Marijuana
 
 Marijuana originated in the middle east (Taiwan, Korea).
 China plays an important part in Marijuana's history and
 Hoatho, is the first chinese physician to use Cannabis for
 medical purposes. He used it as a painkiller and as an
 anesthetic for surgery. In the Ninth Century B.C., it was
used as an incense by the Assyrians. Herbal, a Chinese book
 of medicine from the second Century B.C., was first to
 describe it in print. 
 
 It was used as an anesthetic 5,000 years ago in ancient
 China, as well as by the Persians, Greeks, East Indians,
Romans, and the Assyrians for the control of muscle spasms,
 reduction of pain, and against indigestion. 
 
 The folk medicine of Africa and Asia have used it as an
herbal preparation. A "mythical" and "legendary" pharmacist
 and emperor Shen Nung thought using it as a seditive was
 all right. In 2,700 B.C. that same "mythical" emperor said
 it helped female weakness, gout, rheumatism, malaria,
 beri-beri (?), constipation, and absentmindedness.
 
 In 1979 (A.D.) Carlton E. Turner visited China and found
marijuana was not in use in formal medical places. J. D. P.
Graham of the Welsh National School of Medicine wrote, "One
 need not take too seriously the stories of anecdotal uses
 in China or by the Hindus in the pre-Christian Millennia
 ...and by the Arabs!" In 1890 in England's "Lancet" said
cannabis extract was good for neuralgia, fits, migraine and
 psychosomatic disorders but not for rheumatic conditions.
It is not easy to tell the dosage because of the variations
 in potency and the irregularity in absorbtion. The time
delay before the onset of the possible effects of marijuana
 lowered its popularity as a medicine as did the
 introduction of a variety of new and better medicines like
 aspirin, morpheine (habit forming), chloral, barbituates
 tranquilizers, as well as when it got on the list of drugs
 thought by the world community to require legal
 restrictions.
 
 Our first President, George Washington, grew cannabis on
 his plantation. The cannabis he grew was more fibrous and
is better known as hemp. Hemp was used to make rope, twine,
 paper and canvas (the word "canvas" comes from Cannabis)
 and was an important crop in the American colonies. In
Jamestown, Virginia it was grown for its fiber qualities in
1611. (Snyder, 1985) The U.S. Pharmacopeia had it listed as
 a useful medicine from the year 1870 to 1941. A
 Pharmacopeia is "a book of directions and requirements for
 the preparations of medicines, generally published by an
 authority; a collection or stock of drugs."
 
 The U.S. Pharmacopeia was an authority on the use of drugs
 for medical purposes, and said that the use of marijuana
 for said purposes was helpful. The U.S. Pharmacopeia last
 listed cannabis ("the dried flower tops of the pistillate
 plants of cannabis sativa") in 1936. (Lovinge,1985, p.
 434). That year's epitome of the pharmacopeia and the
national formula described the drug for physicians thus :"a
 narcotic poison, producing a mild delirium. Used in
 sedative mixtures but of doubtful value. Also employed to
 color corn remedies". The next pharmacopeia released in
 1942 (they were relaesed every six years), did not have
 cannabis sativa in it." The 1937 U.S. dispensatory
 said:"Cannabis is used in medicine to relieve pain,
 encourage sleep, and to soothe restlessness. We have very
 little definite knowledge of the effects of therapeutic
 quantities, but in some persons it appears to produce a
euphoria and will often relieve migrainic headaches. One of
 the great hindrances to the wider use of this drug is the
 great variability and the potency of different samples of
 Cannabis which renders it impossible to approximate the
 proper dose of any individual sample except by clinical
 trial. Because of occasional unpleasant symptoms from
 unusually potent preparations, physicians have generally
been overcaustious in the quantities administered. The only
way of determining the dose of an individual preparation is
 to give it in ascending quantities until some effect is
 produced. (The Book suggested using a fluid extract -
 powdered cannabis in solution, 4/5 alcohol - three times a
 day, starting with two or three minims.)"
 (Lovinge,1985,p434)
 
 Extracts, tinctures, and herbal packages of cannabis
 manufactured by many drug companies, was available in any
 pharmacy until 1941 when "The two main professional
 directories of drugs in the United States" dropped
 it.(Snyder 1985, p. 38). It is still used as a medicine in
 the Middle East and Asia, and is completely legal in
 Amsterdam. Since the 19th Century, it has been recognized
 as as intoxicant in Europe, and an intoxicant for many
 centuries in Central and South America, and in Asia. "An
 1870 Book called "The Hasheesh Eater" by Fitz Hugh Hudlow,
 discussed the intoxicating properties of
 marijuana."(Snyder,1985,p39) Mexican farm workers
emigrating to the United States smoked marijuana regularly,
 and the surrounding population..." quickly followed.
 
