On drugs - Marijuana

"The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant."

• John Stuart Mill

I didn't get high until I was 23. I had smoked pot twice before without feeling much of any effect. Prior to this point in my life, I had many opportunities to smoke pot, but I always politely refused. I was never "peer pressured" and several pot smokers actually complimented me on my ability to make my own decision.

When I was fifteen or sixteen, I was in a very private and difficult part of my life. At the time, I was opposed to drug use of all sorts including marijuana, alcohol, tobacco, and psychological medication. Although I've always been philosophically inclined, this was this period in my life in which I realized I had questions that no one had answers to, my homework was more for the benefit of others, women were as desirable as they were unattainable, and the entire world doesn't give a shit about my problems. Naturally, this began my depression. My mother, who had recently divorced from my father, was very disturbed by this and recommended anti-depressants. I thought about it long and hard, whether I wanted to be freed of this self-inflicted psychological agony, but ultimately, I refused. My reasoning was that if I needed to enter an altered state to manage my feelings, I wasn't really managing them. I was ignoring them. If I was able to handle my feelings on my own, I knew I would be stronger for it. At the same time, I realized that this was a personal choice and didn't push this belief on others.

Up until the age of twenty-three, I got drunk maybe three times and smoked cloves... maybe five times (never regular cigarettes). I had talked to a lot of people about their drug experiences and, unsurprisingly, the people who had done the most drugs also knew the most about them (granted, I also surround myself with intelligent people). I also read a lot of books, not so much about drugs but influenced by drugs. Then I would read what the writer said about his drug experiences.

My studies on spirituality, the history of spirituality, spiritual development, and spiritual practices also dovetailed into my studies on drugs. I came to discover that hallucinogens helped to influence all of the world's religions. Even more interesting, hallucinogens were often considered exclusively for spiritual leaders including the Catholic clergy. Of course, everyone knows about the role of hallucinogens in Native American cultures (particularly peyote), but anthropological studies have shown that virtually all shamanic cultures practice the safe use of hallucinogens. (Of course, that's not for us logical white folk. *dripping with sarcasm*) In any case, it became clear to me from my studies that for a person on a path of spiritual development, a hallucinogenic experience is vital... although this is an experience I have not yet had.

For the purposes of this blog, I will be focusing on several different drugs. First, I will be looking at marijuana, it's effects, legal issues, medicinal value, associated risks and history. Second, I will spend some time looking at the effects of psychiatric medication with a particular focus on anti-depressants and ADD/ADHD medication and the prevalence of use for treating minors. Third, I will be looking at hallucinogens including psilocybin, amanita muscaria, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), mescaline, ayahuasca, peyote, and salvia divinorum. Finally, I will be looking at methamphetamines, particularly crystal meth and ectasy, and opiates, particularly cocaine, heroin, and their legal cousin, oxycotin.

Disclaimer: I'm not advocating anything except sound judgment and education. Although I try to be as accurate as possible, don't take my word for this. Do your own research on both sides of the fence and decide for yourself what you believe. Most importantly, be safe and be smart.

Cannabis sativa

Cannabis sativa is the scientific classification for the plant which can be harvested in two very different ways depending on the intended use (there is also cannabis indica, but sativa is by far the dominant breed for both hemp and marijuana). Cannabis grown for drug use is commonly referred to as marijuana while cannabis grown for fiber, seeds, or oil is referred to as hemp.

Cannabis grows very quickly and easily, well-deserving of the nickname "weed." Technically speaking, cannabis is a weed which is why it is highly resistent to both weeds and drought. It can grow in virtually any environment. Due to it’s long roots, cannabis replenishes soil with nutrients and nitrogen and helps control erosion of topsoil. Through a process known as phytoremediation, cannabis actually removes and purifies toxins from the soil. (Little known fact: Cannabis sativa was used to clean the ground after the Chernobyl disaster.)

