Adam Bartell English 11 Nov 4, 2012 Reasonable Regulation

Former president Jimmy Carter once said, Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Despite marijuana's effects being significantly less harmful than other drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, cannabis is the most frequently used drug in which citizens are arrested for merely possessing. The United States marijuana policy is incredibly distinctamong most criminal laws in that it is enforced so widely and harshly, yet is deemed unnecessary by a vast majority of the population. According to recent polls, fifty six percent of Americans are in favor of marijuana being legalized, taxed, and regulated like alcohol. Every year American taxpayers are required to pay billions of dollars to indict, victimize and incarcerate citizens for possessing marijuana. If marijuana were legalized and regulated like other drugs such as alcohol and tobacco, this income, plus tax revenues from the sale of cannabis, could be used for other purposes such as education and healthcare. Marijuana should be legalized due to its economic, agricultural, and medicinal value. The cannabis plant, commonly referred to as marijuana, is well known for its medicinal value. The therapeutic properties of marijuana come from the numerous psychoactive chemicals found in the bud, leaves and resin of the cannabis plant (A Brief History of Cannabis). The primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is known as Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannibinol or THC. Cannabis is also well known for the value of its fiber and pulp from the stalk used for paper and clothing, as well as the highly nutritional seed oil found in the plant (Mathre, The Medicinal

Use of Marijuana."). The first direct reference to cannabis as a medicinal stimulant dates from 2737 BC, in the writings of Chinese emperor Shen Nung. The focus of these writings was on marijuanas powers as a medication for inflammation, gout, malaria, and absent-mindedness (A Brief History of Cannabis). Interestingly, marijuana was used in colonial America and listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia, as tincture of cannabis until 1941 (A Brief History of Cannabis). Despite the vast amounts of evidence stating that marijuana is in fact a form of medicine, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) still classifies marijuana as a schedule one drug. This according to the FDA means the drug or substance has high potential for abuse, it has no currently accepted medical treatment in the United States, and finally, there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or substance under medical supervision (DEA Controlled Substances). Advocates of prohibition tend to disagree with the therapeutic properties of cannabis, although various studies conducted by the Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Health at the Institute of Medicine have concluded that it would take twenty-forty thousand times the normal dose of marijuana to induce fatal repercussions. In other words, an individual would have to ingest one thousand five hundred pounds of marijuana in fifteen minutes in order to die (Joy et al. Marijuana and Medicine). Over the past twenty years it has become blatantly obvious that marijuana is in fact a medicinal substance. However, it is true that smoked marijuana is more harmful than THC itself. The Division of Marijuana and Health at the Institute of Medicine states Cannabis smoke is similar to tobacco smoke in that it is a mixture of very small particles in a gas-vapor phase. Both the particulate and vapor phases contain many identified and probably some still unidentified constituents that, based on clinical experience with tobacco smoke, must be assumed to be potentially harmful (Cannabis Smoke Composition). However, other options of consumption have proven incredibly therapeutic. The chemical THC has a lower point of va-

porization than the plant material it is contained in. Vaporizers are designed to warm the cannabinoids on the marijuana plant just enough without burning the plant material. This produces a smoke free vapor rid of tars and other particulate matter (Cannabis Smoke Composition). Studies have shown that medical cannabis can relieve symptoms of: Alzheimer's, Crohns Disease, Glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Cancer, and many more. Marijuana is a proven and reliable source of rehabilitation. Government officials must not overlook the medicinal and therapeutic properties of the cannabis sativa plant. The proposed idea of marijuana being legal, taxed and regulated like tobacco or alcohol has been subject to much debate. In a report by Dr. Jeffrey Miron, visiting professor of economics at Harvard University. Miron states that replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of taxation similar to that of alcohol or tobacco would produce combined savings and tax revenues of approximately ten-fourteen billion dollars (Miron, The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition). This is a staggering estimate considering the current economic situation in the United States. As of right now marijuana prohibition costs US taxpayers at least seven and a half billion dollars annually. If merely decriminalized, states would save tremendous amounts of money on enforcement costs. For example, due to decriminalization, the state of California saves approximately one hundred million dollars on law enforcement annually (Marijuana Prohibition Facts). Dr. Mirons report The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition concludes, Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of legal regulation would save approximately $7.7 billion in government expenditures on prohibition enforcement $2.4 billion at the federal level and $5.3 billion at the state and local levels...Revenue from taxation of marijuana sales would range from $2.4 billion per year if marijuana were taxed like ordinary consumer goods to $6.2 billion if it were taxed like alcohol or tobacco (Miron, The Budgetary Implications of

