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Q/A: Legalization of Marijuana
"Prohibition . goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to
control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things
that are not crimes. "A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very
principles upon which our government was founded." - Abraham Lincoln
December, 1840
This pamphlet was researched and produced as a public service by the
Family Council on Drug Awareness, P.O. Box 71093, LA CA 90071-0093
Q. What is Marijuana?
A. "Marijuana" refers to the dried leaves and flowers of the cannabis
plant,1 which contain the non-narcotic chemical THC at various potencies.
It is smoked or eaten to produce the feeling of being "high." The
different strains of this herb produce different sensual effects,
ranging from sedative to stimulant.
Q. Who Uses Marijuana?
A.There is no simple profile of a typical marijuana user. It has been
used for 1000s of years for medical, social and religious reasons and
for relaxation.2 Several of our Presidents3 are believed to have
smoked it. One out of every five Americans say they have tried it. And it
is still popular among artists, writers, musicians, activists,
lawyers, inventors, working people, etc.
Q. How Long Have People Been Using Marijuana?
A. Marijuana has been used since ancient times.4 While field hands and
working people have often smoked the raw plant, aristocrats
historically prefer hashish5 made from the cured flowers of the plant.
It was not seen as a problem until a calculated disinformation campaign
was launched in the 1930s,6 and the first American laws against using it
were passed.7
Q. Is Marijuana Addictive?
A. No, it is not.8 Most users are moderate consumers who smoke it socially
to relax. We now know that 10% of our population have "addictive
personalities" and they are neither more nor less likely to overindulge
in cannabis than in anything else. On a relative scale, marijuana is less
habit forming than either sugar or chocolate but more so than n
chovies. Sociologists report a general pattern of marijuana use that
peaks in the early adult years, followed by a period of levelling
off and then a gradual reduction in use.9
Q. Has Anyone Ever Died From Smoking Marijuana?
A. No; not one single case, not ever. THC is one of the few chemicals
for which there is no known toxic amount.10 The federal agency NIDA
says that autopsies reveal that 75 people per year are high on marijuana
when they die: This does not mean that marijuana caused or was even a
factor in their deaths.
The chart below compares the number of deaths attributable
to selected substances in a typical year:
Tobacco 340,000-395,000 Alcohol (excluding crime/accidents) 125,000 +
Drug Overdose (prescription) 14,000-27,000 Drug Overdose (iilegal) 3,800-
5,200 Marijuana 0 * Source: U.S. government Bureau of Mortality
Statistics, 1987.
Q. Does Marijuana Lead to Crime and/or Hard Drugs?
A. No.11 The only crime most marijuana users commit is that they use
marijuana. And, while many people who abuse dangerous drugs also smoke
marijuana, the old "stepping stone" theory is now discredited, since
virtually all of them started out "using" legal drugs like sugar,
coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, etc.
Q. Does Marijuana Make People Violent?
A. No. In fact, Federal Bureau of Narcotics director Harry Anslinger
once told Congress just the opposite - that it leads to non-violence and
pacifism.12 If he was telling the truth (which he and key federal
agencies have not often done regarding marijuana), thethee-legalizing
marijuana should be considered as one way to curb the growing violence
in our cities.
The simple fact is that marijuana does not change your basic
personality. The government says that over 20 million Americans still
smoke it, probably including some of the nicest people you know.
Q. How Does Marijuana Affect Your Health?
A. Smoking anything is not healthy, but marijuana is less dangerous
than tobacco and people smoke less of it at a time. This health risk can
be avoided by eating the plann instead of smoking it13 or can be reduced
by smoking smaller amounts of stronger marijuana.
There is no proof that marijuana causes serious health or sexual
problems14 but, like alcohol, its use by children or adolescents is
discouraged. Cannabis is a medicinal herb that has hundreds of proven,
valuable therapeutic uses - from stress reduction to glaucoma to
asthma to cancer therapy, etc.15
Q. What About All Those Scary Statistics and Studies?
A. Most were prepared as scare tactics for the government by Dr. Gabriel
Nahas, and were so biased and unscientific that Nahas was fired by the
National Institute of Health16 and finally renounced his own studies
as meaningless.17 For one experiment, he suffocated monkeys for five
minutes at a time, using prorortionately more smoke than the average user
inhales in an entire lifetime.18 The other studies that claim
sensational health risks are also highly suspect, since they lack
controls and produce results which can not be replicated or independently
verififi.19
Q. What Can I Do About Marijuana?
A. No independent government panel that has studied marijuana has ever
recommended jail for users.20 Concerned persons should therefore ask
their legislators to re-legalize and tax this plant, subject to age
limits and regulations similar to those on alcohol and tobacco.
