Mary Jane Essay, Research Paper

Mary Jane

Legalization and or decriminalization of marijuana has been sought after, unsuccessfully, for the last 62 some-odd years by an ever-growing number of people. These people stem from all walks of life from high school kids to top-level business executives to doctors to musicians and actors to senators and politicians.

The topic, however, is one that has been tiptoed around since the reefer madness disease swept across mainstream America in the late 1930 s. All of which was the brainchild of two men: Harry Anslinger, the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics at the time and who happened to be related to someone on the board of Dupont, and William Randolph Hearst, who owned a few large newspaper companies. Both of whom are said to be paid off by Dupont, who was very big in the wood-pulp paper industry, and would profit heavily from hemp being outlawed.

Marijuana had many uses in our society before reefer madness came to a head. For over 150 years, the second-most prescribed medication in America was a highly concentrated cannabis extract. According to a February 1938 article in Popular Mechanics, a machine called the decoriator could take 1 acre devoted to the cultivation of hemp and out produce 4 acres of traditional wood-based paper, at 1/5 the pollution. Most of the rigging and canvas sails on ships, even through the latter part of the 20th century, were made from hemp. Even the word canvas is Dutch for cannabis. Also, a synthetic compound very similar to PVC can be made from hemp.

We are beginning to look towards alternate fuel sources to run our future machines. I say that there is nothing better than cannabis. It can be converted to methane, methanol or gasoline at a fraction of the cost of oil, coal, or nuclear energy. The oil from the seeds can be made into a high quality lubricant that could replace petrol oils completely. Unfortunately, it will be a difficult contender because the government will probably not want to be at all associated with marijuana, even if it were the cure for cancer.

The downside to all this is that the government could never control the distribution from local sellers. And we all know how much the government hates any kind of competition. The problem with marijuana is that it can be grown in almost any temperature, and in almost every type of soil, with practically no maintenance whatsoever. After all it is just a weed.

I think that once the geriatrics of today, who are the ones that make the laws, start dropping off and our generation slowly takes their place, we will begin to see the older traditions fade away. Along with them will go their memories of The Killer Dope and its evil ways. Hopefully this will pave the way for more just laws concerning marijuana possession and usage.