The known and unspoken history of marijuana

Marijuana

The told and untold stories and secrets

Chris Morris

12/16/2010

 

 

 

 

I.              Introduction

      

       When you think of marijuana what comes to mind? Cheech and Chong, the munchies, glassy-red eyed hippies, slackers, paranoia, illegal substance, gateway drug, drug cartels, and/or California’s proposition 19? Amongst all of these thoughts which one would you say has the most effect on how you view the usage, possession, and legalization of marijuana? How much do outside influences such as church, government, and elders dictate your decision? Did you ever actually have a chance, or the educated means, to make an informed decision and personal policy on marijuana? Or did you just follow the judicial trend?

        The information found in this paper is not meant to advocate or prohibit the consumption, possession, or legalization of marijuana; it is meant to give an unbiased, logical, and universalistic approach (sociological perspective) to the actual issues surrounding this prohibited substance. The purpose behind this paper is to help people construct their own opinions on this issue as well help debunk a multitude of stigmas, misnomers, and misrepresentations attributed by the government and society. First, we must look at the history of marijuana prohibition. Secondly, it is important to understand the ramifications that keeping marijuana illegal has on the American prison systems. Furthermore, we must uncover and expose the damage that is being done by the drug cartels that smuggle, distribute, and profit from the sale of marijuana. In addition, information surrounding the economical ramifications related to the marijuana prohibition in relation to the policing budget, prison costs, and overall strain on the economy will be discussed. Also, the possible economical benefits and aspects of legalizing marijuana will be presented as well. Finally, the medicinal aspects, studies, and benefits will be explored in detail

 

II.                Marijuana Prohibition

 

       The purpose to any form of prohibition is to keep members of society from consuming a particular substance through maintaining a strict enforcement of legal ramifications upon any person consuming, distributing, and/or possessing the given illegal substance. However, as proven through the nullified Alcohol Prohibition, which lasted 13 years, only proved to help fill the prison systems, stimulate an overall contempt for the law amongst millions of Americans, breed corruption amongst public servants and police officers, as well as create mob bosses such as Al Capone (Debusmann 2008). What it did not do was keep Americans from drinking alcohol, which was the original intended purpose. Since the marijuana prohibition had began in 1937, over 74 years ago, the underground operations relating to the production and distribution of marijuana overshadows anything ever seen by its prohibitive predecessor alcohol. This prohibition has also helped build the United States prison population into one of the world’s largest in addition to inadvertently diverting law enforcement resources within the United States (Debusmann 2008). Once again, much like the intended purpose of the prohibition of alcohol, the prohibition on marijuana has done little to decrease its use amongst Americans. According to the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington-based lobby group which advocates regulating the drug much like alcohol, reports that since marijuana has been outlawed its use among United States citizens has gone up by 4,000 percent (Debusmann 2008). According to a recent World Health Organization study of marijuana use in 17 countries, Americans were reported to have been number one (Debusmann 2008).

        Despite attempts by politicians to pass a bill that would legalize marijuana for adults in the past by Senator Edward Kennedy and in the near past by Congressman Barney Frank, rarely does the bill get past Congress (Debusmann 2008). In hindsight everything is 20/20, at least that is what they say. The prohibition of alcohol from 1920-1933 is now considered to have been a horrible failure of social engineering. Is this the fate for marijuana? This could be a reasonable projection considering that in 2006, according to figures sourced from the FBI, 830,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges, most of them for possession rather than trafficking (Debusmann 2008). This means that there is a marijuana arrest every 38 seconds and the estimated cost of those arrests is $10.7 billion (Debusmann 2008).

 

III.             Prison System

 

       As you could imagine, as a result of the prohibition there are a large number of marijuana related arrests. In 2001 alone, according to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report, police arrested an estimate 723,627 people for marijuana violations (Nimmo 2010). According to Kurt Nimmo (2010):

Since 1992, approximately six million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges, a greater number than the entire populations of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming combined.

       According to Van Wicler, the spokesperson of the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), “[With] 2.7 million in prison and 37 million who used illegal drugs in the last month, if you use a prison model, do the math”, as he continued with, “The states are waking up to the fact that they built prison systems they can’t afford” (Appel 2010). Wicler has also noted that every two weeks 900 new prison beds and 250 corrections officers are being brought on line (Appel 2010). There is no doubt that all of this has tremendous costs to society, $20 billion to be exact (Appel 2010). Another interesting statistic is that on average blacks are arrested for marijuana possession between four and twelve times more than whites in the state of California, even though studies have consistently shown that whites smoke more pot than blacks (Nigrosh 2010). But that’s a whole other dynamic in and of itself; I just thought it would be interesting to point out the lopsidedness in the enforcement of drug policies.

