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Marijuana Marijuana originated in the middle east (Taiwan, Korea). China
plays an important part in Marijuana's history. Hoatho, the first chinese
physician to use Cannabis for medical purposes as a painkiller and anesthetic
for surgery. In the Ninth Century B.C., it was used as an incense by the
Assyrians Herbal, a Chinese book of medicine from the second Century B.C., was
first to describe it in print. It was used as an anesthetic 5,000 years ago in
ancient china. Many (*) ancient cultures such as the persians, Greeks, East
Indians, Romans, and the Assyrians for many things. These were what they used it
for: the control of muscle spasms, reduction of pain, and for indegestion.
Imagine that if they still practiced this, instead of taking an Alka Seltzer
after you had mom's Chili or Tacos, you might be sitting in the living room on
the LAY-Z Boy, smoking a joint or however they would take it. The folk medicine
of Africa and Asia have used it as an herbal preparation. A mythical and
legendary pharmacist and emperor Shen Nung thought using it as a seditive was
all right. In 2,700 B.C. that same mythical emperor said it helped female
weakness, gout, rheumatism, malaria, beri-beri (?), contipation, and
absentmindedness. In 1979 (A.D.) Carlton E. Turner visited China and found
marijuana was not in use in formal medical places. J. D. P. Graham of the Welsh
National School of Medicine wrote, One not need take to seriously the anecdotal
use of it's use for many purposes in China or by the Hindus in the pre-Christian
Millennia ...and by the Arabs! In 1890 in England's Lancet said cannabis extract
was good for neuralgia, fits, migraine and psychosomatic disorders but not for
rheumatic conditions. It is not easy to tell the dosage because of the
variations in potency and the irregularity in absorbtion. The time delay before
the onset of the possible effects of marijuana lowered it's popularity as a
medicine as did the introduction of a variety of new and better medicines like
aspirin, morpheine (habit forming), chloral, barbituates tranquilizers, and when
it got on the list of drugs thought by the world community to require legal
restrictions. Our first President, George Washington, grew cannabis on his
plantation. The cannabis he grew was more fibrous and is better known as hemp.
Hemp was used to make rope, twine, paper and canvas (the word canvas comes from
Cannabis) and was an important crop in the american colonies. In Jamestown,
Virginia it was grown for it's fiber qualities in 1611. (Snyder, 1985) The U.S.
Pharmacopeia had it listed as a useful medicine from the year 1870 to 1941. A
Pharmacopeia is a book of directions and requirements for the preparations of
medicines, generally published by an authority; a collection or stock of drugs.
This tells us the U.S. Pharmacopeia was an authority on the use of drugs for
medical purposes, and said that the use of marijuana for said purposes was
helpful. The U.S. Pharmacopeia last listed cannabis (the dried flower tops of
the pistillate plants of cannabis sativa) in 1936.(Lovinge,1985,p434) That years
epitome of the pharmacopeia and the national formula described the drug for
physicians thus:a narcotic poison, producing a mild delirium. Used in sedative
mixtures but of doubtful value. Also employed to color corn remedies. The next
pharmacopeia released in 1942 (I gather they were relaesed every six years) did
not have cannabis sativa in it. The 1937 U.S. dispensatory said:Cannabis is used
in medicine to relieve pain, encourage sleep, and to soothe restlessness. We
have very little definite knowledge of the effects of therapeutic quantities,
but in some persons it appears to produce a euphoria and will often relieve
migrainic headaches. One of the great hindrances to the wider use of this drug
is the great variability and the potency of different samples of Cannabis which
renders it impossible to approximate the proper dose of any individual smaple
except by clinical trial. Because of occasional unpleasant symptoms from
unusually potent preparations, physicians have generally been overcaustious in
the quantities administered. The only way of determining the dose of an
individual preparation is to give it in ascending quantities until some effect
is produced. (The Book suggested using a fluid extract - powdered cannabis in
solution, 4/5 alcohol - three times a day, starting with two or three
minims.)(Lovinge,1985,p434) Extracts, tinctures, and herbal packages of cannabis
manufactured by many drug companies, was available in any pharmacy until 1941
when The two main professional directories of drugs in the United States dropped
it.(Snnyder 1985,p38) It is still used as a medicine in the Middle East and
Asia, and is completely legal in Amsterdam. Since the 19th Century, it has been
recognized as as intoxicant in Europe, and an intoxicant for many centuries in
Central and South America, and in Asia. An 1870 Book called The Hasheesh Eater
by Fitz Hugh Hudlow, discussed the intoxicating properties of
marijuana.(Snyder,1985,p39) Mexican farm workers emigrating to the United States
smoked marijuana regularly, and the surrounding population... quickly followed.
