Marijuana is a subject that many deem taboo, however, I am like many of the opposite, I not only advocate its legalization, but its continued use. I will say what I always say, if you do not care for my thoughts on humans, then disregard me and move on with your life. However, if you wish to keep going, here we go, again.

Marijuana is a fantastic substance. I say this even as a casual user. There are many reasons that I believe that this weed should be used, legalized, and regulated like any other substance. However, my argument is always halted by stiff opposition because of the “Reefer Madness” state of mind that still ensnares this country and most of the leading generation. For those who are not familiar with the term Reefer Madness, I will explain now.

Reefer Madness was a 1936 exploitation film that depicts the use of marijuana will lead to atrocities such as manslaughter, suicide, rape, and so on and so forth. This blatant use of propaganda has spawned such ignorance about the plant that I feel compelled, as many of those people before me, to discredit the lies and falsities of the anti-marijuana side of the argument.

First, marijuana has no physical dependency. There are no lasting physical effects of the plant that are known to exist and none have been reported in scientific experimentation. However, the ingestion is a different story, as I do admit. The most common form of ingestion is smoking through high burning papers (joints) or cigar wraps (blunts). However, these respiratory problems are no greater than those who smoke cigars and cigarettes. Other ways are more effective and also safer than joints and blunts. Bongs and hookah pipes do not suck the paper into the lungs, instead, in the case of bongs, use water as a means of balancing out the smoke. Vaporizers are now becoming popular, since, rather than burning the plant, it simply heats up the substance and the active ingredients are boiled down to their most highly concentrated level. I, unfortunately, have no experience with vaporizers thus far, but there is plenty of time to go for it. The only dependency that is the result of constant and extreme use of marijuana is the psychological dependency; I will not hide this fact. I do not feel a very strong connection to weed because I only smoke on certain occasions and with certain people, so my use is self-limited to a few times a month. I can never do it by myself because I need people to talk to when I am stoned and I spend enough time by myself as it is, being a semi-recluse. Moving on.

The second point I wish to make is that there is no creditable evidence or a logical reason for marijuana being deemed an illicit material. To justify this point, I delve into the heart of usually overlooked portion of American history. It began with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. This act passed by the first Drug Czar, Harry Anslinger, would make marijuana dealing, possession and consumption legal, but illegal at the very same time. This government regulation did not criminalize marijuana, but forced a tax equaling roughly one dollar on anyone who dealt commercially in cannabis, hemp or marijuana. This tax was only accessible when the “stamp” saying that it was approved by the government was placed on the marijuana. However, the government never created the stamps, so no one could get them and so it was illegal to possess any type of marijuana for any purpose. Dealing, holding, or ingesting weed would end up with a fine of up to $2000 and five years in prison. It did not end there however, or someone would have caught on by now. The Act of 1937 was repealed and replaced with the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. It was then that marijuana was made completely illegal. I will explain why it was made illegal in 1937 in the first place.

Harry Anslinger, the fucking idiot and main offender againt the marijuana culture is how it all was started. He said, and I quote, “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.”

Yes you heard it right. Because marijuana made white women want to have sex with black men, marijuana was first set on the road to illegality. I will now list the quotes of Anslinger so you can see how much absurdity and racisim existed in the argument against marijuana:

“...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”

“Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.”

“Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men.”

“Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing”

“You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother.”

"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.”

I’ll let those quotes sink in to your skull. If you think that I am lying, and that there is no possible way that these were the reasons, please research to your heart’s content and find the truth. You’ll find most of these sentences in Anslinger’s Gore Files.

The main reason that Marijuana was made completely illegal in the USA during the 70s, was because of the large association of the plant to the mass immigration of Hispanics crossing the US-Mexican border. Yes, you read right. The main reason, just as the 1937 law, it was out of racism and prejudice of people that this weed was outlawed.