Marijuana Prohibition). Additionally, in the California NORML Report by Dr. Dale Gieringer, it is stated that if the marijuana industry were just one-third the size of the wine industry, it would generate a total of fifty-thousand jobs and one and a half billion dollars in wages, along with additional taxes and income (Gieringer, Benefits of Legalization). In the United States, there are more arrests for marijuana possession yearly than for all non violent crimes combined ("Marijuana Legalization Organization"). Given the drastic number of citizens incarcerated each year for marijuana related offenses and the high cost of housing prisoners, it seems highly unlikely that marijuana will remain illegal within the next twenty years. Benefits of legal, taxed, and regulated marijuana are innumerable. The realization of marijuanas economic value must occur in order for a long and prosperous America. Cannabis sativa plants are either male or female. Male plants produce pollen in order to reproduce with female plants. When a female plant is left un-pollenated it continues to grow its flowers or buds. These buds are what produce THC (the psychoactive chemical in marijuana). This means that male plants do not posses any THC. The hemp plant cannot get a person high. It contains such a small amount of THC that attempting to get high from hemp is comparable to trying to get drunk from non-alcoholic beer (Bock, "The Ecological Benefits of Marijuana"). Therefore, cultivation of the male cannabis plant should not be illegal. For thousands of years the stalk of the cannabis sativa plant has been used as a form of fiber. Furthermore, cannabis seeds are a valuable source of oil that has been used frequently for paint, lacquer, and, lotions as well as nutrition suitable for animal and human consumption. Unfortunately, hemp has been effectively unavailable for these uses since 1937. Since then people have defected to other resources, many non-renewable. Hemp fiber in contrast with cotton is ten times stronger, and much more efficient. Hemp in nature is naturally skilled at avoiding enemies and does not require fertilizer

to grow, this is why some have coined marijuana with the term weed. Cotton, by comparison, is grown commercially, uses numerous fertilizers and pesticides, and growing it causes the soil to become restless. It has been estimated that industrial hemp could produce an economy comparable to that of the cotton industry (Bock, "The Ecological Benefits of Marijuana"). Approximately half of all the forests in the world have been cut down in the past fifty years to make paper out of trees. In a U.S. Department of Agriculture bulletin in 1916 it is explained that paper could be made from certain elements within the hemp stalk. They predicted that if machinery were developed to separate the hurds from the fibers in the hemp stalk, a prosperous domestic paper industry could flourish based on cultivation of the cannabis sativa plant. In fact, machinery was developed in the 1930s, but in 1937 cannabis was declared illegal by the Marihuana Tax Act. According to the USDA, ten-thousand acres of hemp would yield as much paper as forty-thousand acres of trees (Bock, "The Ecological Benefits of Marijuana"). Additionally, much fewer toxic chemicals are required and produced to make paper from hemp than to make paper from trees. The agricultural and environmental benefits of cannabis are countless. America must understand the need for versatile products such as hemp in order to rescue itself from a depleting economy. Marijuana prohibition has proven to be ineffective, costly, and unjustifiable. Taxpayers spend billions of dollars a year investigating, arresting, victimizing, and incarcerating innocent US citizens for marijuana while ultimately failing to decrease its availability or popularity. It has been proven that marijuana possesses significant medicinal value for terminally ill individuals and persons experiencing neuropathic pain. Additionally, marijuana has been used for thousands of years due to its therapeutic properties. Hemp is possibly one of the most versatile and efficient products on the planet. Its use as paper, paint, clothing, plastic, and nutrition are essential to economic growth. Evidence that prohibition does not work is limitless. Marijuana must be legalized

under a system of taxation and regulation in order to rescue the American economy from an impending recession.

A Brief History of Cannabis. 24 October 2012. <http://www.ukcia.org/culture/history/index.php> Bock, Alan W. "The Ecological Benefits of Marijuana." The Ecological Benefits of Marijuana. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.connexions.org/CxLibrary/Docs/CX5039-MarijuanaEcologicalBenefits.htm>. "Cost of Marijuana Prohibition: Economic Analysis." Cost of Marijuana Prohibition: Economic Analysis. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/>. "DEA Diversion Control - Controlled Substance Schedules." DEA Diversion Control Controlled Substance Schedules. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/schedules/index.html>. "Erowid Cannabis Vault : Info on Smoke Composition." Erowid Cannabis Vault : Info on Smoke Composition. N.p., 9 Mar. 2010. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_info3.shtml>. Gieringer, Dale, Dr. "Benefits of Marijuana Legalization in California." California NORML. NORML, Oct. 2009. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://canorml.org/background/CA_legalization2.html>.

Joy, Janet E., Stanley J. Watson, Jr., and John A. Benson, Jr. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. Washington, D.C.: National Academy, 1999. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6376&page=R1>. "Marijuana Legalization Organization." Marijuana Legalization Organization. N.p., 1999. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.mjlegal.org/index.html>. "Marijuana Prohibition Facts." Marijuana Policy Project. N.p., Sept. 2008. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.mpp.org/assets/pdfs/download-materials/MJ_ProhibFacts092008.pdf Mathre, Mary L. "The Medicinal Use of Marijuana." The Medicinal Use of Marijuana. N.p., June 1993. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.ukcia.org/medical/medicinaluseofmarijuana.php>. Miron, Jeffrey A., Dr. The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition. Rep. N.p.: n.p., n.d. The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition. June 2005. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MironReport.pdf>.