Why is Marijuana Illegal? in the US

50..........

Like it was for selling it in Nevada 30 years ago.

You're a history expert right? When and why was it made illegal in almost every country?

its illegal cause the government can't profit off of it

You are corrrect they left ENGLAND, coming to AMERICA. Therefore our puritanical roots are with England. Do you think the Bible was here when they arrived?

George Bush!

exactly....B Street!

I can buy whatever I want and pay with my debit card....

They even give reciepts and some places will deliver.

http://www.mo3x.tnmoe.com/media/elfuckingnino.jpg

from your little history link

"...At first the Puritans received the name Puritan because they sought to purify the National Church of England. In later times they were called Puritans because of the purity of life that they sought. They set out to reform the Church of England. Their desire was to conform the national Church to the Word of God in government, worship and practice.

Queen Elizabeth was head of the national Church and she opposed and blocked reformation..."

When you try to reform something.... that's not your roots...

Who knows, but it probably started at that time and developed into a "nation under God" with the associated arrogance, hypocracy and racism to match.

Part of this scenario involves *control* and keeping the flock in order and deciding what is best for em, giving the idea of protecting em and acting in their best interests in almost every aspect of life, but leaving the concept that there is both "freedom" and "democracy".

Ingoring the pros and cons of pot - this is another element of "we know what is better for you" and rarely does it make sense, tho there will be many articles/discussion from biased groups on both sides.

Several countries don't have a problem with pot and the results, at least so far, have not shown any significant problems by having this "legal".

Are you retarded?

who knows dude

Yeah, I ride the short bus... sucks to know that retard knows more than you huh? It stings at first, but that' just pride fuckin' with ya... you'll get over it.

because its illegal does it stop anyone from smoking it?

My statement was our Puritanical roots are from Britain. You have not disproved this, as a matter of fact you supported it. It is an absolute fact and if you know so much please prove me wrong.

No, it only costs them more

It's very simple. Marijuana causes blacks and mexicans to go crazy, and think they are as good as white people.

Well, at least that's what the anti marijuana folks think.

Who says it's illegal?!

They could easily profit from it. People say if it's legal people would just grow their own. Right. All you need is a grow box with some sort of venting system, high wattage lighting, the right soil mixture, good seeds, a timer, fertilizer, and a few months to wait and see if it turns out allright.

Or you could grow outside, hoping the conditions are right for growing, can't get too hot, too cold, have to deal with bugs, or people breaking into your backyard and grabbing your plants, etc...

Or you could just go to the store and in 5 minutes pick up an ounce of kind bud for $100.

IMO marijuana should be legal, but probably regulated and taxed like cigarettes.

I don't know why it's still illegal today, but I've a pretty good idea why it was made illegal in the first place.

All the way up to the early 1900s, hemp (Cannabis Sativa) was used in nearly every culture. Fabric from hemp (aka 'Canvass'), for instance, was one of the few fabrics that wouldn't be immediately destroyed by sea salt, thus paving the way for the age of sail. Hemp oil was popular as a base for paints and varnishes, or for fuel. The seeds an excellent source of protein... and of course, the buds and leaves for psychoactive enjoyment (buds/leaves being now known as marijuana). About the only not-immediately-useful part of C.Sativa was the woody stalk, which was either simply burnt as fuel or tossed away. Around the turn of the century, someone came up with a plan on how to process the stalk into a pulp, which could be used as a base for a durable and fine quality paper, as well as yield a number of commercially valuable chemicals.

William Randolph Hearst, turn of the century 'media mogul', was a major player in the US in the early 1900s and has been immortalized by unflattering portrayal of him in 'Citizen Kane'. Among other things, he made a great deal of money as a publisher, and a great deal more providing base grade pulp paper to other newspaper printers. The paper itself was quite crappy, and would turn a dingy shade of brown-yellow not long after final manufacture (giving rise to the term 'yellow journalism' as a term of derision). Of all things that Hearst was, he was no fool; he immediately recognized the threat that hemp paper would yield to his paper business.