How Marijuana Works

The primary psychoactive component in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinol or THC. THC develops in crystals concentrated on the flower and small leaves of the plant, so the strength of marijuana can more or less be judged by amount of crystals present on the flower buds. These buds are harvested and dried for consumption. Most commonly, the drug is smoked, but it may also be used as a tea or infused with butter for cooking.

When consumed, the THC bonds with cannabinoid receptors which are designed to respond to similar chemicals called "endocannabinoids" which occur naturally in the body (endo meaning internal). The body's primary endocannabinoids are anandamide (from the Sanskrit word ananda meaning "bliss") and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG).

Cannabinoid receptors are surprisingly abundant in nerve cells and have the highest densities in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, cerebellum, basal ganglia, brain stem, spinal cord and amygdala. This distribution explains marijuana's diverse effects. Its psychoactive properties come from its interaction in the cerebral cortex. Memory impairment is rooted in the hippocampus, a structure essential for memory formation. The drug causes motor dysfunction by acting on movement control centers of the brain. In the brain stem and spinal cord, it brings about the reduction of pain; the brain stem also controls the vomiting reflex which marijuana has been known to suppress. The hypothalamus is involved in appetite and the amygdala in emotional response.

Recent studies have shown that cannabinoid receptors are essential to depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition (DSI). Temporarily dampening inhibition enhances a form of learning called long-term potentiation, the process by which information is stored through the strengthening of synapses. Such storage and information transfer often involves small groups of neurons rather than large neuronal populations, and endocannabinoids are well suited to acting on these small assemblages. As fat-soluble molecules, they do not diffuse over great distances in the watery extracellular environment of the brain. Avid uptake and degradation mechanisms help to ensure that they act in a confined space for a limited period. Thus, DSI, which is a short-lived local effect, enables individual neurons to disconnect briefly from their neighbors and encode information.

In 2003 Giovanni Marsicano of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich and his co-workers showed that mice lacking normal cannabinoid receptors are less likely to recover from anxiety than mice with functional cannabinoid receptors indicating that endocannabinoids are important in extinguishing the bad feelings and pain triggered by reminders of past experiences. This raises the possibility that abnormally low numbers of cannabinoid receptors or the faulty release of endogenous cannabinoids are involved in post-traumatic stress syndrome, phobias and certain forms of chronic pain, thereby supporting the belief that marijuana can be used to treat anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, or just to help cope with profoundly negative memories.

The Recreational Effects

The effects of cannabis vary depending on the person, the amount consumed, and the manner in which it is consumed. It is most often smoked through a glass pipe, paper (a joint), or a water pipe (bong). [Contrary to some of the propaganda images below, marijuana is not an intravenous drug.] Many users do not feel any effects the first, second, or even third time they consume cannabis. Effects generally last between one and three hours. Like alcohol or any psychologically altering drug, it is safest and most rewarding when taken amongst a group close friends. It should not be taken while driving or performing any action which requires a clear head.

The Positive: Reduced stress levels, muscle relaxation, mild to intense euphoria, metacognition, introspection, increased sensuality (all or some senses may seem slightly enhanced), possible very mild visual or auditory hallucinations

The Neutral: Increased appetite, decreased awareness of time

The Negative: Paranoia, lethargy, temporary short-term memory loss, dryness of the eyes and mouth, possible over stimulation of the senses

Unlike alcohol and many other drugs, marijuana does not promote violent or destructive behavior. Alcohol use in particular has been linked to 72% of college rape cases, 66% of domestic abuse cases, 75% of spousal abuse cases, and more three million violent crimes in the United States annually.

Despite rumors to the contrary, marijuana has an extremely relaxing and peaceful effect as well as certain non-quantifiable social and intellectual effects. It often enables the user to connect disparate ideas and promotes abstract thinking. Due to the effects on short-term memory, it discourages fixation and forces the mind to wander. Both the euphoric and contemplative properties of marijuana encourage conversation and engagement. The disorientation can also make it easier to overcome social awkwardness.

