Sparks & Kelley 1

16 March 2009

Dear Melanie,

We would be lying if we said that we are completely satisfied with the paper we are turning into you, but we are proud of what we have so far. The reason we collaborated to write a joint paper on the subject of marijuana law was that we knew it would be impossible to effectively discuss it in six pages. It came as a surprise to us when we realized that 12 pages wasn’t quite enough either. It became clear to us early on that the biggest obstacle in arguing for the legalization of marijuana would be to dispel the negative stigma of an illegal substance. This requires extensive explanation, vernacular translation, history lessons, and broken-down logic, all of which frankly take a lot of space. While we are pleased with the quality of our rhetoric, the paper seems a little incomplete to us. There is so much to say about the subject that it seems like a futile effort to effectively argue it in such a small space. We were prepared to go more in depth about the power of the pharmaceutical companies, discuss the countless uses for hemp as a product (from clothing to oil), and back our claims with personal experiences. With the necessity of initial refutation though, some ideas just didn’t make it past the drawing board.

That isn’t to say that we’re done with this paper, throwing in the towel and abandoning this project. No, that would be the lazy, unmotivated, short-term memory impaired thing to do. We plan on expanding this paper to a longer lasting, harder hitting piece so that we can thoroughly explore our argument in a more well rounded, positive discussion. Ideally, we hope to eventually have this paper (or some evolved strain of it) published by High Times magazine.

Until then, consider this a blunt draft.

Thanks for a great quarter,

Alex KelleyPatrick Sparks

P.S. Edibles and vaporizers the absolute best methods of using marijuana. Unlike traditional smoking, you won’t take in any carcinogens by ingesting or inhaling vapor. 3-2-1 go.

Sparks & Kelley 2

Patrick Sparks & Alex Kelley

Engish 134

Essay #3

March 16, 2009

Fear and Loathing in Cannabis Country

Highstory

This history of marijuana or more aptly known as Cannabis Sativa is a long and adventur-

ous one. Lets take the trip. For more than ten thousand years marijuana has been used in nearly

all cultures around the world with purposes ranging from textiles to spiritual guidance to medi-

cine. Even though this devil weed has been illegal

for as long as most can remember, in truth Cannabis

has only been illegal for less than one percent of

the time it has been in use. Some of the earliest

known fabrics along with incense, rope and food

were made of hemp. From as far back as 8000 B.C.

Cannabis seeds were used for food in China, and in

2727 B.C it was used for the first time as medicine

as recored in the Chinese pharmacopoeia (Bienen-

stock). Our very own Bill of Rights was written

on hemp paper, and in the United States the first law that was passed relating to Cannabis was

in 1619. The law required all farmers in Jamestown Colony, Virgina to grow Indian hempseed.

George Washington himself was growing it at Mount Vernon (Brecher). During times of short-

Sparks & Kelley 3

age you could be jailed for not growing it, and could even pay your taxes with it.

As the common saying goes, all good things must come to end, and the 1600s were no

exception. Soon racism came into affect. In 1900s California and other states were worried

about the Mexican immigrants who brought hemp with them and smoked marijuana(Abel). In

1913 California passed its first anti marijuana law outlawing “preparations of hemp, or loco

weed (Whitebread, Bonnie).” Soon seven more states passed laws outlawing marijuana from

1915-1927. On the east the problem was the African American jazz musicians who brought their

marijuana from New Orleans to Chicago then to Harlem (Abel). The musicians used marijuana

as a part of their lifestyle to create some of the best music we still know and listen to today; mu-

sicians such as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and Fats Waller. There were several rumors and

fear tactics used to scare people during this time such as an editorial article stating, “Marihuana

influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at

a white woman twice (Guither).” Both of these examples with the Mexicans and Africans were

ways for the Authorities to be able to crack down on illegal immigrants, or just ways to unleash

their racism “legally.” The sad fact is that there is still racism in the enforcement of drug law,

with one if five incarcerations for drug offenses being black, and almost forty-four percent were

hispanic (Sabol).

