Why Shouldn T Marijuana Be Legalized

“Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death” (“Why is Marijuana Illegal”). Outdated and falsely derived statements like these were among the leading factors that lead to marijuana prohibition, yet even though modern science has proven statements like these to be nothing but slander, marijuana is still federally illegal, and many people still view the plant as a dangerous narcotic. Marijuana is a misunderstood drug, and its medical prowess has been the center of much controversy for quite some time. The issue of marijuana prohibition has long been debated, ever since it began gaining support throughout the 1900’s. Many only see it for the negative light that has been unfairly reflected upon it

People grow up in today’s world learning from a young age about the dangers of drug use, and marijuana is commonly included as part of it. By grouping marijuana into the same category with drugs like heroin and methamphetamines, people associate them with each other. This creates many opposing viewpoints as more people are brainwashed into believing this, others will assume that marijuana really is illegal for legitimate reasons; however, this could not be further from the truth. Marijuana is viewed as being extremely harmful, both physically and mentally, and so those that go uninformed remain scared and ignorant. Prohibition activist’s favorite point to argue is that marijuana is a “gateway drug”, and many spout misleading statistics to attempt to back up this statement. Finally, many think that legalization will harm society as a whole but refuse to acknowledge the harms of prohibition itself (“Decriminalizing

Anslinger. Anslinger was the director of the newly founded Bureau of Narcotics, a new agency under the US Treasury. Driven by ambition, he sought out to make a name for himself and his agency by spearheading the charge against marijuana. He brought the drug to the attention of the public, and did everything in his power to make the plant seem as evil and dangerous as possible. He did this with the help of Hearst who was the owner of the San Francisco Examiner and New York Journal, two wildly popular and successful newspapers. Hearst profited from criminalizing marijuana, as it eliminated the hemp paper industry from competing with his lumber investments, and the use of yellow journalism to strike fear into people was a successful strategy for selling lots of papers. These papers utilized lies, racism, and propaganda to push their own agenda on an unknowing public, with statements like: “Marihuana makes fiends of boys in thirty days - Hashish goads users to bloodlust”, and “Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at a white woman twice” (Why is Marijuana Illegal). These are actual statements used in national newspapers, that had significant impact towards criminalization. These ridiculous statements would never gain any traction in