It is also worth noting that marijuana has two important natural means of controlling its effects: If too much is inhaled at one time, the subject may grow tired and fall asleep; and one cannot stay at the peak of their experience for prolonged periods of time no matter how much marijuana they smoke. A breaking period is necessary to lower tolerance levels. For infrequent users, this may be six to twelve hours; for frequent users, several days.

A primary accusation against marijuana use is that it causes people to become lazy and unproductive leading some to suggest that marijuana causes Amotivational Syndrome. While it is true that the euphoric and relaxing effects of the drug encourages the user to be less active, the same can be said of television. People who are intoxicated constantly, regardless of the drug, are less likely to be productive members of society. There is nothing about marijuana specifically that causes people to lose their drive and ambition. In laboratory studies, subjects given high doses of marijuana for several days or even several weeks exhibit no decrease in work motivation or productivity. Amongst employed adults, marijuana users tend to earn higher wages than non-users. College students who use marijuana have the same grades as nonusers. Among high school students, heavy use is associated with school failure, but school failure usually comes first.

The Legal Issues

The issue around the legalization (or criminalization, depending on your perspective) of cannabis is actually three issues commonly reduced to a single issue. Those issues are:

1. The legalization of cannabis for industrial purposes only without producing psychoactive material.
2. The legalization of psychoactive cannabis for medicinal purposes.
3. The legalization of psychoactive cannabis for recreational purposes.

Currently, marijuana is listed as a Schedual I narcotic under the federal Controlled Substances Act. While some states have passed laws allowing the production and distribution of industrial and medicinal cannabis, these laws are technically in violation of the Controlled Substances Act meaning that someone who legally produces and/or consumes cannabis at the state level may still be charged at the federal level. Arrests for marijuana possession and trafficking have been on the rise reaching new heights with every year:

2001 - 723,627
2000 - 734,498
1999 - 704,812
1998 - 682,885
1997 - 695,200
1996 - 641,642
1995 - 588,963
1994 - 499,122
1993 - 380,689
1992 - 342,314

(Please forgive the outdated figures. It was the best I could find.)

Possession of less than an ounce is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of $2000. Possession of an ounce or more may result in a felony charge which, amongst other things, carries a one to ten year sentence, a $5000 fine, and permanently strips the individual of the right to vote.

The Netherlands is well-known for its decriminalization of marijuana for people over 18 years of age. This has not led to a dramatic increase in marijuana use and, in fact, Dutch rates of drug use are lower than U.S. rates in every category, but particularly in the use of marijuana amongst minors.



Cost/Benefit Analysis

In 2005, Jeffrey Miron, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, conducted a study titled The Budgetary Implications of the Marijuana Prohibition. In this study, Professor Miron concludes that legalizing marijuana would save $7.7 billion dollars annually on the cost of enforcement ($5.3 billion in state and local, $2.4 billion in federal). Additionally, if marijuana was taxed the same as all other goods, it would yield $2.4 billion in annual revenue. If it were taxed comparably to tobacco and alcohol, it would yield $6.2 billion in annual revenue.

That's $13.9 billion dollars wasted every year. $7.7 billion being spent to persecute American citizens for a victimless crime. And that $6.2 billion, instead of going to schools and roads, goes to criminals.

Medicinal Uses

Fourteen states currently have medicinal marijuana available to those in need including Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Vermont.

Although many claim that marijuana has no proven medicinal value, medical groups have overwhelmingly supported legalization of medicinal marijuana and have, at times, broken the law by prescribing the illegal drug to patients. (Technically speaking, I think that any doctor who recommends marijuana is in violation of federal law.) The American Medical Association has actually been the strongest voice of decent during earlier efforts to tax and later ban the drug.

Marijuana has been shown to have medicinal value in the treatment and/or relief from the following conditions: cancer, stroke, glaucoma, chemotherapy, migraines, chronic aches, clinical depression, ADD, ADHD, Tourette's, hypertension, gastrointestinal disorder, constipation, inflammatory bowl disease, fibromyalgia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, anorexia, bulimia, insomnia, sleep apnea, epilepsy, schizophrenia, abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting, PMS, asthma, AIDS, HIV, atherosclerosis, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's. In California alone, marijuana treatment is indicated for over 250 medical conditions. There is also evidence to show that marijuana may be used to help break addiction to more harmful drugs including alcoholism and heroin.

