Cannabis: Prohibited for Nothing

Marijuana use is one of the most debated and controversial subjects currently in circulation today, and has been for the last forty or fifty years at least. Marijuana, or cannabis as it is occasionally known, is, among other things, a recreational drug that is used by hundreds of thousands of people in the United States alone. According to the government of the U.S. cannabis is a classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, making it illegal to grow, sell, possess or use in any way shape or form. However marijuana is one of the most useful substances in the world, being used for medical purposes, relaxation, and the plant can be used to make hemp, which is one of the strongest naturally occurring fibers.

With all of this in its favor how is it that marijuana is illegal? In the early years of the 19^th century the United States government decided that marijuana caused violence in users, in much the same fashion that they decided that alcohol did. This lasted for a few years, when the ban was repealed for a brief amount of time, specifically until the Vietnam War when it was decided that marijuana did not in fact cause violence, but rather created pacifists out of people, which would allow the communists to subvert our culture.

This ban has lasted to the present day. In a show of futility that matches no other the United States government, and all other governments that participate in the ban on marijuana show an admirable ability to not learn from prior mistakes. The alcohol prohibition of the 1920's showed an increase of crime and disorder at an exponential rate, one that is akin to that of the criminal element that is created by the criminalization of marijuana.

Marijuana use is one of the most prevalent offenses that people use to break the law. Every year marijuana related arrests rise, yet actual drug use rises as well. Millions of dollars in taxes go towards the War on Drugs every year, with no evidence to support the continued funding.

The government purports numerous studies that claim different detrimental effects of cannabis use over time. Yet most of these studies are either falsified or in some way flawed. Such as the 1970's study by Dr. Robert Heath in which the good doctor pumped monkeys full of cannabis smoke every day. However the way that he did it is that he placed a mask on the monkeys and pumped the gas straight down their throats. Which effectively suffocated them and suffocation causes brain damage. Hence, the whole brain damage myth.

If legalized and taxed appropriately marijuana and the hemp products that would be much more popular would help to seriously ease the financial strain on the economy, as well as to take some of the pressure off of the legal system that is over packed with criminals that don't necessarily do anything wrong besides make recreational use of marijuana.

The Union: The Business Behind Getting High.