        Several reasons for the why the residents of California have backed proposition 19, the pro-marijuana legislation, include the arrest and incarceration of around 500,000 people in the last ten years and that the state spends $216,000 for each juvenile inmate in its prison system and only $8,000 per student in the Oakland school system (Nigrosh 2010). Now, the question is, doesn’t it seem reasonable that more money should be spent on keeping children in school and helping them achieve as a means to limit their drug usage? According to “Can Marijuana Help Rescue California’s Economy” by Alison Statemen and published by Time in 2009, Judge James Gray, a superior court justice in Orange County, Calif., said, “Legalizing marijuana and thus ceasing to arrest, prosecute, and imprison nonviolent offenders could save the state $1 billion a year” (Bracken 2010). According to “Drug Related Crime” published by the Office of National Drug Control Policy in 2000, 25 percent of all federal prison inmates and 41.9 percent of all state prison inmates were incarcerated for drug-related offenses (Bracken 2010). Since the dawning of America’s “War on Drugs” the United States has bypassed all other countries in the world, including China (which has over a billion people), in per capita inmates (Bracken 2010).

 

IV.             Drug Cartels

 

       The costs of keeping marijuana illegal are not just monetarily, they are deadly. In the past three and a half years 28,000 people have died as a result of marijuana prohibition-related violence (Smith 2010). According to a tally kept by the Mexican newspaper Reforma, the drug-cartel related murders in Mexico’s drug war have surpassed 10,000 people this year alone (Mora 2010).   This year’s statistics show that the U.S.-Mexico border region accounts for only 46 percent of the drug-cartel killings throughout Mexico; this is a result of the increase in violence in Mexico’s Central-Pacific region, where 38 percent of the total murders have taken place this year (Mora 2010). If the current numbers of killings stay the same, the drug-cartel related murders could reach 12,000 murders this year (Mora 2010). According to CNSNews.com, this figure is over twice the overall number of fatalities experienced by the United States military in Iraq and Afghanistan combined; current numbers stand at about 5,700 for the entirety of both wars to present date (Mora 2010). Thus far, according to Edwin Mora (2010), “The 2010 murder tally in Mexico is about 60 percent higher than the 2009 count of 6,587.” According to statistics presented by CNSNews.com, Ciudad Juarez proves to be one of the most deadly cities in the world with having experienced over 2,912 executions in 2010 alone (Mora 2010).

       The U.S. State Department reports that since 2006 the Mexican government has positioned military personnel and federal police to fight the drug-trafficking organizations, which often result in shootouts (Mora 2010). These shootouts are in addition to the fire fights that erupt all throughout Mexico between competing drug-cartels fighting for control of drug-trafficking routes, all of which too often result in the slaying of innocent victims (Mora 2010).  

       According to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, “Mexican drug cartels make at least 60 percent of their revenue from selling marijuana in the United States” (Johnson 2010). As estimated by the FBI, “drug cartels distribute to over 230 American cities from the Southwest to New England “(Johnson 2010). The Washington Post has reported that at least $20 billion is being smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border every year that profits the drug cartels (Johnson 2010).  

 

V.                Economical aspects

 

       The economical benefits to taxing and regulating marijuana, similar to alcohol, are not only seen through the decrease of the policing budget. According to a June 2005 report by Dr. Jeffery Miron, a visiting professor of economics at Harvard University found that through regulation and taxation of marijuana our economy could experience a combined savings and tax revenues of between $10 billion and $14 billion per year (MPP 2010). This particular report has been endorsed by over 530 accredited economists who have also signed an open letter to President Bush as well as other public officials asking for “an open and honest debate about marijuana prohibition,” in addition to stating, “We believe such a debate will favor a regime in which marijuana is legal but taxed and regulated like other goods” (MPP 2010). Amongst the 530 economist are three Nobel Laureates in economics which include Dr. Milton Friedman of the Hoover Institute, Dr. Vernon Smith of George Mason University, and Dr. George Akerlof of the University of California at Berkeley (MPP 2010).

       There are two major points to Dr. Miron’s paper, “The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition,” which are:

1) Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of legal regulation would save approximately $7.7 billion in government expenditures on prohibition enforcement -- $2.4 billion at the federal level and $5.3 billion at the state and local levels.

2) Revenue from taxation of marijuana sales would range from $2.4 billion per year if marijuana were taxed like ordinary consumer goods to $6.2 billion if it were taxed like alcohol or tobacco.