Some would say that in 1930 with the creation of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN)

and “Drug Czar” Harry J. Anslinger as commissioner, the war on marijuana had begun. In his

time as commissioner of the FBN he was extremely influential in making marijuana, among

other drugs, illegal. He used more false statements to scare the public majority into believing

that “Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.”

Sparks & Kelley 4

He was also heard saying, “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are

Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from

marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, enter-

tainers, and any others (Guither).”

In 1937 he introduced the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 which put a one dollar tax on

anyone who dealt commercially in cannabis, hemp, or marijuana (W&B). This was the first

federal law involving marijuana. There were extensive fines and penalties for not having these

tax stamps, but the problem was that they were not giving any of them away. The Marihuana

Tax act of 1937 virtually criminalized the

growth, sale, or distribution of Cannabis.

On October 2, 1937 Samuel Caldwell was

the first person in America arrested for

selling marijuana, when he sold two joints

to Moses Baca (Spencer). Caldwell was

sentenced to four years of hard labor, as

stated in the graphic, and Baca eighteen

months. Anslinger held office for thirty-two years before taking a position as US Representative

to the United Nations Narcotics Commission where he led to many international laws against

drugs.

William Randolph Hearst was a contributer to Anslinger’s vendetta against weed. In a

1923 article of the San Francisco Examiner, Randolph published articles that were blatantly un-

true and extremely swayed: By the tons it is coming into this country -- the deadly, dreadful poison that racks and tears not only the body, but the very heart and soul of every

Sparks & Kelley 5

human being who once becomes a slave to it in any of its cruel and devastating forms.... Marihuana is a short cut to the insane asylum. Smoke marihuana cigarettes for a month and what was once your brain will be nothing but a storehouse of horrid specters. Hasheesh makes murderer who kills for the love of killing out of the mildest mannered man who ever laughed at the idea that any habit could ever get him (Drug Library).

Hearst did not want the cannabis pulp and fiber, which were much better than wood pulp,

to be used in paper because he owned a substantial forested area from which he made huge prof-

its.

Later it was reported that Dupont chemical company and many pharmaceutical compa-

nies were involved in trying to make cannabis illegal. Because of Dupont’s nylon patent, they no

longer wanted cannabis to be competition, and the pharmaceutical companies could not stay in

business if people can grow their own pain relievers.

Fast-forward seven years to 1944 and Mayor Fiorello La Guardia calls for a study to be

held on the effects of smoking marijuana. It completely refuted every claim made by the U.S.

Treasury Department about marijuana causing violence, being addictive, or acting as a step-

ping stone drug to opiates, but is ignored and Anslinger continues his fight (Drug Library 2). In

1951 and 1956 more laws were put into place to set mandatory sentences for offenses involving

marijuana, and between 1960 and 1970 marijuana was used much more widely and was looked

at much more leniently. In 1970 there were many repeals of minimum sentence laws because

congress realized that they were not solving any of the problems they sought to solve.

Along with some repeals in the 70’s on drug sentencing came the beginning of the lon-

gest and one of the most expensive wars in which the United States has ever been involved. The

term War on Drugs was first used in 1969 by Richard Nixon to explain the new view of drugs

by the United States and other participating countries and what we were going to do to ratify our

Sparks & Kelley 6

country of these problem drugs (O’Toole). He wanted to reform and reduce drug trade interna-

tionally, so he put marijuana on the Schedule 1 drug list (DEA). He downright ignored a sci-

entific study that he had asked to be done called the Shafer Commission which considered laws

regarding marijuana and determined that personal use of marijuana should be decriminalized

(Frontline).

In 1973 the DEA was created which combined several other agencies to create a uni-

fied command, and in 1986 President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, instituting, once

again, mandatory sentences for drug-related crimes. Possession of 100 marijuana plants received

the same penalty as possession of 100 grams of heroin (). The “Three Strikes” policy was imple-

mented at this time too, putting people behind bars for life for repeat offenses. Later in 1989

Bush declared a new War on Drugs on National TV, but seven years later, in 1996, California

Voters passed Proposition 215 which allowed the use of medically recommended marijuana to

chronically ill people with a simple doctor’s recommendation.