Addictiveness

The addictiveness of marijuana is a matter of some debate, but legitimate debate holds marijuana at somewhere between a little addictive and not at all. Take a look at this addictiveness rating chart from a study done by the University of Chicago:

Nicotine                                 100
Ice, Glass (Methamphetamine smoked)      99
Crack                                    98
Crystal Meth (Methamphetamine injected)  93
Valium (Diazepam)                        85
Quaalude (Methaqualone)                  83
Seconal (Secobarbital)                   82
Alcohol                                  81
Heroin                                   80
Crank (Amphetamine taken nasally)        78
Cocaine                                  72
Caffeine                                 68
PCP (Phencyclidine)                      57
Marijuana                                21
Ecstasy (MDMA)                           20
Psilocybin Mushrooms                     18
LSD                                      18
Mescaline                                18

Nicotine, a completely legal and uncontrolled substance, has the highest addictiveness rating above crack cocaine and crystal myth. Alcohol is more addictive than heroin and cocaine. Even caffeine scores 68% thereby blowing marijuana (at 21%) out of the water.

Health Effects

Unlike alcohol or more serious drugs, it is impossible to overdose on marijuana. The dosage required would be thousands of times stronger than a recreational dose. Alcohol, on the other hand, requires only ten times that of a recreational dose to overdose. The only widely acknowledged risk associated with marijuana is in the way it is typically consumed. Any smoke, when inhaled, presents a cancer risk as well as presenting risks of respiratory problems. However, there have been no cases of lung cancer which have been conclusively or even strongly linked to marijuana use.

Some have suggested that marijuana may be more harmful than tobacco due to a relatively high tar and ammonia content, but the jury is still out on that one. Two important things should be considered. First, tobacco cigarettes usually contain eighty-one carcinogenic additives including nicotine, ammonia, arsenic, benzene, beryllium, cadmium, chloroform, formaldehyde, and lead. These may or may not be taken into account in these studies. Most studies are unspecified leading me to believe that they are done using pure tobacco, not commercial tobacco. Second, tobacco smoking often leads to binge consumption behavior commonly referred to as chain smoking. There is no equivalent with marijuana. Recreational marijuana users generally range from one deep inhalation per hour for a novice to roughly ten inhalations per hour for the habitual user. This, of course, is only during the periods in which they wish to be intoxicated unlike tobacco which may be smoked at any time of day before, after, and during complex tasks.

In 1995, based on thirty years of scientific research editors of the British medical journal Lancet concluded that "the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health."

Annual world death rates
Tobacco: 435,000
Alcohol: 85,000 (not including accidents, suicide, or murder while intoxicated)
Prescription drugs: 32,000 (from adverse effects while used as directed)
Marijuana: 0

That's right. Zero. Let me say that again: zero. Nada, zip, zilch. There has not been one recorded death in all of human history due to marijuana. It is the safest intoxicating substance known to man.



The Gateway Drug

Marijuana is commonly referred to as the "gateway drug," a phrase that I always found suspect. In fact, it isn't true. Most drug users start with alcohol and tobacco. Tobacco in particular has demonstrated a stronger causal link to harder drug use later in life. Marijuana has gained this reputation because it is usually the first illegal drug people try. This makes sense, not only because it is the most prolific and abundant illegal drug, but also because it is the safest and most mild. (After all, you wouldn't want LSD, meth, or cocaine to be the gateway drug, would you?)

In some ways, the anti-marijuana campaign actually contributes to further drug use. Like any form of propaganda, when it has been invalidated, people no longer trust the source of information. When young people try marijuana and find that it does not result in murder as some commercials have suggested or when they research it and find out that most of what they've been told is untrue, they tend to distrust everything they've been told and take drugs that are far more dangerous including hallucinogens and opiates.

