1

Cassie Jian
Thomas
ENGL 2000
Essay #1
The Blunt Truth
Cannabis sativa. Surely, it sounds familiar. Or maybe you recognize it better as
marijuana. Or maybe weed, bud, hash, reefer, grass or any of the other dozen street names it goes
by. Whatever its called these days, it is a plant that is becoming increasingly popular and being
used by more and more people every day. However, how many people would actually admit to
smoking weed? Certainly criminal activity involving illegal substances is nothing to brag about
in front of parents, friends, peers and employers. But why is smoking pot so taboo in the United
States? Though the plant has been illegal since the 1930s, people all over the world have been
not just smoking pot, but applying it in their everyday lives, for thousands of years for
recreational purposes, for medicinal purposes, for whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.
Now, centuries later, it is classified as a harmful drug toxic, addictive, likened to heroin and
LSD. But is it really as bad as everyone says it is? With overflowing prisons, an unstable
economy and a nation ravaged by a 40-year war over this green herb, the government, as well as
the rest of the nation, needs to realize that the rumors about the dangers of marijuana spread far
and wide are just myths and that this drug needs to be permanently and completely legalized.
From the time that you were old enough to be going through drug education classes or
listening to speakers warn you about the hazards of substance abuse, surely you have heard
something along the lines of STAY AWAY FROM MARIJUANA, or IT WILL KILL YOU.
But why did they say this, just because it is illegal? Certainly they could not have known that

research studies have proven over and over that it is safer to get high than to get drunk.
Marijuana has proved to be less harmful, less addictive and less toxic than not just alcohol, but
tobacco as well. Lung cancer is something that this world is all too familiar with, and yet, a
teenager not a day over eighteen can walk into a common convenience store and buy every
single pack, every single carton, every single case of cigarettes he or she wants. One puff and it
has already done irreversible damage to the human body; but hey, at least its legal. While a few
drinks every now and then can do no harm, ultimately, alcoholism is always a very real
possibility. A survey conducted in 2011 by the World Health Organization reports that alcohol
consumption is responsible for almost 4% of deaths worldwide, which is more than those caused
by AIDS, tuberculosis, and violence (Fox, Armentano, and Tvert 25). Mason Tvert, co-author of
the book Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? and also one of the
leading campaignists that helped to legalize recreational marijuana in Colorado, says the CDC
estimates that 37,000 people die every year from alcohol use alone not counting the endless
number of accidents and homicides that occur when people abuse alcohol (Is It Time 6). On
the other hand, the CDC does not list marijuana as a cause of death and it has never been
attributed to any sort of overdose death (Is It Time 6). In fact, the US Drug Enforcement
Administrations administrative law judge ruled in 1988 that marijuana is far safer than many of
the foods we commonly consume, and that in its natural form, is one of the safest
therapeutically active substances known to man (Fox, Armentano, and Tvert 32). A study
conducted by researchers from the Marijuana Policy Project found that people who smoked weed
over an extended period of their lives were 62% less likely to develop head and neck cancers
than people who did not (Is it time 6).

