Traditionally Marijuana has been cursed by an excessively bad reputation. Many false claims have been made about its impact on health and these claims continue to circulate even today in our culture of science and objective analysis. In actuality there has been many scientific studies that discredit previous claims and these studies, as they start to surface, are becoming a major threat to politicians and anti-marijuana lobbyists alike. These new facts and reports are all freely available and it seems as if the campaign against Marijuana is taking a new direction.

Discovered by accident, embraced in religion, bartered in trade, and now illegal; throughout human history Marijuana has had a presence within various societies and civilizations. Today its presence can be felt stronger than ever. Cannabis is a plant with many uses for it's unique properties. The stem itself is the source of Hemp which has been used throughout history. The Romans used hemp at the dawn of the common era for their merchant ships because it was, and still is, the strongest organic fibre on earth. It's more likely, however, that you will be familiar with the drug 'Marijuana' derived from Cannabis. Marijuana itself is known for it's medicinal, recreational, and therapeutic uses. It's also known for its tendency to endow you with a criminal record and perhaps jail time should you ever be caught.

This day in age we can no longer turn a blind eye to the rampant injustice and the plant that has been so crucial in deciding where we are and where we are to go. Unfortunately Marijuana has been cursed with an unfairly harsh reputation. It has been antagonized and criminal since the 1930's and anyone daring to experiment with the drug can be faced with charges and sanctions worse than those experienced by convicted child molesters. In an effort to sustain the prohibition on Marijuana many groups and politicians have made erroneous and exaggerated claims about the dangers of it's use. These very lies and falsifications still circulate today, often taking advantage of uninformed minds.

While the use of Marijuana (and it's much more potent cousin Hashish) has been around since the Ottoman Empire was in full swing, it wasn't until the last century that it had started to face the resistance of politicians, lobby groups, and a good majority of society. Before the criminalization of Cannabis, Marijuana and Hash had been embraced by artists, philosophers, and poets during the 1800's. There were many clubs that would assemble regularly in a dining room setting and consume hashish much like you would any condiment. The experimenting individuals would later venture off to another room to converse while they waited for their deeply moving experience to start. Many of these artists would go on to record their experiences in journals or have them influence future works. At this time Marijuana and Hash were both legal and faced very little opposition, it wasn't until the 1920's and onward that they would experience a prohibition and eventually a 'War on Drugs'.

Long before Marijuana was outlawed there were numerous commissions researching the effects of the drug. In most cases the results of the investigations were contrary to what Anti-Marijuana lobbyists would later go on to claim. The British Parliament was perhaps the first to instigate research into the effects of Marijuana use. In 1893 they had founded the Indian Hemp Commission to research the effects of Marijuana use in India. The Commision later published their findings that "the moderate use of hemp drugs is practically attended by no evil results at all." Since then other committees had been summoned to investigate Marijuana use. One example is a committee investigation of Marijuana consumption among U.S. soldiers in the Panama Canal Zone, this study concluded that the effects of Marijuana had "apparently been greatly exaggerated."

Looking at the big picture one would see that Marijuana had never really become too controversial a topic until the increase in its use during the 1960's-1970's. Seeing the rise of Marijuana and its place as a 'cornerstone' of the Counter-Culture, the Governments of many western Nations appointed commissions to review the scientific evidence concerning the dangers of Marijuana. The resulting publications were very much in agreement with the conclusion that "the physiological effects of the use of cannabis are of a relatively harmless nature." [Dutch Government Commission]

"Since the 1970s, more than a dozen government-appointed commissions have examined the effects of marijuana, and made public policy recommendations regarding its use. Overwhelmingly, the conclusions of these expert panels have been the same: marijuana prohibition causes more social damage than marijuana use, and the possession of marijuana for personal use should no longer be a criminal offense." [link]

Regardless of the facts there are many people who adamantly oppose decriminalizing Marijuana. Furthermore, many false claims are made by these very people that the decriminalization of Marijuana will increase its use within the population. This is simply not true. In the Netherlands it is perfectly legal to buy, sell, and consume Marijuana and yet the United States still has a higher consumption rate. The only difference is that the Dutch are able to avoid spending their money arresting and detaining people for an act that should not, in all honesty, be criminal.

"The Dutch experience, together with those of a few other countries with more modest policy changes, provides a moderately good empirical case that removal of criminal prohibitions on cannabis possession (decriminalization) will not increase the prevalence of marijuana or any other illicit drug; the argument for decriminalization is thus strong."
- R. MacCoun and P. Reuter. 2001. Evaluating alternative cannabis regimes. [link] British Journal of Psychiatry 178: 123-128.

The argument that decriminalizing Marijuana would be deleterious to society is based on poor logic and a blatant disregard of the facts. There are other arguments, however, that make the former look...well...intelligent.

All too often the claim will be made that Marijuana is excessively harmful to your health, too much so to be legal. Again, this is a false statement. There are many common activities in our society that are far worse than recreational Marijuana use. For the sake of convenience I will compare Marijuana use to Tobacco and Alcohol use, as both are drugs. I could, at my leisure, compare it to fast food and list the ways that fast food is far worse for your health, but for the sake of clarity I shall focus on both Tobbacco and Alcohol.