The Hemp Distinction

Hemp is one of the most versatile plants on Earth. Hemp fibers are ideal for cloth and paper. Cotton fibers are only a fraction of an inch long while hemp fibers can be several feet in length making them far more durable and useful. The fibers are longer, stronger, more absorbent, more mildew-resistant, and more UV-resistant than cotton. Hemp is also naturally resistant to most pests and weeds reducing the need for pesticides and herbicides. By comparison, cotton production is responsible for fifty percent of the world's pesticide use.

Hemp fiber is commonly referred to as "biomass" or "farm waste" in studies or legislation to dissociate it from the negative connotations of marijuana. These long fibers enable hemp paper to be recycled considerably more than wood-based paper. Hemp is 77% cellulose to wood's 60%. Due to its low lignin content, hemp paper can also be produced with far fewer chemicals resulting in less pollution. Due to its lighter color, hemp paper can be lightened using simple hydrogen peroxide instead of the harsh, expensive, and toxic chlorine bleach. Hemp can yield 10 tons of fiber per acre; that's four times what you get from an average forest. Also, unlike a forest, a crop of hemp can be harvested in only four months.

Hemp seed has been called the most nutritionally complete food source in the world. It not only contains every single essential amino and fatty acid necessary to maintain a healthy life, it contains them in the appropriate ratios. Many of these nutrients are lacking in the regular American diet leading to heart disease and cardiovascular disorder. Hemp seed is 65% globulin protein, the highest known concentration in the plant kingdom. Globulin is an important component in the human immune system. In fact, antibodies (AKA immunoglobulins) are globulin proteins designed to destroy bacteria and viruses.

Hemp oil is the richest known source of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids including Omega-3. It is also quite rich in essential amino acids including gamma linoleic acid (GLA), a very rare nutrient also found in mother's milk. It has shown promising results in the prevention and treatment of heart disease, hypertention, kidney disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, rumatoidarthritis, and more.

Henry Ford and John Diesel originally intended for their engines to run on hemp oil. Petroleum was cheap at the time, so by refining the oil, they were able to re-engineer it to function like hemp oil. An acre of hemp can yield 1,000 gallons of oil; three times what cannot be collected from corn and similar products. When burned, this oil is almost completely pollutant free making it an excellent alternative to standard fuels. It is already being mixed with standard diesel in other countries like Canada where many buses run on B20 (20% biodiesel).

In hemp cultivation, plants are grown extremely close to each other, as little as four inches apart, to encourage maximum height of the stalk. Consequently, they grow tall and thin up to 20 feet high. Marijuana is grown to be short and fat with as much as six feet between plants to give them room to spread. Marijuana is bred for a high THC content. Marijuana is bred to produce flowers and leaves in great abundance with a high THC count as opposed to hemp which, when harvested properly, is cut down before flowers develop.


Both members of the cannabaceae family, cannabis is actually a cousin of humulus (commonly known as hops, a main ingredient in beer).

In hemp, THC is not desirable because it decreases seed count, so plants are bred to have a low THC content (between 0-2%) as opposed to marijuana which is bred for a high THC count (roughly 6%-15%). Hemp plants also have a high CBD (cannabidiol) content; CBD is a THC blocker. (Between the low THC content and the high CBD content, it would be nearly impossible to smoke enough industrial hemp to get high and the result would likely be more unpleasant than anything.) Cross-pollination between hemp and marijuana will result in lower THC levels in the marijuana, but not higher THC levels in hemp.

The History of Cannabis Sativa

Historically cannabis has had many names and many uses. The ancient Romans coined the term cannabis, later adopted as the scientific term. In the Middle East, ancient Semites adapted the term as kannab. East Indian cultures called the plant ganja while in China, hemp dates back to 2700 BC where it was named Ma. In the third century AD, sacred Buddhist documents were made from hemp paper. These are the earliest known paper documents. Around 1000 AD, the plant's name was changed to Ta Ma, meaning “Great Hemp,” to emphasize its cultural importance. Furthermore, archeologists have found remnants of hemp seeds and fibers amongst the relics of Neolithic cultures 12,000 years ago.