Additionally, times were getting tough. The great depression was coming on, people were struggling, and when times get tough the old hatreds come out to play. Everyone (read: every white man) was looking for a scapegoat, someone to blame lack of jobs and economic hardship on: Minorities. The Chinese were pilloried for thier drug of choice, opium, which was considered to be their 'secret ingredient' that kept them working for hours on end in tedious manual labour and manufacturing jobs. Blacks were fond of cocaine, which had the alarming (alleged) ability to:
Which brings us to the mexicans, and their love of marijuana as immortalized by Poncho Villa's marching song 'La Cucharacha':
Hearst had a particularly personal axe to grind with the mexicans. Mexico (specifically, the aforementioned Poncho Villa) had nationalized his forest holdings in the country costing him a great deal of money, so anything he could do to screw the mex was icing on the cake... in fact, he was widely believed to have more or less single-handedly triggered the spanish-american war of 1898 in order to stimulate newspaper sales. Thus, it was easy to begin a campaign to demonize marijuana (and by extension, mexicans).

Additionally, in the 1920's the DuPont company developed and patented fuel additives such as tetraethyl lead, as well as the sulfate and sulfite processes for manufacture of pulp paper and numerous new synthetic products such as nylon, cellophane, and other plastics. At the same time other companies were developing synthetic products from renewable biomass resources--especially hemp. The hemp decorticator promised to eliminate much of the need for wood-pulp paper, thus threatening to drastically reduce the value of the vast timberlands still owned by Hearst. Ford and other companies were already promising to make every product from cannabis carbohydrates that was currently currently being made from petroleum hydrocarbons. In response, from 1935 to 1937, DuPont lobbied the chief counsel of the Treasury Department, Herman Oliphant, for the prohibition of cannabis, assuring him that DuPont's synthetic petrochemicals (such as urethane) could replace hemp seed oil in the marketplace.

Needless to say, when you have the country's most powerful newsman, combined with one of the country's most powerful chemical corporations that has deep ties to big oil, all bucking for a pot ban, they're gonna haves them a pot ban. Racism and the depression provided the 'cover' to allow the big boys to play on unimpeded.

On the plus side, history does show how much of the petrochemical-based plastics and so forth currently produced could be developed from hemp. I suspect that if oil becomes prohibitively expensive, you'll see a resurgence of hemp usage in arenas where governments hold less tyrannical control.

C. Sativa can literally grow anywhere in the world that can support plant life. The buzz you get from the leaf or bud will certainly be affected by the growing conditions, but it's pretty tough NOT to grow a viable living plant.

You're right on target by saying that people will be lazy and not bother to grow their own. Seriously, how many people even have a herb garden these days? If it was legalized, street prices would drop through the floor (or stay static while inflation carried on), making it pointless to cultivate unless doing so industrially.

btw - Jack Herer writes voluminously on the subject of narcotics prohibition. Check it out for yourself.

A bit tin-foily at times, tho :-/

B/c the US can produce it well enuf to sell

because it can't be taxed

What a misdirected argument. What if they had given that excuse for not repealing the 18th amendment? We can't allow alcohol to be legal because people will just make their own and it can't be taxed.

cos it fucks with your mind body and soul. And if everyone smoked ganja they'd end up like Juicy.

When Lollapalooza came to New Orleans there was a NORML booth set up and they had a big batch of cajun roasted pot seeds that they were passing out samples of. Unfortunately they were just to prove the "food" point in the "food, fuel & fiber" attributes of hemp and not promoting an actual available product... I could have eaten a pound of 'em... mmm

The best answer to the question posed by this thread, "Why is MJ illegal in the US?" is to point your browser at www.jackherer.com and then click on "Emporer Has No Clothes." Read it.

Should be required reading for everyone who wants to enter the marijuana debate

Awesome post.