Now we are here. It is March 2009, and federally marijuana is still ranked right next to

heroin, mescaline, MDMA(ecstasy), peyote and other far more dangerous drugs in terms its le-

gality. We are making progress, but is it enough? Fourteen states have enacted laws stating that

there is medicinal use for marijuana, and have legalized it to those who receive medical consent

from a doctor (NORML). Fifteen states have passed laws on hemp growing, ranging from the

authorization of hemp research to commercial cultivation.

Just as the prohibition of alcohol did not work in the 1920’s nor is the prohibition of can-

nabis. The War on Drugs has cost American tax payers hundreds of billions of dollars. Mari-

juana is the biggest cash crop in the United States, and if we taxed it, instead of costing billions

to police we could raise billions in revenue. The jail systems are riddled with people who did

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nothing more than take

a couple puffs of a joint,

or were driving with a

dub sack. The gate-

way theory is one that

has kept nagging on the

heals of those who are

against prohibition since

the time of Anslinger,

but it is based on falsi-

fications that do not hold up when studied scientifically and logically. The hypocrisy that two

much more dangerous substances, alcohol and tobacco, have remained legal while marijuana

continues to be illegal federally is laughable at best.

Dry America: Prohibition, Speakeasies, and the Mob

The prohibition of cannabis today bares striking similarities to the prohibition of alcohol

nearly 90 years ago, so perhaps we should preface with a brief lesson in history.

Alcohol was driven into prohibition largely by an organized conservative movement

known as the Temperance Movement. They blamed a large amount of society’s problems on

intoxication and thought the eradication of liquor would bring an end to these problems. In 1920

they got their wish when the 18th Amendment was ratified into the U.S. Constitution (Rosen-

berg). Intoxicating liquor was illegal to buy, sell or produce. America wasn’t quite so ready to

give up its alcohol as its government was, however, and drinking did not stop. During the alcohol

Graphic From NORML.com explaining current state Marijuana Laws in the United States

Sparks & Kelley 8

prohibition, one could still obtain liquor by the recommendation of a doctor (much in the same

way that one can acquire a Medical Marijuana ID card today). The most popular way to access

alcohol during the prohibition was to go to a speakeasy, an unofficial bar where people would

drink and socialize under the radar of the law. In fact, there were more speakeasies in New York

City during the alcohol prohibition than there are bars in the city today (“The Union: The Busi-

ness Behind Getting High”). Since alcohol could not legally be bought, sold, or made, the only

way to get it was by filling the pockets of organized crime leaders who capitalized on the lack

of supply for America’s burning

demand for alcohol. Just as we are

currently seeing with the prohibition

of marijuana, Americans during the

alcohol prohibition were giving their

money to crooks when they would

gladly have given it to their country

for the same thing. Gangsters like

Al Capone quickly grew rich off of the prohibition as

they took in all the profits of this underground market. Alcohol sales in 1930 amounted to 5% of

the Gross Domestic Income, all illegal and unaccounted for by the government (Cooper). Then,

of course, came the 21st Amendment.

Alcohol prohibition had worn on Americans, and as the Great Depression set in, sad faces

and empty wallets called for the end of it. In 1933 they got their wish when the 21st Amendment

was ratified into the U.S. Constitution (Dougherty). President Franklin D. Roosevelt repealed the

federal prohibition of alcohol and put the control of laws for regulation and taxation of the sub-

Illustration by Noma Bar from Economist

Sparks & Kelley 9

stance into the hands of individual states. Today, the prohibition of alcohol is widely viewed as

a failure. Not only did it fail to stop people from drinking, it fueled a new industry of crime that

made billions of dollars that would have otherwise gone toward the United States economy.

All of this means, to put it bluntly, that prohibition of any substance does not work. It is

an endlessly circular market of supply and demand where the demand is guaranteed be supplied,

no matter whom the supplier is. Any government that thinks it can win such a battle by dwelling

on outdated ideals is fooling itself.

Legalization Vs Decriminalization: Jumping Through Logic

Once we can agree that prohibition is a counterproductive policy, the next step down in

legality is decriminalization. This would mean that marijuana would be legal to possess and use

recreationally, but would remain illegal to buy or sell. Wait, what? You can have it, and you can

smoke it, but you’re only allowed to get it off the street from someone whom the government

deems a criminal? The intellect is truly dizzying. The implications of the decriminalization of a

prohibited substance are those of economic masochism.