The earliest reference of hemp in Western culture is from the Greek historian, Herodotus, who praises the Thracian cloth as being nearly indistinguishable from linen. He also mentions that the hemp seeds are burned in funeral rites as incense which produce a state of euphoria when in contact with it. Hemp has a long tradition as a part of religious ceremony dating back to ancient matriarchal belief systems and their pagan descendants until it was outlawed by the Inquisitions of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII declared that users of cannabis were heretics and worshippers of Satan.

By the sixteenth century, the process of creating hemp paper had made its way from China, across the Middle East, to Spain and quickly to the rest of Europe. This was a huge asset to the burgeoning printing business and contributed dramatically to the rise of education and rise of the Renaissance. Sailing ships were also using hemp almost exclusively for rope and sails. The word canvass is actually derived from the word cannabis.

In eighteenth and nineteenth century India, the use of cannabis as a drug was common place, although the British authorities spread rumors that the drug caused insanity, crime, and violent behavior. These rumors were supported by the British Temperance League who lobbied for the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission to conduct a one year investigation into cannabis. They reported no serious problems with the substance and advised against prohibition.

In America

In colonial America, hemp was a standard agricultural staple grown both by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson while Ben Franklin ran a hemp mill. Washington once wrote to his farmers, "Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!" while Jefferson is quoted, "Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth and protection of the country." In this context, its hardly surprising that hemp paper was used for the Declaration of Independence. By 1810, hemp was America's third largest agricultural industry produced mainly by southern slaves for their landowners. Cannabis was also an ingredient in many medicines of the period.

After the Civil War and with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the hemp industry declined due to the invention of mass production practices which enabled cheaper cotton, wood-based paper, and the decline of sailing in favor of steam technology. Machinery at the time could not easily strip hemp fiber.

In 1908 and 1910, with the effect of tree farming for paper resulting in deforestation, the Department of Agriculture started looking for alternative sources for paper. Several articles were published suggesting the use of hemp, referring to it as “one of the most promising alternatives.” Jason L. Merrill, a Department of Agriculture chemist noted that the forests were being cut down three times faster than they could be regrown suggesting that wood was an infeasible source for paper. He reported:

“Every tract of 10,000 acres which is devoted to hemp raising year by year is equivalent to a sustained pulp-producing capacity of 40,500 acres of average pulp-wood lands. In other words, in order to secure additional raw materials for the production of 25 tons of fiber per day there exists the possibility of utilizing the agricultural waste already produced on 10,000 acres of hemp lands instead of securing, holding, reforesting, and protecting 40,500 acres of pulp-wood lands.”

Between 1914 and 1931, local movements, beginning in El Paso, Texas, succeeded in banning non-medicinal use of marihuana in twenty-nine states beginning in the Southwest as part of an effort to control the Mexican immigrant population which was, of course, being used as a sub-minimum wage source of labor keeping the immigrants at the poverty level. White workers, independent farmers and unionists, were threatened by the cheap source of labor prompting local law-enforcement officials spread the same rumors about crime and violent behavior that the British used to describe the Indians. One officer is quoted as saying, “Under its baseful influence reckless men become bloodthirsty, terribly daring, and dangerous to an uncontrollable degree.” In 1915, authorities from El Paso filed a complaint against marihuana with the federal government leading to a ban on importation of the drug for all purposes other than medicinal.

Two years later, Dr. Alsberg, the Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry, dispatched his personal assistant, Reginald Smith, on an eleven city tour along the southwest Mexican border to gather information about marihuana and marihuana use reporting that it was used infrequently to treat the pain of child-birth, asthma, and gonorrhea. He also found that the drug was used recreationally by Mexicans, “Negroes,” and “lower class whites.” Based on testimony from local law enforcement, he concluded that the drug was harmful to the user and often caused the user to commit heinous crimes. This was based on no scientific evidence, but merely second-hand accounts by law enforcement officials. Smith concluded that the prohibition against non-medicinal importation of the drug was completely ineffective and recommended that the more stringent Harrison Act be amended to include cannabis.

