Self Analysis

When I first I set out to write on marijuana legalization, I thought I would focus on the economics of legalization and medicinal use. I did not think the topics of social effects and health effects on normal users were strong enough to have arguments made. As I researched more and more, I discovered that marijuana is generally beneficial in all aspects. Before, my argument was somewhat one sided, but it eventually developed into a much more well rounded case.

I’ve learned much about cannabis in the past month which has changed my opinion on it. Once, I believed that marijuana was moderately beneficial, but only in the economic sense. I mean, the government should have the people’s best interest at heart, so marijuana must have more disadvantages to justify the criminalization, right? Apparently it does not, because past mistakes have influenced the continued illegalization of cannabis of all forms, including hemp. But wait, if marijuana is a supposed malevolent drug, then why are there so many studies showing that when used responsibly, marijuana is not harmful (safeness of use, lack of addictiveness, not causing psychological disease), or socially negative (no gateway effect, doesn’t cause traffic fatalities, betters police protection). Furthermore, I was previously unaware of the benefits marijuana consumption has on Alzheimer’s disease, brain and lung cancer, and HIV/AIDS. As more studies and information are discovered on the effects of cannabis use, people’s attitudes and arguments for and against marijuana are destined to change accordingly, but as of now, I am pro legalization of marijuana.

I Used to Love H.E.M.P.

I am ashamed of you, dear readers. All these weeks have gone by and none of you have mentioned the hemp. Tsk tsk, faithful followers. Nevertheless, we’ll undertake the task of learning about hemp right … now. Hemp is scientifically known as Cannabis sativa L. subsp. sativa, which is different from marijuana, also known as Canabis sativa L. subsp. Indica. The difference between the two is that marijuana has a much higher level of THC. While hemp has between 0.05 and 1% THC content, marijuana has 3 to 20%. Despite this, the US government views hemp the same as marijuana. And yet, the United States imports hemp from other countries.

Hemp has many uses, including clothing fibers, construction, paper, and even food. The plant can be harvested and its fibers can be used to make clothing which has been shown to reduce UV exposure in the wearer. As for construction, hemp hurds are mixed with lime, sand, plaster, water, and some concrete to form a strong concrete-like material. Walls made with ‘hempcrete’ are said to be seven times stronger and three times more elastic than those made with concrete. It is also a better insulator and not brittle like cement. Crack resistant pipes can also be made from hempcrete, which are more flexible and elastic than those made from normal materials. The paper and pulping industry of today is the third worst polluting industry. One of the reasons for this is the dumping of dioxin, a waste product of chlorine, which is used in the paper pulping process. Hemp, when pulped, does not need chlorine or bleach to be whitened. It requires hydrogen peroxide, which doesn’t produce dioxin. Hemp paper is also a much better paper in that it can be recycled seven or eight times, as compared to normal paper which can only be recycled three times. Hemp paper also lasts much longer; hundreds of years longer than paper, that is! Furthermore, hemp is a much better environmental alternative. It can produce about four times as much paper per acre as trees. Also, while trees can take years upon years to grow, hemp is a renewable resource known as one of the fastest growing biomasses around. It can also be a substitute for cotton, which uses 50% of the worlds’ pesticides. In addition, hemp seeds are a beneficial and nutritional food. It contains all of the necessary amino acids for human life. Hemp seeds can be eaten raw, ground into a meal, or made into milk made from hemp, akin to soy milk. Next week, we’ll journey into the exciting topic of hemp’s possible economic impact. Hemp, Hemp, Hooray (Boo, bad pun)!!!

And kudos to those who recognize the reference in the title. I wonder how many of you get it.

Cannabis Clips

Cannabis clips are back! The recent drop-off in pot culture days is due to a combination of a little vacation, a little laziness, and writer's block. But, I'm back on the ball, hopefully writing some decent humor for my fair readers. Also new is the poll to the right; be sure to vote!

Let's take a look at a film that is known as the epitome of a cult movie: Reefer Madness (aka Tell Your Children).

Once a movie made to scare people into fear of marijuana use, Reefer Madness is now a quintessential "stoner flick." My favorite part has to be the man who encourages his lady friend to play the piano faster and faster and faster!

Having seen the whole film, I feel that I am capable of saying that this movie reaches comedy through absurdity. No one in their right mind today would argue that marijuana induces a desire for rape or homicidal tendencies. For those who have an allergic reaction to old time black and white movies, there is also a 2005 musical version that aired on Showtime. If you want to watch the 1936 version, watch it here. If you want to watch the musical version, which I must say is quite funny, you can find it online on places like SurftheChannel.com or you can buy it. Ha ha, yeah, buy it . . . right.