For the government to simply “decriminalize” marijuana would be to forfeit a multibil-

lion dollar industry to the underground drug gangsters who have grown fat off the prohibition.

“The record is clear: marijuana is here to stay, and the law can’t put a stop to it… Taxpayers

would be better off to legalize and tax marijuana than to continue wasting money arresting, pros-

ecuting and imprisoning traffickers in an unwinnable, unending war” (“Record Jump in Marijua-

na Arrests in California”). That is to say, all the money that could be flowing like wine into the

United States economy would instead be spilled into the hands of criminals, completely untaxed

and unregulated. Marijuana brings in a significant portion of the $320 billion made annually by

Sparks & Kelley 10

the drug industry. This money not only funds the underground black market drug syndicates that

provide drugs for the whole world, but also finances their weaponry. Legalization of cannabis would

effectively eliminate the violent underground marijuana industry, place those billions of dollars in

the hands of the United States, and immediately boost what is now a downward spiraling economy.

Cash Money: The No Toke Toll

As we have found out through

simple logic, prohibition of mari-

juana is like prohibition of food;

it does not work, and as long as

there are people on this earth there

will still be a demand for it. Mak-

ing marijuana illegal is currently

costing America a large portion

of the forty-billion a year in just

trying to eliminate the supply of

drugs (Economist). It is estimated that in California marijuana is the number one cash crop com-

ing in at nearly $14 billion a year, dwarfing the states second largest agricultural commodity – milk

and cream – which brings in one $7.3 billion a year (Stateman). With a plausible taxation worth

$1.3 billion annually in California alone, budget problems would soon disappear. That means that in

this time of economic crisis, with our state’s sixteen billion dollar deficit, we would be creating an

entirely new agricultural economy that could save us. Along with our state saving billions of dollars

which would be directly seen back in pockets of tax payers, schools, and other places, it would be

Costs estimated from Thwarter of digg.com

Sparks & Kelley 11

keeping all of this money out of the hands of the black market drug dealers.

On February 23, 2009 California State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano announced the introduc-

tion of a landmark bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol and tobacco. The bill, the Marijua-

na Control, Regulation and Education act, would raise $1 billion dollars and an additional economic

benefit of $12-$18 billion with tens of thousands of jobs(Gieringer). The bill would tax marijuana at

$50 and ounce or about $1 dollar per joint, that is if you want to go skimpy and roll .5 gram joints.

Of course when things are illegal they must be enforced, and with enforcement comes arrests

and incarcerations. So far this year nationwide there have been 183,828 arrests for cannabis law of-

fenses and rising at one per every thirty-eight seconds. So far this year we have spent $10.37 billion,

raising at $1673 per second, on the War on Drugs (Drug War Cost Clock). Altogether in California

in 2007 there were 74,119 arrests for marijuana. Although there is very little information as to the

number of people who are incarcerated for marijuana it costs approximately $450,000 to put a single

drug dealer in jail, including arrest, conviction, room and board (Drug Library 3). Most “criminals”

who are incarcerated for marijuana are non-violent people who enjoy the recreational uses of mari-

juana and are causing no harm to anyone. A person on parole or probation in California who is drug

tested and found to have any amount of THC in their system will go immediately back to jail. Our

prison systems are filled with drug offenders who are unnecessarily being kept from living complete-

ly normal lives at the cost of the tax payers.

We know that marijuana could make a huge impact on our economy. Milton Friedman,

Nobel Laureate, and more than five-hundred economists have called to have a Marijuana Regula-

tion Debate based on the study that was performed by the Harvard economist, Dr. Jeffrey Miron.

The report estimates that legalizing would save $7.7 billion per year in government expenditure on

enforcement of prohibition. $5.3 billion of this savings would accrue to state and local governments,

Sparks & Kelley 12

while $2.4 billion would accrue to the federal government (Miron). The report also estimates that

nationally a tax of marijuana would yield $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like all

other goods and $6.2 billion annually if taxed comparable to alcohol and tobacco (). So at best we

could put $20 billion back into our economy.

