Where and when will the senseless persecutions of America’s Cannabis users end? These Cannabis smokers are generally middle class males, involving the ages of 17 and 39, and one in 3 have no previous felony expenses on their information. (HRW Globe Report) Nevertheless , each year, hundreds of thousands of them are busted and thrown into imprisonment, alongside murderers, rapists, and child molesters.
The “Marihuana Tax Act was passed in August 1937, and took impact on October one particular, an occurrence which would forever change the country. The reason behind the ban located upon Cannabis was the just like most other drug prohibitions ” the oppression of minorities. Case in point, the first anti-drug law on record in the United States was approved in Bay area in 1875. Opium was outlawed in those days due to concerns that China immigrants who used the drug were “ruining white colored women simply by associating with them in Opium play rooms. (Schaffer securities and exchange commission’s. 1)
Cocaine was outlawed soon after when issues were brought up of what even newspapers of the time considered “Negro Crack Fiends or perhaps “Cocainized Niggers. These types of allegations came into being when African-Americans used the drug and allegedly raped and killed white girls. (Schaffer sec. 1) As a matter of fact there were no officially documented incidents such as those that were suggested.
Cannabis was banned to target Philippine immigrants who used the drug recreationally. According to Bureau of Narcotics Office Harry M. Anslinger, Cannabis had a “violent effect on the degenerate competitions. From this article you can see, the main reason most drugs will be outlawed is usually not for health concerns or real crimes associated with the drug, but rather because egotistical white guys got the idea that they may hurt hispanics with their regulations.
Today, the racism proceeds, with drug laws that pinpoint minorities ” specifically youthful African-American males. Although white drug users outnumber blacks by your five to 1, and blacks only make up 13 percent of the U. H. population, over 62 percent of criminals incarcerated intended for drug related charges are black. (ABC) This mind boggling statistic shows the blatant racism with the “War about Drugs, which can be more a war on blacks than prescription drugs.
Between the numerous years of 1970 and 1998, over 11. five million people were incarcerated intended for acts ranging from simple own Marijuana, to sale and manufacture of Marijuana ” a category that includes all expenses related to developing, distribution, and cultivation. 87 percent of arrests were for control, while 13 percent of arrests had been for sale/manufacture. (NORML)
Our prisons are really overcrowded that approximately 24 states happen to be under Federal government orders to set some criminals free. There are over 1 ) 5 million people in Federal, Condition, and local correctional facilities during this paper’s writing. Yet, the Battle with Drugs proceeds, and if it is “ultimate goal is reached ” the incarceration of each and every drug user, seller, and grower, there will be approximately 30 mil more people in our prisons. This is more people compared to the combined populations of Cal, Arizona, and New Mexico. To incarcerate every drug consumer in the country, we would have to use over 12-15 trillion us dollars, a figure that would not merely bankrupt the and ruin the working pressure, but might also leave no money to operate the prisons that we proved helpful so hard to fill. (Schaffer sec. 7)
So why, you could ask, is this country apparently obsessed with removing the roads of our “violent, “degenerate Pot users? The solution is simple. If you tell a horse again and again that it is a dope, eventually the horse will certainly believe this. The amount of promoción that has been water damage the country for all these years, misinformation via top authorities officials, and blatant is placed from our country’s health “experts has started a furious “war which includes divided the in half. This kind of war does not have any winners ” the country is usually not even coming close to ridding the country with the “problem, and the drug users are gaining numbers as more and more people see the beauty of the drug as being a social tool, a medical marvel, and a connect that passes across racial and social boundaries.
Another issue raised is whether or certainly not Marijuana is definitely harmful. That is certainly easy to answer ” yes and no. Yes, it has some detrimental effects around the brain, as any chemical will. However , compared to other medicines and substances, both legal and against the law, the hazardous effects seem miniscule.
As an example, out of all the medications available to us today, cigarette remains the main killer, mainly because it has been for years. Over 390, 000 persons die annually from this strong, deadly, and incredibly legal medication. Nicotine is additionally one of the most addictive drugs available, easily exceeding Marijuana and alcohol, and edging out heroin ” yes, heroin.
Alcohol is actually a distant second, killing 80, 000 people annually, and is one of the most well-liked drugs between young men. Its revulsion symptoms will be severe, and once hooked, many people are never dry again. Sidestream cigarette cigarettes kills one other 50, 1000 people, bringing the grand total for tobacco-related deaths to 440, 1000 people. Crack claims 2, 200 lives a year, followed closely by two medicines that are entirely unrelated, although kill the same number of people ” heroin and aspirin.
Marijuana, however, kills an astounding number of people every year. Zero. There has never recently been a loss of life officially linked with Marijuana. Altogether, illegal medications kill some, 500 persons ” almost eight. 3 percent of those believed by cigarettes and liquor.
Having been a Marijuana smoker for five years now, I do not consider myself a junkie, a drug has to be, or a loss to world. I smoke cigarettes to meet persons, and my personal closest good friends were achieved through Weed. The amazing and mysterious plant we all call Cannabis should be embraced, not detested, as it is today.
Bibliography:
Works Cited
ABC News. “War on Drugs, by simply Race? Associated Press. 8 Jun 2000
Basic Facts about the War on Medications. Schaffer, Clifford A. almost 8 Sept. 2000
HRW World Report. “Drugs and Individual Rights. 10 September. 2000
NORML. “Portland NORML News twenty four Nov. 98