My next point is a simple question, but a complex answer. Why do people ingest marijuana? The reasons are very different because people are different and each experience is meant to achieve a different goal. I will tell you my reasons and they may seem strange or maybe they are your reasons, it doesn’t matter to me. The first reason is the barrier that we all live behind every day of our lives. This is a barrier that we all have been programmed to accept and embrace. The main reason that I smoke pot is because I want to tear away this barrier, this film over my eyes and see the world. Truly see it the way it should look and feel. The colors are amazing when staring at neon lights, amplified and lasting in my thoughts. Music can only really be appreciated when in a state of mind like the high that marijuana brings to the smoker. Music you never liked at all when you were sober you can find yourself liking for some obscure reason, or finding that deep hatred very vivid to the reason why you despise the music in the first place. Despite whether you like the music or not, the point is that you no longer listen to the music, you experience it. You can pick out the different instruments as if you are peeling apart layers of plastic. It’s a wonderful experience and feeling. The third reason is simply food. It is not necessarily that hunger is induced, but you crave to find out what food really tastes like. In your normal life, you are taught and conditioned that food has one purpose, to fuel you to keep going. But we are moving so much, going so fast, we never can truly appreciate the food we eat. When under the power of marijuana, you can really sit and experience the food, not just eat it. The flavors are what they should be, intense and livid.

It is only something I can only mildly describe because this feeling that marijuana induces is something that usually beyond words. If people can accurately describe their experience and put enough vivid adjectives into the mix to give us a sensation that we were there, almost experiencing it with you, it’s still just a tease. We will never experience what you do because every trip and every high is different for each person.

Now, the argument is wrapped up with the modern problems that we have with the marijuana culture and the violence of the drug trade. A government survey (most likely complete bullshit, but there you go) stated that about 83,000,000 Americans 12-years-old and up, have tried marijuana at least once. Around 50% of high school seniors have tried it once, 20% of those people were avid users. The demand is extremely high in America, marijuana being the most widely used substance in the country, on average 12,000,000 Americans a month smoke the plant. This contributes to the massive blood feud and war amongst the Mexican Cartels and drug intensive gangs like MS13, the Bloods and Crips, and hundreds of thousands of minor and menial street gangs. Almost all of the street gangs in Los Angeles County in California are purveyors of marijuana dealing. There are over 900 street gangs in that county alone, you can see the problem.

I relate this problem to the condition of crime and debauchery that occurred during the years of alcohol Prohibition. Dozens of influential and ruthless gangsters like Charlie “Lucky” Luciano, Al “Scarface” Capone, and also gave rise to the Five Families of the Italian mafia in New York City. The crime in America was extreme and brutal because of the illicitness of alcohol. It was made illegal because of the “immorality” it brought to the American people. It was the birth of gin running and the Speakeasy. People drank the liquor and whiskey and associated in the underworld because it was a fashionable thing to do and it gave them a rush because they were breaking the rules, just like now. Prohibition ended in failure because the American government found out that it was flawed and fucking stupid to keep it illegal when a huge percentage of the people were avid drinkers. I bring us back to the present, how does this sound similar to the drug war that has been waged ever since the end of Prohibition and even before? It’s simple; it is exactly the same scenario. I also iterate the point that around 85,000 people die of alcohol related death in this country every year, 114,000 from cigarette and cigar related death. Do you know how many people have died from marijuana use in the recorded history of this country? NONE, NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON. There has never been a person who has died because of marijuana, and this plant is still considered to be worse than the mass murdering products of alcohol and tobacco? Grow up people and start doing that thing that the government and society as a whole hates. It’s called THINKING! I, like others, are not good Americans because we use logic and reasoning in this country and we form our own opinions about topics and people look down on it.

I believe the argument has to be reopened for debate and the ending factor, the result of this debate, has to be based on logical reasoning and reflect an actual debate. This seemingly endless battle of people back and forth, the talking heads, get us nowhere, because the debate needs to be waged by the leaders, not being raged at by fanatics like Bill O'Reilly. I chose him because he knows nothing about the marijuana debate at all, I am in so much pain when I have to see him anywhere talking about it, and I can’t help but yell at the screen. But enough of that; I can go on further, but then it will just become noise. That is it. Until next time.