What could all this money get us? Well with an average full time salary of $72,526 for

a teacher at Cal Poly, $20 billion could pay for all 704 full time teachers 391 years in row. Or it

could pay for every single one of the 18,722 students to go to Cal Poly at $17,901 on-campus total

tuition, for 60 years straight.

An Anti-Climactic Gateway: Why We should Walk on Through

The gateway theory is an interesting one and does have some back to it. We do not give

up the fact that those people who have used hard drugs most likely have used marijuana before

the use of the hard drugs, but there is nothing chemical about marijuana that makes one move on

to harder drugs. “There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally

Seen here is an Cal Poly freshman who recently received a marijuana law misde-meanor for possession of less than one ounce of marijunana. He uses Marijuana for thera-peautic and recreational reasons.

Photo: Patrick Sparks

Sparks & Kelley 13

linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs (Joy, Watson, Benson).”

The fact is that both alcohol and tobacco are just as much of a gateway drug as marijua-

na is, and seeing that alcohol and tobacco are legal, it may make them more so. There are several

reasons marijuana is being considered a gateway drug. First, it is because it is illegal and when

you buy illegal drugs you must work with a person called a drug dealer who also has access

to other drugs and wants to make money, so he offers them to you. Marijuana is also called a

gateway drug because it is the most highly used illicit drug. “Patterns in progression of drug use

from adolescence to adulthood are strikingly regular (JWB).” Simply put because one generally

comes after another does not mean that they cause or force each other to happen.

In a country that easily controls and regulates alcohol and tobacco, which are both more

dangerous than marijuana in accordance to a Lancet Study, why does it seem out of the ordinary

to do the same with marijuana?

In the study, as can be seen by

the graphic to the right, mari-

juana was ranked eleventh out of

twenty in terms of overall dan-

gerousness of the drug. Tobacco

came in at number nine and

alcohol made it all the way up to

five(Alcohol, tobacco make top

10). And although marijuana has

never caused a reported death

in the United States(National From MSNBC.com

Sparks & Kelley 14

Academic Press), alcohol and tobacco are responsible for over 500,00 combined deaths every

year (Mokdad). I am not arguing that alcohol and tobacco should be illegal, but merely that we

should realize our hypocrisy in our continued prohibition.

Making marijuana legal will undoubtedly reduce the likelihood that people will be tempt-

ed to use harder drugs simply by putting it on the same plane as alcohol and tobacco. It will give

marijuana the proper chance of being a valuable part of our society both medically and recre-

ationally.

Even recently the medical uses of Cannabis have been scientifically proven as positive.

Dr. Dean Ornish, a clinical neurology professor at UCSF, explained on his lecture at TED talks

how cannabinoids found in marijuana, along with other things such as chocolate and alcohol

in moderation, can increase brain cell growth. Also “The active ingredient in marijuana cuts

tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer

to spread, say researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse

studies (Science Daily).” When ingested wisely, using a vaporizer or cooking it into foods, mari-

juana can be a healthy and enjoyable recreational drug with no negative effects to the body. As

Adminstrative law Judge Francis L. Young states, “Marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically

active substances known to man (Gardner).”

Deep Breaths: The Short Term and Long Term Effects

We’ve spent a lot of time discussing the complications of marijuana law, from its corrupt

beginnings to today’s booming black market to the possibilities it brings to America’s struggling

economy. So by now you’re probably wondering, what is this stuff, and what can it do for me?

Typically, the short term effects of marijuana include such feelings as relaxation, in-

Sparks & Kelley 15

creased awareness, and overall contentment. It also tends to stimulate creativity and philisophical

thought, and although it differs between individuals, many will find themselves in a state of fleet-

ing euphoria. Time slows down and life is perceived at a leisurely pace. Of course there are some

potential negative short term effects such as anxiety and lightheadedness, but such occurrences

are infrequent and generally mild. A common high will not impair you from doing anything you

would usually do, and normally will wear off within a few hours.