Marijuana as Medicine

Last week, I visited my parents and my father asked what I’ve been doing for my classes. I told my father that I was writing a blog, to which he asked what I was writing about. While he probably hoped it was something discussing important topics that could possibly help a prospective career, I told him I was writing an informative blog on how marijuana legalization is an effective policy. At this point, he must have concluded in his mind that I was a pothead because he effectively became stone-faced. I noticed this and decided to make a last ditch effort to sway his mind before his new perception of me became cemented in his mind. I told him about the study that showed how marijuana consumption can be an effective medicine to treat and prevent Alzheimer’s disease because of its effect to prevent the plaque formation in the brain found in Alzheimer's. As I expected, he perked up and eagerly asked me more questions concerning how this could be true. You see, his mother, my grandmother, passed away a few years ago as a result of a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Despite marijuana’s ability to treat this degenerative and terminal disease, it is obvious that most of marijuana’s medical uses go unnoticed by the public.

While marijuana can be used to treat many diseases, most people have very little knowledge of the other uses. The most well known use of marijuana as medicine is for the treatment of glaucoma. Studies have shown smoking marijuana loosens the intraocular pressure that causes glaucoma. As mentioned before, it can treat Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, the THC found in cannabis has been found to reduce lung cancer tumor growth and its ability to spread. Another cannabinoid found in marijuana, cannabidiol, has been studied to find that it can have the same effects of chemotherapy without the negative side effects. This would mean that consumption of marijuana would stop the spread of breast cancer. Scientists have also discovered that the symptoms of HIV and AIDS can be benefited by marijuana use. HIV patients that smoked marijuana were found to have increased food intake, better moods, and a better quality of life. Furthermore, a study from this year found that THC effectively causes the death of brain cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed and having no toxic effects.

Theory Post

Tomorrow, Californian legislators are meeting to listen to and debate testimony in favor of legalization of marijuana. This is good step forwards in the movement for legalization. The populace and lawmakers must get involved and discover the true effects of marijuana. Once legislators and congressmen also understand this, the legalization of marijuana will once again become a hotly debated topic. And until marijuana is legalized, polarized sides will not concede their positions. In order for cannabis to be legalized, certain restrictions must be placed upon it to ensure that it is responsibly used. This would mean an age restriction only allowing users to be twenty-one years of age or older. Furthermore, this would establish many state and federal taxes for buyers and sellers. Once this occurs, individual state governments can establish their own laws, like no smoking and driving, etc. After this, municipalities will be able to decide if they want to allow marijuana, much like ‘dry’ counties that do not sell alcohol. This is the only effective way to end polarized sides because if it remains to be a criminalized drug, questions will remain for those who believe marijuana is a beneficial good. If marijuana is never legalized, the proponents will still wonder how many people could have had their lives improved or even elongated by marijuana.

Marijuana's Social Effects and Effects on Public Safety

Aside from marijuana’s health concerns, the most feared possible effect is that ‘pot’ legalization will create millions of stoners incapable of daily menial tasks, and then they turn to hard drugs too. And then as they figure it, society collapses. Well, have no fear because I am here to take on these dangerous worries.

First off, one of the most well-known but incorrect theories is that of marijuana being a ‘gateway drug.’ For those who do not know, a gateway drug is one that using cannabis leads to the use of and addiction to hard drugs like heroin and cocaine. There have been multiple studies both finding in favor and opposed to the theory. In 2006, a Swedish institute gave rats doses of THC daily and then allowed them to control their own heroin use through pressing a lever. As the rats used THC day after day, they gradually used more and more heroin. Yet their experiment was erroneous because of errors in the rats’ ages. They tested on rats that were 28 days old (about 6 years old for humans). The test group for adult rats showed no relationship between use of THC and addiction to heroin. Furthermore, a study by the American Psychiatric Association conducted a study which observed the lives of children ages 10-12. Their results were that those kids that tried marijuana before any other drugs were no more likely to abuse hard drugs than those who did not use cannabis before drug use. And to cap this refutation of the gateway drug theory, a study in 1999 by US National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine reported that marijuana is not a "gateway drug to the extent that it is a cause or even that it is the most significant predictor of serious drug abuse."

Another major panic is that marijuana use will cause many traffic fatalities because of its consumption. Occasionally you will hear on the local news or even the national news stations that a fatal collision was caused by a driver who had marijuana in their system. This is a common fallacy because what people may not notice is that in most of these accidents, the driver was under the influence of alcohol as well. In fact, a recent study supports the idea that fears of marijuana traffic collision are overblown and that in traffic fatalities, a driver who is high is no more a danger for car wreck casualties than one who is drug-free.

