History of Hemp

Saajan Sheth
 The legalization of marijuana is an issue that has been vigorously debated

within the United States of America since 1935, which was when anyone could get

criminalized for selling or possessing any marijuana. Society has impacted a lot of

people when it comes to marijuana because it’s considered as a drug and we’ve

been taught in school that drugs are bad and they harm the body. This is true for

most drugs, but not specifically for marijuana. Marijuana does minuscule harm to

the body, especially when compared to cigarettes and alcohol. Legalizing

marijuana will ultimately help the United States of American gain a lot of money

through taxation and help patients with its numerous health benefits.

Cannabis, also known as marijuana, is a psychoactive drug from the

Cannabis plant. The plant can be used for both medical or recreational purposes.

The main psychoactive compound is called tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly

known as THC. Cannabis can be used by smoking, vaporizing, within food, or as

an extract. Cannabis is often used for its mental effects such as being high or

stoned which often lead to an increase in appetite. The effects of the drug are felt

within minutes and generally last about 2 to 6 hours. Short term side effects may

include a decrease in short-term memory, dry mouth, impaired motor skills red

eyes, and feelings of paranoia or anxiety.

Cannabis is indigenous to central and south Asia. It was first used as fabric

and rope back in the neolithic age in China and Japan. Cannabis has an ancient

history of ritual use and is found in pharmacological cults around the world. Hemp
seeds discovered by archaeologists at Pazyryk suggest early ceremonial practices

like eating by the Scythians occurred during the 5th to 2nd century. In 1842, Irish

physician William Brooke O'Shaughnessy, who had studied the drug while

working as a medical officer in Bengal with the East India company, brought a

quantity of cannabis with him on his return to Britain, sparking renewed interest in

the West.

Cannabis was criminalized in various countries beginning in the 19th

century. In the United States, the first restrictions on sale of cannabis came in 1906,

in the District of Colombia. It was outlawed in Jamaica in 1913, in South Africa in

1922, and in the United Kingdom and New Zealand in the 1920s. Canada

criminalized cannabis in The Opium and Narcotic Drug Act, 1923. In the United

States in 1937, the Marihuana Tax Act was passed, and prohibited the production

of hemp in addition to cannabis.

In 1906 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is created to prevent

another morphine addiction crisis, as many people were becoming addicted to

heroin, opium, and morphine, which weren’t properly regulated. The FDA mainly

controlled opium and morphine during this time, and not so much marijuana, but

its creation signaled a big shift in drug policy in America. During this time,

Mexican immigrants entering the U.S. introduced marijuana to the country,

popularizing the recreational use of the drug more. However, many Americans saw
those who smoked weed as troublesome, associating cannabis with “lower class”

criminality.

In 1970 Marijuana was categorized as a Schedule I drug along with more

dangerous ones, and was listed as having no accepted medical use. Despite the fact

that some early American medical journals had begun listing the medical uses of

cannabis, the government restricted any further research into it until more recently.

As of April 2015, 23 states in the U.S. have legalized medical cannabis, but

only people with certain qualifications can obtain it. That will usually entail

children with epileptic conditions, or sometimes cancer patients who use cannabis

to ease the side effects of chemotherapy or radiation. Some states allow patients

with HIV/AIDs, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or even Crohn’s disease to

obtain medical marijuana.

The 1930s, 40s and 50s were the Dark Ages of marijuana prohibition, when

marijuana was seen as a serious threat to the public health and safety, presumed to

be evil, dangerous and capable of turning ordinary people into violent killers and

rapists as well as ultimately leading to insanity. Marijuana smoking was seen as

deviant behavior that reflected poorly on one’s character and morality. Most

Americans at the time had never smoked marijuana, knew almost nothing about it

and had formed their opinions largely on the exaggerated anti-marijuana

propaganda advanced by the government and reflected in major newspapers. By

the 1960s, marijuana smoking began to be popular among those on the cutting
edge of the cultural revolution then taking place. Use was closely identified with

those referred to as “long-haired hippies,” who were seen as lazy, rebellious and

undisciplined, often involved in the growing anti-Vietnam War movement and

therefore un-American.

Compared to those years, we have indeed come a long distance, and the

world today seems relatively more enlightened towards marijuana smoking. Even

today the President of the United States can joke about his earlier marijuana use

without the slightest harm to his standing or credibility. In fact, to some degree it

adds to his cachet and makes him more relevant than he might otherwise seem to

younger Americans. Roughly 60% of the country today support full legalization,

regardless of why one smokes. While that obviously reflects a higher level of

acceptance of marijuana smoking, it does not mean the prejudice against marijuana

smokers has ended.

We see the continued bias against marijuana smoking as even the first states

to legalize marijuana for all adults have made no provisions to permit smoking

outside the home. I don’t mean public smoking but rather clubs or venues where

marijuana smokers can gather to socialize with other marijuana smokers and share

their marijuana with friends. Even in Colorado, a state that has now largely

embraced legal marijuana, that has a thriving legal marijuana industry providing

more than $100 million in tax revenue annually to the state, and that encourages

marijuana tourism, elected officials are still reticent to do anything that might
officially acknowledge that marijuana smoking is acceptable conduct. We are

allowed to smoke marijuana, as long as we stay in our homes. Permitting us to

smoke in a social setting apparently threatens the established social order.

We clearly have more work ahead and need to consider why this anti-

marijuana prejudice still exists and what we can do to move beyond it. We will win

this battle for totally fair treatment only when we improve the public perception of

marijuana smokers. Because marijuana remains illegal in most states and under

federal law, most smokers who hold good jobs in business or industry or the

professions simply cannot stand up and be counted, because they would lose their

jobs and their ability to support their families.

As a result, the majority of middle class smokers are largely invisible to the

non-smoking public. We have to find ways to let America know that marijuana

smokers are just ordinary Americans who work hard, raise families, pay taxes and

contribute in a positive way to our communities. We need to do a better job of

letting our non-smoking friends and neighbors know that those of us who smoke

are otherwise just like them, with varied interests and hobbies. I am sure that a few

years from now, smoking cannabis will be seen by most Americans as the

equivalent of drinking alcohol but safer.

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