But what about the long term effects, you ask? If marijuana has no immediately harm-

ful effects, then surely prolonged use must justify its illegality? The fact is that there is no real

evidence supporting the assertion that regular use of marijuana is either physically or mentally

tolling. There has never been a recorded incident of marijuana causing psychological harm, and

there is nothing in the cannabis plant is physically addicting. If you stop using marijuana after

a period of heavy use, your withdrawal symptoms would be less than if you had missed your

morning coffee. And while popularly believed to harm your lungs and obstruct your airways, a

study conducted in 2006 by the American Thoracic Society showed that heavy marijuana users

did not have any increased risk for lung damage or breathing problems over non-smokers (qtd

in “Myths and Facts About Marijuana”) There simply is not any evidence to support such illcon-

ceived claims. There hasn’t been in the past ten thousand years, and until something concrete

proves otherwise, there is no need to worry.

Where Now?

The cacophony of illegitimate excuses that made Cannabis illegal over the years in-

cluded racism, fear, yellow journalism, ignorant legislators, personal career advancement and

greed. We have found that prohibition does not work and that there is still a huge demand for

Sparks & Kelley 16

marijuana in the United States. And while it does not make sense to systematically feed money

into a system that does not work, what we have found ourselves doing exactly that over the last

seventy-two years. The War on Drugs has failed. As Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same

thing over and over again expecting different results.” It is insane that we have prohibited the

thousands of legitimate uses of Cannabis in our world when we need them most! The billions

of tax dollars raised, along with billions that will no longer be necessary for enforcement, the

thousands of non-violent incarcerations, the loss of money to huge black market drug cartels, and

the enjoyment of American grown weed for millions without worry should be more than enough

to sway you.

So what do we do next? The answer is in a federal lift of the prohibition on Cannabis

to allow states to choose for themselves how they want to deal with the legislation of the most

versatile plant known to man. Let’s hope they choose legalization.

We’ll light up to that.

Approximately 3735 words.

Sparks & Kelley 17

Works Cited

Abel, Ernest L.. “Marijuana - The First Twelve Thousand Years.” Schaffer Libraray of Drug Policy 1980 15 Mar 2009 <http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/history/first12000/ abel.htm>.

Covers the thousands and thousands of years that people have used marijuana.

“Ammiano Bill to Tax and Regulate Marijuana Would Raise Over $1 Billion for State.” Califor nia NORML 23 Feb 2009. 15 Mar 2009 <http://www.canorml.org/news/2007arrests. html>.

Article that covers Ammiano’s proposed bill and offers his projected savings/earnings for the state

Bienenstock, David et al.. The Official High Times Pot Smoker. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2008. p. 11.

The be all, end all of pot smoker handbooks.

Bonnie, Richard J. “The Forbidden Fruit in the Tree of Knowledge” Schaffer Libraray of Drug Policy 1980 15 Mar 2009 <http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/history/first12000/ abel.htm>.

Extensive history on the laws involving the legalization of marijuana.

Brecher, Edward M. “The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs.” Schaffer Li braray of Drug Policy 1980 15 Mar 2009 <http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/his tory/first12000/abel.htm>.

Covers general marijuana law in the U.S.

“Cannabis.” The Vaults of Erowid. 14 Jan 2009. 15 Mar 2009 <http://www.erowid.org/plants/ cannabis/cannabis.shtml>.

This source is an activist’s views on cannabis.

Coghlan, Andy. “Which way to turn on cannabis law: should governments distribute canna bis? Yes, says an expert report to the UN body controlling drug use.(This week: Interna tional news and exclusives).” New Scientist 201.2689 (Jan 3, 2009): 6(2). Expanded Aca demic ASAP. Gale. California Polytechnic State University. 2 Mar 2009. <http://find. galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=EAIM>.

“Overall, an analysis of 20 drugs by David Nutt at the University of Bristol, UK, who chairs the ACMD, rated cannabis as the 11th most harmful drug, well behind alcohol and

Sparks & Kelley 18

tobacco.” * Marijuana industry Laws, regulations and rules * Marijuana industry Reports * Charities Reports * Illegal drugs Laws, regulations and rules * Marijuana Complications and side effects * Marijuana Laws, regulations and rules * United States This is a good report on the pros and cons of marijuana and whether it should be illegal. It comes out saying that marijuana should no longer be illegal because it is far less harmful than substances such as tobacco or marijuana.