Meanwhile, in 1916, American military authorities stationed in the Panama Canal Zone received reports that army personnel were smoking the drug leading to a 1925 investigation into the Canal Zone marihuana problem. Based on a series of first hand experiments and personal testimony, the committee reported, “There is no evidence that marihuana as grown and used here is a 'habit-forming' drug in the sense in which the term is applied to alcohol, opium, cocaine, etc., or that it has any appreciable deleterious influence on the individual using it.”

In 1926, Dr. W.W. Stockberger of the Bureau of Plant Industry supported the Panama Canal Zone report and contradicted the reports coming out of El Paso: “The reported effects of the drug on Mexicans, making them want to 'clean up the town,' do not jibe very well with the effects of cannabis, which so far as we have reports, simply causes temporary elation, followed by depression and heavy sleep.”

Marihuana had long been a recreational pastime amongst poor black communities of New Orleans after the drug was introduced by Caribbean sailors and West Indian immigrants. Marihuana use was especially prevalent in the jazz community of the 1920s and traveled with it as the popularity of the music spread into urban communities across the country. Naturally, the drug again found its way predominantly into the lower-class ethnic communities where local white law enforcement officers blamed the drug for contributing to violent behavior that was clearly a result of the dire conditions in which these people lived.

In the cities, marihuana began to be defined by layman as a narcotic. This is an important distinction because the Progressives' temperance movement which had passed the Harrison Narcotic Act in 1914 to prohibit the use of opiates and coca products due to their addictive properties. To pass this act, they engaged in a campaign designed to depict the drug addict as society's most evil criminal. Cannabis was not included in this act because it was determined to lack the negative effects associated with these other drugs. However, with the rise of the jazz scene and the corresponding marihuana use, the white middle- and upper-class were in fear of a cultural revolution.

It wasn't until 1929 that the federal government even formally acknowledged the existence of marihuana. Senator Morris Sheppard of Texas introduced the first federal anti-marihuana legislation proposing that marihuana be included in the Narcotic Drugs Export and Import Act, but since Congress was largely ignorant of the drug, the Surgeon General was asked to conduct a study of the drug which was entitled “Preliminary Report on Indian Hemp and Peyote.” This report ignored the 1925 Panama Canal Zone Report and the British Indian Hemp Commission Report and concluded that marihuana was a narcotic, addictive, and induced criminal behavior based on rumor and lacking all scientific fact. Additionally, the report reiterated a popular myth that Marco Polo gave marihuana to his Assassins to invoke a bloodthirsty, berserker state.

In 1930, the Federal Narcotics Control Board and narcotics division of the Bureau of Prohibition were disbanded to form the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Harry J. Anslinger was appointed by his future uncle-in-law Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon to head the Bureau. Andrew Mellon of the Mellon Bank was the DuPont company's chief financial backer. The DuPont company had patents on methods of creating plastic from coal and oil as well as processing wood into paper. At that point, machines for processing hemp fibers were becoming a practical reality making the use of hemp fiber and hemp oil a serious risk to the future of their business.

Anslinger immediately pushed for a total prohibition of marihuana. One of the first actions of the Bureau was the enactment of a uniform state narcotic law including cannabis in its provisions. They engaged in a campaign of misinformation linking racial minorities, crime, and marihuana. A source within the Bureau is quoted in the Christian Science Monitor as saying, “Instances of criminals using the drug to give them courage before making brutal forays are occurrences commonly known to the Narcotics Bureau.”

