Legalization Of Weed Essay -- essays research papers fc

Illegal drug use is a major problem in the world today. Million of dollars are spent ever year to prevent the trafficking and distribution of these drugs. Virtually all Drugs is smuggled into the United States concealed in false compartments, fuel tanks, seats, tires of private and commercial vehicles, pickup trucks, vans, mobile homes, and horse trailers. Large shipments usually are smuggled in tractor-trailer trucks in false compartments and among legitimate bulk shipments, such as agricultural products. The government has devised ways to cut down on drugs. Yet the drug crisis is greater today then ever. Marijuana is one the most widely used illegal drug. Over the past thirty year the government has demonized Marijuana. In this paper my intent is it to illustrate the pros and cons of Marijuana use, as well as to prove that marijuana should be legalized, regulated, and taxed just like cigarettes. Marijuana, also spelled Marihuana comes from the Indian hemp plant, cannabis sativa. It is a crude tobacco like substance produced by drying the leaves and flowery top of the cannabis plant. It is put into pipes or formed into cigarettes (reefers or joints) for smoking. Recently, it has appeared in cigars called blunts. Lester Ginspoon writes, "The drug is a mild hallucinogen meaning that it distorts sensory perceptions. Marijuana is known by a variety of names including pot, tea, grass and weed (112)". Marijuana can also be added to foods and beverages. The intoxication part of the plant lies mostly in its strong-smelling, sticky, golden resin. Gabriel Nashas wrote, "The hemp flowers, especially those of the female plant, give this smell off." (Ginspoons 214). Many users describe two phases of marijuana effect as initial stimulation, giddiness, and euphoria, followed by sedation and pleasant tranquility. Mood changes can often accompany altered perceptions of time and space of one's bodily dimension. "The hemp plant can be found growing as a weed or as a cultivated plant throughout the world, in many soils and climates, with the more potent varieties produced in dry, hot, wasteland"(lord 35). Marijuana varies in potency, depending on where and how it is grown and prepared for use or stored. In the book uses of Marijuana it Solomon Snyder states: Active ingredient, tetrahydrocanabinol (THC), is present in all part of both male and ... ...control their own bodies. Decriminalize drugs, help those who need it, and let the police spend their time protecting us from real crime. We as a society need to have a more open mind on this herbal stubstance Bibliography Grinspoon Lester. Marihuana Reconsidered. Cambrige: Harvard University Press, 1971. Lail, Bernard M. Marijuana, Friend or foe. Nashvile: South Publishing Association,1979. Linkletter, Art. My Child an Drugs?. Ohio: Standard Publishing, 1981. Lord, Jess R. Marijuana and personality Change. Lexington: Health Lexington Press, 1972 Nashas, Gabriel G. Keeping off the Grass. New York: Rader's Digest Press, 1971 Rudolph, Barbara."Ganja." Time 7 July 1986: 46-47 Snyder, Solomon H. Uses of Marjuana . New York: Oxford University press,1971 Turner, Carlton. Marijuana. New York :Academic Press 1973. NA "Marijuana prohibition in the 90's". Jan. 1997 State.gov/www./global/narcotics_law/index.html NA, "A new attitude on old drug" May. 2000 :www.weedsmart.org/min.