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Why vote for the re-legalization of Marijuana/hemp?
The re-legalization of the plant marijuana or hemp would benefit our
country in many ways. Hemp is of the same plant species that produces
marijuana; its scientific name is Cannabis Sativa. Hemp has been used
for hundreds of years to produce paper, textiles, oil, rope, and many
other useful products.
During the 1930s, the American media propagated numerous false stories
depicting marijuana as an extremely dangerous drug to counter the hemp
industry with the new up and coming timber and plastic industries.
Because these lies went unchallenged, marijuana and hemp were
effectively banned in 1938.
Annually, 1 acre of hemp will produce as much fiber as two to three
acres of cotton. Hemp fiber is stronger and softer than cotton, lasts
twice as long as cotton, and will not mildew. Cotton grows only in
moderate climates and requires more water than hemp; but hemp is frost
tolerant, requires only moderate amounts of water, and grows in all 50
states. Cotton requires large quantities of pesticides and
herbicides--50% of the world's pesticides/herbicides are used on cotton.
But hemp requires no pesticides, no herbicides, and only moderate
amounts of fertilizer.
Hemp can be used instead of trees for many everyday items. With a
growing season of 120 days compared to many years for a single tree,
hemp is much more readily available. Annually, one acre of hemp will
produce as much paper as two to four acres of trees. From tissue paper
to cardboard, all types of paper products can be produced from hemp.
Saving trees will help keep our air cleaner and reverse green house
effect.
Hemp seeds account for up to half the weight of a mature hemp plant.
Hemp seed oil can be used to produce non-toxic diesel fuel, paint,
varnish, detergent, ink and lubricating oil. Just as corn can be
converted into clean-burning ethanol fuel, so can hemp. Growing cost for
oil create good reason to make way for alternatives, like the more
environmentally friendly hemp fuel. America will only loose out on
economic growth to other countries, like Canada (since 1997), who
already is using the future of hemp fuel.
Hemp seeds contain a protein that is more nutritious and more economical
to produce than soybean protein. Hemp seeds are not intoxicating. Hemp
seed protein can be used to produce virtually any product made from
soybean: tofu, veggie burgers, butter, cheese, salad oils, ice cream,
milk, etc. Hemp seed can also be ground into a nutritious flour that can
be used to produce baked goods such as pasta, cookies, and breads.
There is much evidence from numerous studies that marijuana is useful as
an anti-convulsant for spinal injuries, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy,
and other diseases. Similar evidence suggests marijuana may be useful as
an analgesic for chronic pain from cancer and migraine as well as for
rheumatism and a variety of auto-immune diseases.The best established
medical use of smoked marijuana is as an anti-nauseant for cancer
chemotherapy. Marijuana is widely used to treat nausea and appetite loss
associated with AIDS, but the government has blocked research in this
area. It has been established that marijuana reduces intra-ocular
pressure, the primary object of glaucoma therapy. Many patients report
using marijuana as a substitute for more addictive and harmful
psychoactive drugs, including prescription painkillers, opiates, and
alcohol. Marijuana has also been found useful as a treatment for
depression and mood disorders in Alzheimer's and other patients. It has
many healing properties and no harmful side effects.
A 1997 UCLA School of Medicine study (Volume 155 of the American Journal
of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine) conducted on 243 marijuana
smokers over an 8-year period reported the following: "Findings
from the long-term study of heavy, habitual marijuana smokers argue
against the concept that continuing heavy use of marijuana is a
significant risk factor for the development of chronic lung
disease." "Neither the continuing nor the intermittent
marijuana smokers exhibited any significantly different rates of decline
in lung function as compared with those individuals who never smoked
marijuana." The study concluded: "No differences were noted
between even quite heavy marijuana smoking and nonsmoking of
marijuana."
ANNUAL AMERICAN DEATHS CAUSED BY DRUGS
TOBACCO ........................ 400,000
ALCOHOL ........................ 100,000
ALL LEGAL DRUGS ................ 20,000
ALL ILLEGAL DRUGS .............. 15,000
CAFFEINE ....................... 2,000
ASPIRIN ........................ 500
MARIJUANA ...................... 0
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Source: United States government, National Institute on Drug Abuse,
Bureau of Mortality Statistics
Judge Francis Young of the Drug Enforcement Administration went on to
say: "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest
therapeutically active substances known. In strict medical terms,
marijuana is safer than many foods we commonly consume." Judge
Young recommended that the DEA allow marijuana to be prescribed as
medicine, but the DEA has refused.
Our country punishes people for using this plant medically and
economically. We spend billions of tax dollars locking up marijuana and
hemp users each year. If these plants were legal, we would be able to
use money, prison space, and parole officers wasted on screening
non-violent drug offenders for violent criminals. The average sentence
for a first time, non-violent drug offender is longer than the average
sentence for rape, child molestation, bank robbery or manslaughter. As
our prisons rapidly fill to bursting, rapists and murderers are being
given early release to make room for no parole drug offenders. While law
enforcement continues to go after relatively easy drug violation
arrests, every major city in this country has a record number of
unsolved homicides.
One out of eight people in U.S prisons or jails have once served in the
military. Out of them, 80% held honorable discharge from the military
(1997). Many of these Veterans have diseases and health problems that
our nations government fails to recognize or compensate for, such as
Agent Orange, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Gulf War Syndrome.
Failure to be properly treated for their illnesses, these veterans
turned to self medication, which has led to many arrests with long
prison sentences. After fighting for our country’s freedom this is the
freedom they got? Destroyed lives, years away from the family due to war
and jail were all they received upon returning home from war. Where is
the thanks, adoration, and respect they deserve?
For the sake of all the people and the planets well being, vote for the
legalization of marijuana/hemp.
Sources:
http://www.whatrain.com/drugcontrol/fact.html
http://www.cannabis-seeds.cc/untoldstory/hemp_8.html
The Inside Journal
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffr/hemp/history/vbchmed1.htm
Flax And Hemp, Mechanical Engineering, Feb. 1937
New Billion Dollar Crop, Popular Mechanics, Feb. 1938
http://www.Kenex.org
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