Meanwhile, the American Medical Association continued to oppose the inclusion of cannabis in the UNDA which determined which drugs would be prohibited. When the UNDA was finally passed in 1932, marihuana was considered optional leaving the issue to be decided at the state level. The Bureau relaxed its position on marihuana, apparently having faith that states would exercise the optional marihuana clause, but due to lobbying by the AMA, only five states prohibited marihuana. In 1935, the Bureau responded with a misinformation campaign far greater than they had previously.

Media mogel William Randolf Hearst was a lead voice in the campaign to demonize marihuana. Hearst was the Rupert Murdock of his day and his papers were about as fair and balanced as Fox News, and like Fox News, Hearst didn't hesitate to lie or propagandize to incite expanding use of military colonialism. He well-known for saying, “You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war,” and he repeatedly tested this idea. According to Upton Sinclair in his 1919 book, The Brass Check: A Study of American Journalism, Hearst employees were “willing by deliberate and shameful lies, made out of whole cloth, to stir nations to enmity and drive them to murderous war." He also asserted that Hearst newspapers lied “remorselessly about radicals," excluded "the word Socialist from their columns" and obeyed "a standing order in all Hearst offices that American Socialism shall never be mentioned favorably."

Hearst had a vested interest in the paper industry. Aside from his newspaper empire, he owned hundreds of acres of tiber and a vast number of paper mills. The concept of using hemp for paper seriously undermined his business interests and he had a convenient method of swaying public opinion, often publishing many stories that Anslinger had fabricated for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.

This resulted in the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 which made the possession or transfer of cannabis illegal excluding medical and industrial uses which were taxed exorbitantly. The AMA opposed this act because it imposed a heavy tax on physicians prescribing cannabis, retail pharmacists selling cannabis, and the industries of cultivating and manufacturing cannabis. New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who was a strong opponent of the act, started the LaGuardia Commission that in 1944 contradicted reports of Hearst's papers and their accusations of addiction, madness, and overt sexuality... but by then it was far too late.

In 1942, the United States military was facing a severe shortage of cloth, rope, and cord. To combat the problem, the US government produced a film entitled “Hemp for Victory” to encourage the farmers in the heartland to grow as much hemp as possible. After the war, this film was suppressed. The USDA and Library of Congress denied its existence until it was finally recovered in 1989.



Also during the war, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a precursor to the CIA, used marijuana as a truth serum at OSS labs in St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington DC. It is reported that the drug caused the subject "to be loquacious and free in his impartation of information." In 1943, head of OSS counter-intelligence operations Major George Hunter White spiked a tobacco cigarette with THC concentrate to get information about Lucky Luciano's heroin operation from Augusto Del Gracio. It was extremely effective.

1952 saw the passage of the Boggs Act followed by the Narcotics Control Act of 1956 which made first time cannabis possession offense a minimum of two to ten years in prison with a fine of up to $20,000. This was not changed until 1970 when Congress repealed mandatory penalties for cannabis offenses.

In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, at the direction of Congress, appointed the bipartisan Schaffer Commission to investigate marijuana and the governments current stance. The Commission determined overwhelmingly that there was not a substantial health risk and recommended decriminalization. The report was ignored.

In 1975, the Supreme Court ruled that is was “not cruel or unusual for Ohio to sentence someone to 20 years for having or selling cannabis." The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 reinstated mandatory sentences. A later amendment created a three-strikes law which created mandatory life sentences for repeat drug offenders and a possible death sentence for “drug kingpins.” In 1989, President George H.W. Bush declares his War on Drugs. In 1996, California voters passed Prop. 215 allowing the sale and use of medicinal marijuana.

Further research

The Hemp Revolution - Documentary
Cannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors
Did Jesus Use Cannabis?
Hemp Seed: The Most Nutritionally Complete Food Source in the World
More on cannabinoid receptors
PBS Marijuana Timeline
Jack Herer: Former Goldwater Republican and hemp activist
Unraveling An American Dilemma: The Demonization of Marijuana
Schaffer Library of Drug Policy
How Marijuana Works

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A look at the legal side of drug use with anti-depressant and ADD/ADHD medication.