Sourced from Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)

       These are implications that are not to be taken lightly. According to the Marijuana Policy Project (2010), “$14 billion in annual combined savings and revenues would cover the securing of all ‘loose nukes’ in the former Soviet Union (estimated by former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb at $30 billion) in less than three years. Again, just one year’s savings of revenue generated by marijuana regulation and taxation, according to the MPP, would cover the full cost of anti-terrorism port security measures (MPP 2010). California already brings in about $200 million in medical marijuana sales taxes and California tax experts claim that a potential $1.4 billion in sales tax revenue would be brought in if marijuana is legalized (Bracken 2010). 

 

VI.           Medicinal benefits

 

       According to Francis Young, the DEA’s administrative law judge, “marijuana is safer than most foods we eat, and eating 10 raw potatoes can induce death while it is impossible to die from marijuana consumption” (Bracken 2010). He went on to say, “Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man,” adding, “By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within the supervised routine of medical care” (Bracken 2010). Studies have shown that the active ingredient in marijuana is THC, which is found to not be harmful (Bracken 2010). In a trial lung cancer research study it was found that THC actually inhibits tumor growth (Bracken 2010). If this current experimental trend continues the medical world could very well see a change in how cancer will be treated.

           It is known that some methods of marijuana consumption can be harmful, such as smoking because of the fact that all smoke is carcinogenic. According to “Harm Reduction Associated with Inhalation and Oral Administration of Cannabis” by Franio Grotenhermen published in 2001 by the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, the harm to be found in the smoking of marijuana is the same as the harm in the inhalation of any smoke (Bracken 2010). However, similar studies have shown that cigarettes are more harmful to inhale because there is a combination of carcinogens that damage all of the body’s organs (Bracken 2010). It has also been found that alcohol is more harmful to the body than marijuana because it destroys the liver, creates a dependency, and you can actually die from not only overdosing but withdrawals as well. However, it is known that both cigarettes and alcohol, both of which are addictive, are legal products that are available for purchase at your local 7 eleven.

       According to the “Prevalence and Demographic Correlates of Symptoms of Dependence on Cigarettes, Alcohol, Marijuana and Cocaine in the U.S. Population” published by Drug and Alcohol Dependence in 1997 and retrieved from drugpolicy.org, marijuana does not cause physical dependence (Bracken 2010). In addition, studies on THC have shown a lack of an unambiguous mechanism to establish a physical addiction, as opposed to the legal substance nicotine (Bracken 2010).    

 

VII.          Conclusion

 

       In the face of factual studies by accredited researchers, alcohol and cigarettes have both been found to be more harmful than marijuana, however, citizens have a legal right to purchase, possess, and consume both of them. If our government were to uphold the principles of the Constitution, the legalization of less harmful substances would be considered, or alternatively ban all of them. Looking to the history of civil rights in the United States proves that when public opinion changes the governmental policy must change to match. In the face of so many perceived negative effects that the marijuana prohibition has not only on the United States, but also on our neighboring countries, it seems as though ignorance, lack of education, and propaganda are the only things standing in the way of legalization.

 

Bibliography

Appel, A. 2010, April 8. "Pot Parley: High Time For Legalization". New Haven Independent, Retrieved December 1,2010

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Bracken, R. 2010. "Legalizing Marijuana Just Makes Sense". Dixie Sun, Dixie State College of Utah, Retrieved December 2, 2010

Debusmann, B. 2008. "America's Never Ending Prohibition". Reuters,  Retrieved December 2, 2010.

Johnson, G. 2010, August 26. "Legalize Marijuana to Stop the Drug Cartels". Huffington Post, Retrieved December 2, 2010.

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Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). (n.d.). "Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States". Retrieved December 4, 2010

Mora, E. 2010, December 2., CNSNews.com, Retrieved December 5, 2010

Nigrosh, S. 2010, October 28. "Puff, Puff, Pass Marijuana Legalization". College Voice-Connecticut College's independent student-run newpaper, Retrieved December 2, 2010

 

Nimmo, K. 2010, February 2. "How Weed Won the West: Marijuana Legalizatoin is a Crucial Issue fot the Liberty Movement". PrisonPlanet.com, Retrieved December 2, 2010

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Smith, P. 2010, August 16. "Swiss Pol Who Probed Secret CIA Prison System Says Legalize Drugs". Drug War Chronicle, Issue 645. Retrieved December 2, 2010   drugwar.org/chronicle/2010/aug/16/swiss pol who probed secret cia