We’ve all been in that situation before at a party; your outside, and you smell a strange smell. You see a group of kids talking and laughing as they take turns “hitting” or “passing” a bowl or joint. Then they turn around and ask you that dreaded question, “Do you want a hit?” Do you said yes, maybe you should said no, who knows you may smoke every day, or maybe you never will. The purpose of this essay is not to convince you to smoke marijuana , but to educate you more about Marijuana because it is everywhere in society and it’s about time everybody knows the history and truth about Cannabis. Question if marijuana is bad for you, then why do we hear about more accidents and fatalities due to alcohol intoxication. Alcohol is a legal drug that can directly kill you with too much consumption. How many cases have you heard of someone losing their life from alcohol poisoning. Approximately 80,000 deaths are caused by alcohol per year. How many cases have you heard of someone overdosing on marijuana; Alcohol is an addictive drug that can cause a person to not only ruin their life, but could end it as well. To most people Marijuana isn’t an addictive drug. The harmful effects of marijuana aren’t as harmful as the effects of alcohol is.

Initially according to Rawson, cannabis was only used to make industrial goods; its recreational use in America didn’t become popular until the early 20th century. Recreational use of cannabis was pushed up in the ranks with drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Since the beginning of its recreational use there has only been one recorded death due to an overdose. Many drug advocates as well as the government have made marijuana illegal; There are two types of cannabis one is called hemp and the next is called marijuana. Hemp contains less than one percent of THC, which can be used in the production of different industrial products. While marijuana contains more than ten to twenty percent of THC. Both of types of cannabis have been in use for centuries. (2) What are some effects of using cannabis? Well most of today’s popular drugs have been around since the twentieth century. People have been smoking marijuana around the world for thousands of years; Evidence of marijuana cultivation reaches back as far as the 1600's The first sign of marijuana was in North America. Hemp and or Cannabis was first brought to North America by the Pilgrims. From 1750-1799 George Washington was the first president of the United States, who used Indian Hemp or Cannabis into industrial necessities such as fiber and used it on his land.(2) Next in the early1800s Early uses of Cannabis (also referred to as marijuana) became legal in most states. As hemp was used to make items such as rope, sails, and clothes; cannabis also became a common ingredient in medicine and was openly sold at pharmacies. The first recreational use was in 1910 after the Mexican Revolution. Mexicans immigrated to the United States and introduced recreational use of cannabis. In 1914 The Harrison Narcotic Act prohibited possession of narcotics unless properly prescribed by a physician, in the US. While in 1925 The International Opium Convention banned the use of Indian hemp but exempted the use for medical and scientific purposes.

The Federal Bureau of Narcotics or FBN was established in June 1930 with its intent on fighting opium and heroin smuggling. It was credited for criminalizing drugs such as cannabis with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, as well as strengthening the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914.During the mid 1930's Marijuana use became regulated in every state due to laws instituted through The Uniform State Narcotic Act. Possession or transfer of cannabis was made illegal throughout the United States under federal law (i.e Marijuana Tax Act of 1937), excluding medical and industrial uses, in which an expensive excise tax was required. (3) While in July 1956 Narcotics Control Act of 1956 made first time cannabis possession offense a minimum of two to ten years with a fine up to $20,000; However, in 1970, the United States Congress repealed mandatory penalties for cannabis offenses. Next the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs main objective was to limit the possession, use, trade in, distribution, import, export, manufacture and production of drugs exclusively to medical and scientific purposes and to address drug trafficking through international cooperation and to discourage drug traffickers. Also in 1968 - Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs formed .The BNDD was a predecessor agency of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It was formed as a subsidiary of the United States Department of Justice, combining the Bureau of Narcotics from the United States Department of the Treasury and Bureau of Drug Abuse Control from the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare's Food and Drug Administration into one agency. By 1971 the BNDD was composed of 1,500 agents and had a budget of some $43 million which was more than fourteen times the size of the budget of the former Bureau of Narcotics(4) Controlled Substances Act was passed in 1970; this law enacted that regulates the prescribing and dispensing of psychoactive drugs, including stimulants, depressants, and hallucinogens. The act lists five categories of restricted drugs, organized by their medical acceptance, abuse potential, and ability to produce dependence. The law classified cannabis as having high potential for abuse, no medical use, and not safe to use under medical supervision. (5) Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was formed in 1973;The DEA is tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the U.S. The DEA is also the lead agency for domestic enforcement of drug policies in the United States , it also has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations abroad. Marijuana reached national headlines on November 5, 1996 when the California Proposition on 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, was passed. This act legalized the medicinal marijuana. But in May 2001 the U.S Supreme Court ruled that federal anti-drug laws not be permit an exception for medical cannabis and rejected the common-law medical necessity defense to crimes enacted under the Controlled Substances Act because Congress concluded cannabis has "no currently accepted medical use" when the act was passed in 1970. Lastly in 2005 U.S Supreme Court ruled that the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution allowed the federal government to ban the use of cannabis, including medical use. The court found the federal law valid, although the cannabis in question had been grown and consumed within a single state, and had never entered interstate commerce. Congress may ban the use of cannabis even where states approve its use for medicinal purposes.(6)
Marijuana is the most valuable crop in the United States, at a value of over 35 billion dollars; it creates more revenue than corn, wheat, and soybeans combined. But it’s not the states or government that is getting income, its criminal organizations and drug dealers that are profiting. Legalizing marijuana would benefit states by providing them with much needed tax revenue. Not only that but legalized marijuana would also put criminal organizations out of business. Legalized marijuana would give parole officers more serious offenders and prisons would not be as overcrowded. It costs a lot of money to prosecute each marijuana smoker that is arrested every forty-five seconds in America and that adds up fairly quick. The war on drugs has cost taxpayers and civilians hundreds of billions of dollars, and there is nothing to show for it. Drugs are still easy to obtain, still being used, abused, and sold.(7)