And this last part is likely an unknown possible benefit. Public safety could very possibly become greater as a result of marijuana’s decriminalization. From my street knowledge, often times in iffy situations the police are not called when they should be. People are often afraid that the cops will find marijuana and thus arrest them for possession. Consequently, problems are not resolved and people can suffer because of it. Furthermore, an estimated $300 million is spent on fighting marijuana in each state. If marijuana is legalized than all of this budget money can be used elsewhere. Police can eliminate a former focus of their patrols and instead concentrate on more stopping more dangerous criminals and preventing crimes, such as hard drug use and trafficking. In this way, there is a good possibility that marijuana legalization would create better public safety.

Analysis of the Situation

In the early 1930’s, propaganda, a newspaper king, and a fiber company set off a war against marijuana use, making outrageous claims to scare off prospective users. The federal government continued this and criminalized the drug, penalizing those who possess it, grow it, and sell it. Cannabis was one of the subjects of the war on drugs started in the in the mid twentieth century and more publicized in the 1980s under former President Ronald Reagan. As recent as a few decades ago, about 75 percent of adults favored prohibition, but now only a small majority of adults believe it should be prohibited, as reported by the Gallup Poll. This shows the huge progress the legalization movement is making, including an increase of thirteen percent since the year 2000. Even now, on the home page of Time Magazine’s website, an overwhelming 88 percent of the five thousand visitors to the site are in favor of nationwide legalization. As the United States economy tries to make up ground lost in the past year, California became the largest state to legalize marijuana for medical use only. After the economy fell through, the legalization process gained momentum as Californians rally to get pot legalization measures on the ballot this year. Like those Californians, more people from other states wondered if legalizing marijuana would lead to a better economic forecast.

This re-emergence of marijuana legalization in national debate once again brought about the discussion of cannabis’ benefits and detriments. Those in favor of legalization usually cite the studies that indicate a strong possibility of a great amount of profit that can be made from the production of cannabis, as well as medicinal benefits and beneficial health effects for the users. However, some worry that marijuana use is detrimental to society and the user’s health. When it comes to marijuana’s effect on the economy, people have looked to analyze the likely budgetary savings in no longer attempting to fight marijuana sales and use, the profit to be made by private companies, possible revenue to be brought in for the sale of complementary goods, and the amount of money state and federal governments could bring in for excise and revenue taxes. While those who oppose marijuana’s legalization may acknowledge the economic benefits of allowing consumption of cannabis, they are more concerned about the effects marijuana has on the population as a drug. However, because cannabis is a very complex plant composed of thousands of chemicals, the effects of marijuana use are not wholly known. Nevertheless, scientists have studied its effects to ascertain some form of understanding of how marijuana affects humans. They have discovered that cannabis has both negative and beneficial uses. Smoking marijuana has been found to negatively affect health in the damage of lung airways. In spite of this, smoking marijuana is not the only way to achieve the desired effect. Consuming it in food or drinks or using a vaporizer provides alternate healthier methods to take advantage of cannabis’ uses. The opposition of legalization also likes to say that it causes many problems after consumption, including short term memory loss, impairing the user’s coordination, etc. Although, these do occur as a result of consuming marijuana, these effects only last as long as the user is ‘high’ and the symptoms do not linger. Moreover, marijuana is a safe drug in that one cannot possibly overdose on cannabis. Some also fear that cannabis consumption causes psychological disorders. This is not the case as one must have pre-existing psychological tendencies for marijuana to have any effect. Nevertheless, one with psychotic inclinations should not use marijuana.

Marijuana is also effective as medicine, capable of treating the side effects of many diseases. It has been found to decrease the plaque formations in the brain caused by Alzheimer’s Disease, contain THC that can reduce lung cancer tumors (as well as treat more types of cancer^1,2), treat glaucoma, and helping AIDS/HIV patients retain their appetite. Additionally, marijuana legalization could have profound social effects including a safer population as a result of focusing on worse crime and a better outlook on the police. Also, with the legalization of marijuana comes the legalization of hemp. This new industry will invigorate the dying economy once held by the timber industry.

How can marijuana still be criminalized when there is a far more dangerous drug widely available to the public? Alcohol remains one of the highest killers of Americans in both poisoning and from the result of drinking it and driving or not acting responsibly, killing roughly one hundred thousand in the United States each year. And yet how many people are killed each year from using marijuana? It has been proven that no one can overdose and a recent study shows that marijuana users are no more likely to cause fatal accidents than drug-free drivers. That means the total is only around the number of those who choose to smoke marijuana rather than consuming it through a safer method. America should be asking how it can allow a welcome and known drug like alcohol to be legal and yet not legalize a drug that is much safer for the populace.

1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673842/?tool=pmcentrez

2. http://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/6/11/2921.long