Cooper H., Mary. “Underground Economy.” CQ Press Volume 4. Issue 9. 04 Mar 1994 15 Mar 2009. <http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1994030400&t ype=hitlist&num=1>.

Explains how the alcohol prohibition spawned an underground industry.

Dougherty, Robert. “21st Amendment Repealed Prohibition 75 Years Ago Today.” Associated Content 05 Dec 2008 15 Mar 2009 <http://www.associatedcontent.com/ article/1273100/21st_ amendment_repealed_prohibition_pg2.html?cat=17>.

Explains when and why the 21st Amendment was ratified.

“Drug War Clock.” Drug Sense. 16 Mar 2009. 16 Mar 2009 <http://www.drugsense.org/wod clock.htm>.

A website that shows an up-to-the-second record of how much the United States has spent on the war on drugs in 2009.

“Executive Summary.” Marijuana Policy Project. 11 Mar 2009 <http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/ execsummary.html>.

Provides data for how much money the government could make if it legalized marijuana.

Gardner, Fred. “The Judge Who Ruled Marijuana is Medicine.” Counter Punch 2 Mar 2009 15 Mar 2009 <http://www.counterpunch.org/gardner03022009.html>.

Profiles James Washington, a judge who made a ruling that marijuana has medicinal value.

Guither, Pete. “Why is Marijuana Illegal?.” Drug War Rant. 15 Mar 2009 <http://blogs.salon. com/0002762/stories/2003/12/22/whyIsMarijuanaIllegal.html?%3F>.

Why is marijuana illegal?

Sparks & Kelley 19

“How to Stop the Drug Wars.” The Economist. 5 Mar 2009 16 Mar 2009 <http://www.econo mist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13237193>.

One journalists opinions on how to end the war on drugs.

Joy, Janet E. et al. “Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base.” Division of Neuro science and Behavioral Research, Institute of Medicine 1999

“There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs.”

Koch, K. (1999, August 20). Medical marijuana. CQ Researcher, 9, 705-728. Retrieved March 2, 2009, from CQ Researcher Online. <http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/ cqresrre1999082000>.

This is a very extensive overview of the medical uses of marijuana and its history. It goes through all of the United States and tells the history from when it was illegal not to grow Marijuana to it becoming completely illegal to the gaining popularity of medicinal marijuana in several states. The problem with this article is that it was written in 1999 so there has been a decade of new happenings that I will have to cover.

“Marihuana Makes Friends of boys in 30 Days: Hasheesh Goads Users to Blood Lust.” San Francisco Examiner 1923 15 Mar 2009 <http://www.druglibrary.org/mags/examiner23. htm>.

Just an ancient article to show the lunacy that modern marijuana law is based on.

“The Marihuana Problem in the City of New York.” The La Guardia Committee Report 1944 08 Mar 2009 <http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/lag/lagmenu.htm>.

Another old article to show just how ridiculous the propaganda against marijuana was.

“Marijuana.” U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. 15 Mar 2009 <http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/con cern/marijuana.html>.

What does the DEA have to say about marijuana? Bad things.

“Marijuana Timeline.” PBS. 1996. 12 Mar 2009 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ shows/dope/etc/cron.html>.

This is a just a simple yet extensive timeline of marijuana.

Marshall, Patrick. “Marijuana Laws.” CQ Press Volume 15. Issue 6. 11 Feb 2005 127, 134, 138. 25 Feb 2009. <http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre200502

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1100&type=hitlist&num=0#hit149>.

This extensive article outlines the politics and reasoning behind present marijuana laws from an objective point of view. It has viewpoints, statements, and summaries from organizations, court cases, and law makers that argue both sides of the legalization/decriminalization de bate. It also offers data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administra tion that show statistics of where marijuana rates in terms of harmfulness and popularity in relation to other substances.

McVay A., Douglas. “Drug War Facts.” DrugWarFacts.org 6.14 Mar 2009 <http://www.drugwar facts.org/cms/>.