Even if the government refuses to legalize recreational marijuana, medicinal use should
at least be on their agenda. Medical marijuana has been found to help alleviate the pain and
suffering endured by the many victims struck down with cancer, MS, epilepsy, glaucoma,
Parkinsons, fibromyalgia, arthritis, hepatitis C, Huntingtons the list goes on and on (Medical
Marijuana 15). Furthermore, this concept is not new. The origins of medical marijuana can be
traced all the way back to the first human civilizations. Cultures ranging from ancient China to
African tribes to Egyptian pharaohs to Muslim villages all have recorded using it as an herbal
remedy alongside ginseng and burdock root. These societies also employed it for other activities
as well; other than recreational use, cannabis also contributed a major part to food, clothing and
shelter. And it wasnt just these foreign countries using it. Bill Maher, in an article written as a
response to the book Too High To Fail, emphasizes Americans used it as well the founding
fathers of this country used hemp paper to draft the Declaration of Independence, and the canvascovered pioneer wagons used to help settle this country were woven from cannabis fibers
(Reefer Madness 11). It is appalling to know that while the marijuana plant can do so much
good and help so many people, not even half of the United States has legalized it medically.
More alarmingly is the fact that 48% of Americans are still intimidated by this little leaf. But
why? Does almost half of the country really believe that weed can kill you, or is it something
else?
Regardless of modern-day American stereotypes, not all pot smokers are couch potatoes
that have nothing else going for them, or junkies forced to live on the street, or dangerous
criminals evading the FBI. Lets be real here: Were not living in 1936, and this isnt a scene out
of Reefer Madness. This is 2013, and these days, you can find anything and anyone in the Great
Melting Pot. Every kind of person that there is out there has undoubtedly had some kind of

interaction with marijuana. There are more than a handful of people that most Americans would
consider productive, innovative members of society who have admitted to smoking weed:
singers, musicians, actors, philosophers, and presidents. Americans need to realize that rolling a
joint is not the first step towards a life of crime or an appetizer to other drugs that actually will
destroy your life, such as crystal meth or cocaine. Having a bad case of the munchies and taking
long naps hardly reduces anyone to being a worthless lowlife. In fact, surveys reported by the
National Advisory Committee on Drugs and Alcohol state the exact opposite. Their findings
showed rates of lifetime cannabis use were highest among professionals, managers and those
with third-level education, and lowest among those in semi-skilled and unskilled jobs (Is it
time 6). Yes, there are still criminals, inmates and cons that also smoke weed. At least 70% of
violent crimes and property crimes in the United States are somehow drug-related but at the
same time, almost 100% of those drug-related cases are caused not by the actual drug in
question, but by the laws and policies that make them illegal (Muse, Mirken and Sharpe A18).
Law enforcement devotes so much time, energy and money to trying to calm hysteria over this
drug war that when it comes to making an arrest, anything goes. In 2007, the Justice
Departments Drug Threat Assessment reported a record high of 873,000 arrests related to
marijuana, 89% of which were for possession alone (A18). Tim Walker, a syndicated reporter
from The Independent, reports that even though violent crime rates have drastically fallen since
sentencing guidelines were harshened in the 80s, the number of inmates in US jails has since
multiplied by 800%, almost half of which are drug offenders (30). When these drugs were not
illegal and were accessible by virtually anyone, there was no such thing as drug-related crime or
drug dealers, much less cartels and underground distribution (Muse, Mirken and Sharpe A18).
The cartels, in essence, provide the resources necessary for the organization of the black market

of marijuana: a means to grow it, buy it, transport it, and sell it. The longer they have control
over distribution, the more dangerous marijuana really becomes. Cartels are greedy, sneaky and
ruthless. When it comes to maximizing profits, like any businessman, they will do whatever it
takes and thats when that first gram laced with methamphetamines fosters an unstoppable
addiction (A18). Legalized marijuana can help put a stop to this and ultimately make it easier for
law enforcement to isolate and eliminate them.
Nickolas Evans, a writer with the Drug Policy Alliance, argues, Regulated distribution
could help ensure that marijuana isnt combined with dangerous substances. It could also allow
regulators to require active-ingredient listings for marijuana (7). This policy would completely
defeat what is known as the gateway theory the idea that marijuana is fundamentally a
gateway to harder drugs such as cocaine and crystal meth. With legalized and regulated
marijuana, drug dealers would be put out of business, therefore having fewer interactions and
therefore fewer opportunities to introduce clients to these harder drugs. Putting an end to pot
prohibition is clearly the first step to ending this drug war, and with federal regulations, cities
and states can control when, where and to whom marijuana is sold. Granted, regulation is not
perfect, with any drug: minors can still sneak into their parents liquor cabinet, and fake IDs still
exist. Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore police officer who is now an associate professor at the
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, believes that regulated marijuana be treated the same as
prescription drugs:
Prescription drugs are regulated, and while there is a huge problem with abuse, at least a
system of distribution involving doctors and pharmacists works without violence and highvolume incarceration. Regulating drugs would work similarly: not a cure-all, but a vast
improvement on the status quo (Moskos and Franklin A13).