The most exhausted comparison is that of Marijuana and Tobbacco. Many people bring up tired claims that Marijuana smoke is up to four times as harmful as Ciggarrette smoke and that it is much more likely to damage the lungs. However we must take into account that Marijuana is not a physically addictive substance - you are as likely to develop an addiction to Marijuana as you are to develop an addiction to riding your bike. The cause of the addiction lies not in the activity itself but in the participant. Also, users who smoke Marijuana do so much less frequently, and in a lesser quantity, than Tobbacco smokers. Mistakenly many people argue for prohibition from the understanding that it is a drug that is only smoked. They fail to see that there are many ways of consuming the drug that have a much lower impact than smoking. Vaporization is the process by which hot air is passed over the Marijuana until its active ingredient THC is released and inhaled. This is all preformed at a temperature not sufficient for combustion: there is no smoke and no tar. Another more popular method of consummation is ingestion. By cooking the Marijuana or Hash into a special recipe one can achieve desired effects without having to worry about lung damage. Much of this is overlooked or ignored by people who desire to portray Marijuana as a menace to society.

The comparison to Alcohol relates more closely to the effects that both substances have on the brain and also body tissue; when both are ingested they can be compared more readily. In the past there has been claims by various individuals and politicians that Marijuana kills brain cells, impedes Pschological stability and adversely affects the Endocrine system along with Reproduction.

The claims relating to harmful effects on the brain are based on dated studies which have yet to be reproduced and have since been proven fraudulent.

"Brain-wave patterns of chronic marijuana users and nonusers, produced by standard electro-encephalographic (EEG) tests, cannot be distinguished by visual examination." -Struve, F.A. and Straumanis, J.J., "Electroencephalographic and Evoked Potential Methods in Human Marijuana Research: Historical Review and Future Trends," Drug Development Research 20: 369-88 (1991)


"In the Arkansas study, sixteen rehesus monkeys were dosed, via face-mask inhalation, with the equivalent of four to five marijuana cigarettes every day for a year. Seven months after the yearlong exposure, researchers killed the monkeys and conducted microscopic examinations of their brains. The sixteen high-dose monkeys were compared to sixteen monkeys given lower doses of Marijuana, sixteen monkeys given placebo smoke, and sixteen monkeys that had inhaled no smoke at all. The researchers found no marijuana related differences in neurochemical concentrations, receptor-site configurations, hippocampal architecture, cell size, cell number, or synaptic structure." -Lynn Zimmer. Ph.D. and John P. Morgan. M.D., "Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A review of the Scientific Evidencee" The Lindesmith Center: p. 60 (1997)

Still at large are the claims that Marijuana impedes Psychological stability, or rather promotes insanity, and damages the Endocrine and Reproductive system. The claim that Marijuana use threatens sanity was most popular with the earlier advocates of Marijuana prohibition. Again, these statements have also been proven false by repeated scientific studies:

"In the many laboratory studies that have been conducted, there has never been a report of dramatic behavioral change following cannabis ingestion, even in subjects given very high doses." -Lynn Zimmer. Ph.D. and John P. Morgan. M.D., "Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A review of the Scientific Evidencee" The Lindesmith Center: p. 86 (1997)

"Marijuana has neither a masculizing effect in females nor a feminizing effect in males. One study reported elevated testosterone levels in female marijuana users, but it was based on a very small sample. A larger, more recent study of women found no differences in the testosterone levels of female marijuana users and nonusers. Numerous studies show that marijuana does not increase female hormones in men --- even when high doses are administered in the laboratory."-Lynn Zimmer. Ph.D. and John P. Morgan. M.D., "Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A review of the Scientific Evidencee" The Lindesmith Center: p. 96 (1997)

A good many people use Marijuana regularly, and even more have experimented with it. The current estimate is that over 70 million Americans have tried Marijuana and its use has been on the rise since 1990, if it really causes all of those acts of evil that are ascribed to it then why can we not see the evidence by simply venturing outside? Would not society be in a state of chaos and ruin purely from the Marijuana use? However, society is not in a state of chaos in ruin, well - not to the extent that the Anti-Marijuana lobbyists would have you believe. Yet Marijuana use continues to be the scape goat for many of societies problems. Gang violence is often synonymous with drug use, particularly Marijuana. Because of this, many individuals have tried to place the blame for Gang Violence and Terrorism on Marijuana. In fact it is not the Marijuana that fuels Gang Violence and Terrorism, it's the money; there is a great deal of money to be made in trafficking Marijuana. Due to it's illegality Marijuana is very costly and it brings with it much profit to those who deal the drug. The financial aspect of dealing Marijuana is what fuels Gang Violence and Terrorism, not the Marijuana itself. If Marijuana were legal to buy and sell it would have quality control and the monopoly of the market by the Gangs and Drug lords would cease to exsist. The cost would go down and, as illustrated previously, Marijuana use would not increase significantly if at all. Marijuana legalization, or at least decriminalization as found in the Netherlands, would play a part in helping to weed out Gang Violence [Pun Maybe Intended], it would greatly cut costs for the judicial system, and it would relieve millions of individuals around the world of the constant fear of being arrested and jailed.

Responsible Marijuana use doesn't make an individual a 'bad person' worthy of criminal charges, it doesn't destroy lives or lead to death, and it doesn't abate the moral fibres of our society. It's a relatively harmless pastime and it shouldn't be criminal. Many people, myself included, can honestly maintain that Marijuana has had only the most positive impact in their lives. Next time around don't be so quick to judge and instead confront the topic with an equitable mind set.
Thanks for reading,
-syzygy