Hawaii

Mr. O’Keefe
English 0301.146
11/16/2011

A Plant With a Bad Name

For many years, marihuana has been seen as an addictive drug, a drug that has no medical use, the gateway drug to heroin andcrack. However, there is no evidence that any of that information is true. It’s time to look past the theories and see the real reasons why Marihuana should be legal.
Marihuana was used for manyyears before the prohibition was pushed. In 1883, it was the largest agricultural corporation in the world. It was used for Fabric, wood, textiles, lighting oil, medicine, nutritional supplements andeven the greatest contribution a person could make to his country. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence with Hemp, which is the botanical cousin of marihuana. Hemp is the softestdurable fiber in the planet. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin all had mills and grew hemp. Hemp is also an excellent source for bio fuel. We can stop using fossil fuel, nuclear energy and use moresun, wind and water. Hemp is making a comeback around the world, but the United States continues to insist that they should outlaw a crop simply because one of its botanical cousins can be recycledimproperly.
There are studies that show no evidence of lung cancer from smoking weed, but tobacco studies prove that it’s the number one killer in the United States. Murders, aids, heroin, crack, caraccidents, and fires combined still don’t beat Tobacco. Every year, 400,000 deaths are caused from tobacco. On the other hand, there are zero deaths caused from marihuana.
Does weed prove to be aGateway Theory? Some say that weed is the stepping stone to morphine, heroin and other illegal drugs. However, there is no conclusive evidence that the effects of marihuana lead to the successive abuseof other forbidden drugs. Well what about violence? Marihuana does not contribute to violence other than Alcohol. Now we all know what happened when the Prohibition of alcohol came through; it got...