 California and Utah were the first to call it a narcotic
 and outlawed it completely except for mecial purposes.
 "From 1914 to 1931, 29 States, 17 of them West of the
 Mississippi made it a criminal offense to possess or use
 it."(Snyder,1985,p40) An army report from 1925 concerning
 the Panama Canal Zone said it wasnt habit forming and no
 steps should be taken to keep it from being sold or used.
 The Uniform States Narcotic Act said all states should
 control drug distribution. "By 1937 marijuana use was
 restricted by law" (Snyder,1985,p42) and the Marijuana Tax
Act was signed by President Roosevelt. This act was made to
collect more taxes and locate people selling marijuana. You
had to pay $1 for medical use and $100 for recreational use
 as tax. This was a large factor why doctors quit using it
 as a medicine. "The Narcotics Drug Control Act of 1965
 increased the existing penalties for selling and
 distribution of marijuana and heroin..." (Snyder,1985,p46)
 The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
 (NORML) was founded in 1970. Just the facts Ma'am: It is
illegal to own or sell marijuana. It is a misdemeanor not a
 felony. Penalties vary widely in each state, for growing
 and selling it is almost always a felony. It can cause
 cancer in the lungs and the throat IF smoked. "Among the
reasons to suspect potentially injurious effect of cannabis
 use on the lungs, pointed out it "the almost ubiquitous
 occurrennce of throat discomfort and irritation associated
 with marihuana smoking" (Lovinge,1985,p15)but the same
 carinogens are present in tobacco smoke. Marijuana takes
away the discomfort and nausea associated with chemotherapy
 taken to stop the growth of cancer. It also helps people
 with glaucoma and it keeps them from going blind. It
 doesn't lessen feelings and pain, it heightens them. Users
say they hear things better, and they see details they have
 never seen before. If made legal, it could be regulated by
 the U.S. government (Food and Drug Administration?) as to
 how potent it would be. Or there could be a "government
 monopoly on it controlling the cultivation, importation,
 manufacture, wholesale distribution, and retail sales.
 Controls could also be placed on the quantity, potency,,
 amount, price, time and place of sale, and age of buyers.
 This would do away with black market activity, cost of law
 enforcement and tax revenue."(Snyder,1985,p89) It would
 also keep alot of people out of jail/prison and save the
 government money.
 
 Interview with a marijuana user. Q: Do you think Marijuana
 has had any long lasting effects on you? A: None besides
 the effects regular cigarrette smoke does to your lungs.
 
 Scientific facts prove there are none except the
 carcinogens produced by
 
the smoke. It doesn't cause brain damage like your teachers
 tell you. Q: How do you take it? A: Smoke it. I use pipes,
 bongs, & papers. Q: How often? A: Quarter ounce a week,
 15-18 joints a month. Q: How much does it cost? A: $200 an
 ounce, $2,500 lb...and thats minimum quality. Q: How can
you tell quality? A: Smoke it. Q: How are "Thai Sticks"? A:
 Better than average. $65 1/4 ounce Q: Where do you think
most marijuana is grown? A: 80% of all (in US) marijuana is
 grown in the US. 20% from Mexico &
 
Jamaica In Alaska & Utahyou can have up to an ouce legally.
 The
 
 biggest growinng states are the Carolinas, & Texas. It
 grows wild
 
 in some places. And cows wont eat it. Q: Do you grow any?
A: Yes Q: How many at 1 time (the most)? A: 12...check them
 once a week. Q: Are you in NORML? A: Yes, South Florida
 chapter. I'm the secretary. Q: Whats the highest price
you've ever seen? A: $150 1/4 ounce. Q: Is sinsimilia good?
 A: Yes $100-125 ounce. thats usually imported. Q: can you
use a plant more than once? A: no. you kill the male plants
 as soon as you find their sex,
 
 and harvest the females. Q: What kind do you grow? A:
 Average weed. Q: How do you get the seeds or what you need
 to grow them? A: They are in the stuff I buy. Q: Whats the
 best kind? A: Depends on how it's grown. Q: Do you think
 alot of people smoke weed? A: If it was legal & sold for
 the same price as tobacco (since when
 
 does tobacco cost $200 an ounce?!?!) it would make 2.1
 
 BILLION! Tobacco makes 3.1 billion, and alcohol make 1.6
 billion.
 
 (I have NO idea how much 1 ounce of tobacco costs, but it
 can't
 
 be more than $10. Marijuana sells for 20 times that much!
 That
 
 would be OVER 40 BILLION!) Q: Would it be better if
 legalized? A: Yes, another taxable income for the
 government. Prices would go down.
 
The crime factor would be gone. It would take the money out
 of the
 
 hands of criminal and put it in the hands of the
 government. It's not
 
addictive, you can't overdose unlike alcohol, but the smoke
 does cause
 
cancer. Q: Would less people use it if legalized? A: no. Q:
 How much is caught by the government? A: 2% of total in
 U.S. Basically thats the government admittinng
 
 that they are losing the war on drugs. Q: How does it
smell? A: Usually good, sometimes bitter. a sweet smell. Q:
 THC makes you high right? A: yes, they have found it
 
 causes no long lasting effects. Water Pipes/bongs remove
 80% of the
 
 smoke Q: Do you eat it? A: No, eating uses up more. That
 way isn't cost effective.
 
 (end of interview)
 
 Marijuana doesn't cause brain damage. The smoke does cause
cancer, but so does tobacco. The smoke can be reduced by up
 to 80% with special paraphenalia. We used to have limited
 knowledge on the subject, now our knowledge is increasing.
 Marijuana doesn't lead to sexual promiscuity all the time,
 but a