Unbiased facts about the drug war.

Miron, Jeffrey A.. “The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition.” Marijuana Policy Proj ect June 2005. 14 Mar 2009 <http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/mironreport.html>.

Extensive article that discusses how much it costs the government to keep marijuana illegal.

Mokdad, Ali H., PhD, James S. Marks, MD, MPH, Donna F. Stroup, PhD, MSc, Julie L. Gerberd ing, MD, MPH, “Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000,” Journal of the Ameri can Medical Association, March 10, 2004, Vol. 291, No. 10, pp. 1238, 1241. Article that shows that marijuana is not an “actual cause of death” in the U.S.

“Myths and Facts About Marijuana.” Drug Policy Alliance Network 15 Mar 2009 <http://www. drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/>.

This served pretty much to debunk some of the false rumors about the short term and long term effects of marijuana.

O’Brien, Jeffery M. “52-Week High.” Fortune Volume 159.119 January 2009. 10. 2 Mar 2009 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?action=interpret&searchType=AdvancedSearch Form&type=retrieve&prodId=EAIM&docId=A191499568&version=1.0&userGroupName =calpolyw_csu&finalAuth=true>.

This brief article offers mainly statistics that show different ways in which the United States is leaning towards lenience in marijuana laws. It offers comparisons such as that marijuana was more profitable in Northern California in 2008 than grapes and that a pro-medical mari juana initiative received more votes in Michigan than Barrack Obama. It also says that up to 12% of Americans in some states have smoked marijuana in the past month.

O’Toole, Fintan. “Drug War Invented by Nixon.” Schaffer Library of Drug Policy 16 Mar 2009 <http://www.druglibrary.org/think/~jnr/nixon.htm>.

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Article that argues that Nixon crafted the war on drugs.

“Record Jump in Marijuana Arrests in California.” California NORML 19 Sep 2008 15 Mar 2009 <http://www.canorml.org/news/2007arrests.html>.

Article that says marijuana-related arrests skyrocketed in 2007.

Rosenberg, Jennifer. “Prohibition.” About.com 15 Mar 2009 <http://history1900s.about.com/ od/1920s/p/prohibition.htm>.

Gives a nice overview of why the alcohol prohibition started and why it didn’t work.

Sabol, William J., PhD, and West, Heather C., Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2007 (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, December 2008), NCJ224280, p. 21, Appendix Table 10.

Reference table

Spencer, Jamie. “The First U.S. Marijuana Arrest (Ever).” Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer. 2 Oct 2007. 10 Mar 2009 <http://blog.austindefense.com/2007/10/articles/marijua na-controlled-substance/the-first-us-marijuana-arrest-ever>.

Summary of the first case in the U.S. in which someone was arrested for marijuana.

“State By State Laws.” NORML. 5 Aug 2006. 15 Mar 2009 <http://www.norml.org/index. cfm?Group_ID=4516>.

A web page that shows marijuana’s legality in the U.S. states on a labeled map.

Stateman, Alison. “Can Marijuana Help Rescue California’s Economy?.” Time 13 Mar 2009 13 Mar 2009 <http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1884956,00. html?iid=digg_share>.

Discusses the very current issue of the California Statesman Tom Ammiano’s bill that proposes the legalization, taxation, and regulation of marijuana in the state of California to persons at least 21 years old.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “Results from the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings”. (Office of Applied Studies, NSDUH Series H-34, DHHS Publication No. SMA 08-4343), Rockville, MD, Sept. 2008. 28.

Provides data of where marijuana lies in relation to other drugs as far as physical harm and addicion.

The Union: The Business Behind Getting High. Dir. Brett Harvey. DVD. Eagle Entertainment,

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2007.

A feature-length documentary that covers the history of marijuana law, discusses acts of injustice in marijuana related cases, offers proof of medical quality and lack of any real harm, especially compared to other legal drugs.

“What Does it Cost to Put a Single Drug Dealer in Jail?.” Schaffer Library of Drug Policy. 14 Mar 2009 <http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/LIBRARY/basicfax9.htm>.

The title for this is pretty self-explanatory. It basically outlines how much it costs to keep a drug dealer in jail.