Something to gnaw on...

Think about this:

In the time since the discovery of the marijuana plant, it has only been illegal for less then 1% of it's existence. Dating back before 7000 BC, it wasn't until the early 1900's that awareness for it's uses as a recreational drug came to light.

The earliest known woven fabric is thought to be hemp, and over the centuries the plant was used for food, incense, cloth, rope, and much more. Even today hemp is still used, though required by law to contain very low traces of THC.

Marijuana's medicinal purposes have been known and exploited through out the nineteenth century, however it's popularity dwindled as aspirin and others entered the scene. In the 1600-1700's Virginia farmers were even required by law to farm hemp. Until 1937 in most states marijuana was still legal, and could be openly purchased in bulk from grocers, or bought in cigarette form at newsstands. In that year, federal law made possession or transfer of marijuana illegal without the purchase of a by-then incriminating tax stamp throughout the United States (contrary to the advice of the American Medical Association at the time); legal opinions of time held that the federal government could not outlaw it entirely.

The reason behind the federal government's intervention is speculated to several things. Racism, fear, protection of corporate profits, yellow journalism, ignorant, incompetent, and/or corrupt legislators, personal career advancement, greed, background; just to name a few. Some claimed "that the drug provoked murderous rampages in previously solid citizens" and gave it derogatory terms such as "marihuana" in order to associate the plant with the then increasing number of immigrants, a stereotype that still lives today.

Marijuana has a prominent role in the Rastafarian religion. Although marijuana has been used recreationally throughout its history, it first became well known in the United States during the jazz scene of the late 1920s and 30s. Louis Armstrong became one of its most prominent and life-long devotees. Marijuana use was also a prominent part of 1960s counterculture.

In 1970, the Controlled Substances Act made possession of marijuana illegal again, without the constitutional issues that scuttled the 1937 act. Confusingly enough, it is classified a Schedule 1 drug (reserved for the most dangerous drugs that have no recognized medical use).

To this day, marijuana is currently the most widely used illegal drug in the world. Still used for all of it's intended and unintended purposes. Doctors continue to write prescriptions even though federal law still prohibits it, knowing it's medicinal purposes, even if it is a last resort.

Now given all this, is it really surprising that there is such a strong movement to legalize marijuana?

Visit www.historymarijuana.com for the full story.