With the government in control of marijuana, all chaos can be avoided and an organized
system can finally be developed and implemented. Furthermore, even if or when marijuana is
legalized, obviously sellers arent just going to be handing out grams in baggies to whoever
wants one. When the US government passed the 21st amendment that ended Prohibition in 1933,
they did not force anyone to go get drunk at the nearest saloon or shove a gallon of gin down
anyones throat, but Americans knew they now could if they wanted to. Its the same thing with
weed: so many Americans today have some irrational fear that as soon as marijuana can be sold
in stores, the future ruling members of Americas society are going to line up at the nearest gas
station, pack a bowl and smoke themselves high as a kite and also somehow completely
destroy their lives in the process. On the contrary, studies seem to show the exact opposite. In
Portugal, after all drugs were legalized in the country in 2001, the number of youths who had
smoked weed actually declined (Fine B02). A similar study conducted by researchers at Brown
University among middle school and high school students in Rhode Island also found no increase
in use of marijuana after it was legalized in 2006 (Fine B02). In America, 37% of adults have
tried weed at some point in their life, as opposed to the 17% in the Netherlands, where it is
completely legal (Moskos B04). Its a similar situation with heroin and crystal meth, heroin
being used at a rate three times as much in the US and crystal meth being one of the most
destructive drugs available to mankind while its use is almost nonexistent in the Netherlands
(B04). People dont just choose to do drugs just because theyre illegal, or just because theyre
not. Clearly, the Dutch know something the Americans dont. With millions of Americans
regularly using not just marijuana, but other serious drugs like ecstasy and heroin, the US leads
the entire world when it comes to illegal drug use.

And at what cost, you might ask. In a time where families all across the nation struggle to
recover from a harsh economic recession, every penny counts. The prohibition of marijuana is
currently the driving factor in Americas most expensive war, sucking away every last cent.
Ringing up a bill over $1 trillion and counting, the amount of money that could be saved if the
drug war ended and marijuana was legalized is almost unfathomable. According to Barbara Kay,
a reporter from the National Post, enforcing present prohibition laws costs more than $1 billion
per year (A12). In 2010 alone, ten times that amount two-thirds of federal spending on the drug
war was put towards law enforcement and interdiction (Fine B02). Harvard economist Jeffrey
Miron estimates that ending the drug war would save $44 billion annually (Moskos and Franklin
A13). The number of other ways that the government could have spent that money is endless
maybe donated it to cancer research, created jobs, invested in education, partially bailed the US
out of its enormous debt. But forget about the money we could save. What about the money we
could make? An economic analysis conducted by professor Jon Gettman from George Mason
University, the United States marijuana market is worth $113 billion (Fox, Armentano, and Tvert
111). More than half a decade later, it certainly has to stand at an even higher price. The federal
government generates about $5 billion annually in tax revenue off of cigarettes; surely legalizing
marijuana and taxing it like cigarettes can bring in several billion dollars more (Kay A12). If it
were taxed at the rate proposed at a seminar held in Oakland, California a 4-to-1 ratio taxes
could bring in up to $33 billion per year (Moskos and Franklin A13). And while most people
think that this money is going to just be coming from everyone getting high all the time, they are
wrong. Marijuana, when grown for its fiber in the male plant, can also be turned into an
industrial product called hemp. Research facilities in Canada currently explore ways to build
machinery and tools almost completely out of hemp fiber and binding, while BMW and Dodge

