The Legalization of Marijuana

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�PAGE � �PAGE �1� Thomas

Ryan Thomas

Tues/Thursday 8 AM

Mr. Golding

11/29/09

Marijuana: Logical Benefits of Legalization

For most of human history, marijuana has been completely legal. It's not a recently discovered plant, nor is it a long-standing law. Marijuana has been illegal for less than 1% of the time that it's been in use. Its known uses go back further than 7,000 B.C. and it was legal as recently as when Ronald Reagan was a boy. So why all of the sudden is marijuana considered being so dangerous to society that the government has outlawed it at a federal level? The pros for legalization are vast in numbers, while the cons for it are weak and have false claims. The prohibition of marijuana is hurting Americans far more than marijuana ever could.

Marijuana is just one of the many slang terms used; cannabis is the correct name of the plant.

Cannabis has a wide variety of purposes and hundreds of different varieties. One type of cannabis is named hemp. This type of cannabis is not for medical or recreational use, but instead is industrial and agricultural. Marijuana is usually the name given to the type of cannabis that people use for medical or recreational use. THC or its scientific name delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Industrial hemp has a THC content between 0.05% and 1%, while marijuana has a THC content of 3% to 20%. Industrial hemp is bred to maximize fiber, seed and/or oil, while marijuana varieties seek to maximize THC (NAIHC).

Hemp can be made into over 25,000 different products. These include paper, rope, and clothes. Hemp has many advantages over the current industrial giants such as cotton and wood. This type of cannabis grows extremely well in a wide range...