Marijuana in the Past and Present

Marijuana in the Past and Present

Marijuana is a mixture of leaves, stems, and flowering tops of the Indian hemp plant Cannabis, it may be smoked or eaten for its hallucinogenic and pleasure-giving effects. Marijuana has not been proven to be physically addicting but, psychological dependence can develop.

Many users describe two phases of marijuana intoxication. During the first level the user will experience lightheadedness; next the user will experience peacefulness in the mind. Mood changes are often accompanied by altered perceptions of time. A person will think that hours have gone by, but in reality only minutes have passed. The thinking process usually becomes disrupted by incongruous ideas, images, and memories. Many users report an increase in appetite, heightened sensory awareness, and various hallucinogenic pleasures. The negative side effects include confusion, panic, anxiety attacks, fear, a sense of helplessness, and loss of self-control.

In the United States there were a number of successful efforts, especially in the 1970s, to reduce criminal penalties for possession and use of marijuana, but many of the resulting laws have since been modified or repealed. The smoking of marijuana is so casually taken for granted in much of our culture that many people assume that a marijuana offense these days will rarely lead to a prison term. The fact is that there are more people in prison today for violating marijuana laws than at any other time in the nation's history. Data provided by the Bureau of Prisons and the United States Sentencing Commission suggest that one of every six inmates in the federal prison system has been locked up for a marijuana offense. The number currently being held in state prisons and local jails is more difficult to estimate; an estimated guess would be an additional 20,000 to 30,000. A dozen or more marijuana offenders may now be serving life sentences in federal penitentiaries without hope of parole. The number of prisoners condemned to die in prison may reach into the hundreds if you include middle-aged inmates with sentences greater than twenty years. Other inmates are serving life terms in state prisons across the country for growing, selling, or even possessing marijuana.

The vigorous enforcement of marijuana laws has resulted in four million arrests since the early 1980s. Due to mandatory-minimum sentences, many of those convicted are receiving stiff prison terms; even as violent criminals are released for lack of space.