use the fibers to help construct door panels (Fine B02). In Europe, hemp is a growing industry as
construction workers find ways to incorporate the material into insulation and wall paneling
inside houses (B02). Canadian journalist Peter Beck praises growing hemp rather than wood for
the reason that an acre of hemp produces four times as much cellulose fiber as an acre of trees
(Kay A12). In addition, hemp also only takes a fraction of the time to grow back, and therefore
can produce paper at a fraction of the cost with minimal pollution (A12). With the introduction
of this industry into the American economy, it is estimated that some $50 billion can be brought
in within 10 years of the end of the war on drugs (Fine B02). And again: this is revenue with the
variety of cannabis that not only is not smoked, but cannot be smoked, because hemp contains no
THC. How can millions of Americans as well as the government be satisfied with missing out on
so much money, knowing that this fresh, innovative market can not only help to stabilize the
economy, but also open a world of new jobs, opportunities and experiences for the entire world?
It is truly shocking to see how the attitude towards marijuana has evolved over the last few
centuries because of a little bit of government propaganda and racial stereotypes and paranoia.
Though the slight majority of Americans today have opened their minds and learned to look past
the red flags and warning labels erected against marijuana, the road to legalization will no doubt
be a difficult journey.
If its your first time to hear and learn about marijuana and the things youre hearing
consist of I love getting high! or weed is great, you should try it some time!, consider
yourself lucky. The many positive effects of marijuana on individuals as well as society as a
whole are either almost unheard of or drowned out by the voices of those who condemn it. Many
musicians admit smoking weed can help open their minds and stimulate creativity. Cancer
patients use it to help abate nausea, vomiting and other effects of chemotherapy. Whether it be

medically or recreationally, the point is that many people have benefited from this popular drug.
German philosopher Freidrich Nietzche suggested eating it to relieve pressure; even George
Washington in the 18th century encouraged Americans to sow it everywhere. If this truly is the
land of the free, there is no real sensible justification for laws against what we can and cant put
in our bodies. With that in mind, Bob Marley says it best: legalize it, dont criticize it.

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Works Cited
Evans, Nickolas. "Should Marijuana Be Legalized and Regulated?" The New York Times 28 June
2011. LexisNexis. Web. 16 Sep. 2013.
Fine, Doug. "5 Myths About Legalizing Marijuana. " The Washington Post 9 6 2013, B02.
LexisNexis. Web. 13 Sep. 2013.
Fox, Steve, Paul Armentano, and Mason Tvert. Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving
People to Drink? Updated and Expanded Edition. White River Junction: Chelsea Green,
2013. Print.
Kay, Barbara. "A Second Look at Legalization." The National Post [Canada] 18 Apr. 2012, A12.
LexisNexis. Web. 15 Sep. 2013.
Maher, Bill. Reefer Madness. The New York Times 5 Aug. 2012, Late 11. LexisNexis. Web. 17
Sep. 2013.
Moskos, Peter. "If It's On the Shelves, It's Off the Streets. " The Washington Post 25 Oct. 2009,
Bulldog B04. LexisNexis. Web. 13 Sep. 2013.
Moskos, Peter, and Stanford Franklin. "It's Time to Legalize Drugs." The Washington Post 17
Aug. 2009, A13. LexisNexis. Web. 14 Sep. 2013.
Muse, Kirk, Bruce Mirken, and Robert Sharpe. "Legalize Drugs." Washington Times 27 July
2006, A18. Web. 15 Sep. 2013.
Walker, Tim. "Is America Winding Down Its 40-year War on Drugs?." The
Independent [London] 14 Aug. 2013, 30. LexisNexis. Web. 4 Sep. 2013.
"Is It Time to Take a Chill Pill and Legalise Marijuana?" The Irish Times 3 Sep. 2013, 6.
LexisNexis. Web. 3 Sep. 2013.
"Medical marijuana." The Irish Times 13 Sep. 2012, 15. LexisNexis. Web. 12 Sep. 2013.