Footnotes to the text:
1. The same plant, known as hemp, has an estimated 50,000 non- drug
commercial uses including paper, textiles, fuels, food and sealants, but
these uses are also banned by existing laws. Sources: Encyclopaedia
Brittanica, federal documents and historical records.
2. Coptic Christians, Rhastafarnians, Shintos, Hindus, Buddhists,
Sufis, Essenes, Zoroastrians, Bantus and many other sects have traditions
that consider the plant to have religious value.
3. Their personal correspondence and records reveal that U.S. Presidents
Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and others smoked hashish, as did
Benjamin Franklin and Mary Todd Lincoln. President John F. Kennedy is
also reported to have smoked marijuana to relieve his back pain. Many
of America's grgrt leaders and Founding Fathers (including George
Washington) were hemp farmers. Sources: National archives, published
reports.
4. Archeologists report that cannabis was possibly the first plant
cultivated by humans - about 8,000 B.C. - and was used fororinen, paper
and garments. Source: Columbia University, History of the World. It was
being smoked in China and India as early as 2700 B.C.
5. Turkish smoking parlors were popular in both Europe and America, as
well as the Middle and Far East, as recently as the turn of the Century.
6. The exhaustive Indian Hemp "Raj" Commission report (1896) by British
authorities found no reason to restrict its use. But the notorious
yellow journalist William Randolph Hearst fabricated and published
horror stories about marijuana that were eventually investigated and
shown to be lies, but not until long after the marijuana prohibition
was enacted in 1938. Source: Larry Sloman, Reefer Madness.
7. Laws against marijuana were passed a year after the invention of
a machine to harvest and process hemp so it could compete commercially
against businesses owned by Hearst, the DuPonts and other powerful
families. Source: Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Clothes.
8. Marijuana use does not lead to physical dependency. Costa Ricaicatudy,
1980; Jamaican Study, 1975; Nixon Blue Ribbon Report, 1972, et. al.
9. Source: Psychology Today, Newsweek, et. al.
10. Source: All university medical studies: UCLA, Harvard, Temple, etc.
11. Costa Rican Study, 1980; Jamaican Study, 1975; "The legal drugs for
adults, such as alcohol and tobacco . precede the use of all illicit
drugs." Source: National Academy of Sciences.
12. The FBI reports that 65-75% of criminal violence is alcohol
related. "Pacifist syndrome" testimony was given by Federal Bureau of
Narcotics Director Harry Anslinger before Congress (1948). However, the
"Siler" Study conducted by the U.S. in Panama (1931) reported "no
impairment" in military personnel who smoked marijuana while off duty.
13. "The only clinically significant medicaa problem that is
scientifically linked to marijuana is bronchitis. Like smoking tobacco, the
treatment is the same: stop smoking." Source: Dr. Fred Oerther, M.D.
14. Coptic study (UCLA), 1981; "There is not yet any conclusive
evidence as to whether prolonged use of marijuana causes permanent
changes in the nervous system or sustained impairment of brain function
and behavior in human beings." Source: National Academy of Sciences.
15. Source: Dr. Tod Mikuriya, Marijuana Medical Papers. Marijuana
could repllce at least 10-20% of prescription drugs now in use. Source:
Dr. Raphael Mechoulam. Marijuana was a major active ingredient in 40-50%
of patent medicines before its ban.
16. 1976
17. 1983
18. The U.S. government reports that the oral dose of cannabis s quired to
kill a mouse is about 40,000 times the dose required to produce
symptoms of intoxication in man. Source: Lowe, Journal of
Pharmacological and Experimental Therapeutics, Oct. 1946.
19. In another famous study, Heath/Tulane (1974), wild monkeysysere
brutally captured, then virtually suffocated in marijuana smoke over a
period of 90 days. Source: National Institute of Health.
20. Examples: the "LaGuardia" Committee Report (New York, 1944) and
President Richard Nixon's Blue Ribbon "Shafer" Commission (1972).
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