist reaction to Mexican laborers taking
jobs from whites during the early 1900's, passed in large part due to
newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst's sensationalist yellow
journalism. Incredibly violent acts were allegedly committed by minorities
under marijuana's influence.

Whites did not even begin smoking pot until a soon-to-be-entrenched
government bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda.

These days, marijuana is confused with '60s counterculture. This
intergenerational culture war does far more harm than marijuana.

Drug dealers do not ID for age, making it easier for teenagers to buy
illicit drugs than beer. As the most popular illicit drug, marijuana
provides the black market contacts that introduce youth to hard drugs like
heroin.

This "gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy.

In Europe, the Netherlands has successfully reduced overall drug use by
replacing marijuana prohibition with regulation. Dutch rates of drug use
are significantly lower than U.S. rates in every category.

Separating the hard and soft drug markets and establishing age controls for
marijuana has proven more effective than zero tolerance. Please feel free
to edit and publish.

Additional background information:
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/HISTORY.HTM

A dated comparison of Dutch vs. American rates of drug use can be found at:
http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/c_drugstat.html

More recent figures can be found at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A., Program Officer

The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation http://www.drugpolicy.org

4455 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite B-500

Washington, DC 20008-2328