California and Utah were the first to call it a narcotic and outlawed it
completely except for mecial purposes. From 1914 to 1931, 29 States, 17 of them
West of the Mississippi made it a criminal offense to possess or use
it.(Snyder,1985,p40) An army report from 1925 concerning the Panama Canal Zone
said it wasnt habit forming and no steps should be taken to keep it from being
sold or used. The Uniform States Narcotic Act said all states should control
drug distribution. By 1937 marijuana use was restricted by law (Snyder,1985,p42)
and the Marijuana Tax Act was signed by President Roosevelt. This act was made
to collect more taxes and locate people selling marijuana. You had to pay $1 for
medical use and $100 for recreational use as tax. This was a large factor why
doctors quit using it as a medicine. The Narcotics Drug Control Act of 1965
increased the existing penalties for selling and distribution of marijuana and
heroin... (Snyder,1985,p46) The National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws (NORML) was founded in 1970. Just the facts Ma'am: It is illegal
to own or sell marijuana. It is a misdemeanor not a felony. Penalties vary
widely in each state, for growing and selling it is almost always a felony. It
can cause cancer in the lungs and the throat IF smoked. Among the reasons to
suspect potentially injurious effect of cannabis use on the lungs, pointed out
it the almost ubiquitous occurrennce of throat discomfort and irritation
associated with marihuana smoking (Lovinge,1985,p15)but the same carinogens are
present in tobacco smoke. Marijuana takes away the discomfort and nausea
associated with chemotherapy taken to stop the growth of cancer. It also helps
people with glaucoma and it keeps them from going blind. It doesn't lessen
feelings and pain, it heightens them. Users say they hear things better, and
they see details they have never seen before. If made legal, it could be
regulated by the U.S. government (Food and Drug Administration?) as to how
potent it would be. Or there could be a government monopoly on it controlling
the cultivation, importation, manufacture, wholesale distribution, and retail
sales. Controls could also be placed on the quantity, potency,, amount, price,
time and place of sale, and age of buyers. This would do away with black market
activity, cost of law enforcement and tax revenue.(Snyder,1985,p89) It would
also keep alot of people out of jail/prison and save the government money.
Interview with a marijuana user. Q: Do you think Marijuana has had any long
lasting effects on you? A: None besides the effects regular cigarrette smoke
does to your lungs. Scientific facts prove there are none except the carcinogens
produced by the smoke. It doesn't cause brain damage like your teachers tell
you. Q: How do you take it? A: Smoke it.
I use pipes, bongs, & papers. Q: How
often? A: Quarter ounce a week, 15-18 joints a month. Q: How much does it cost?
A: $200 an ounce, $2,500 lb...and thats minimum quality. Q: How can you tell
quality? A: Smoke it. Q: How are Thai Sticks? A: Better than average. $65 1/4
ounce Q: Where do you think most marijuana is grown? A: 80% of all (in US)
marijuana is grown in the US. 20% from Mexico & Jamaica In Alaska & Utahyou can
have up to an ouce legally. The biggest growinng states are the Carolinas, &
Texas. It grows wild in some places. And cows wont eat it. Q: Do you grow any?
A: Yes Q: How many at 1 time (the most)? A: 12...check them once a week. Q: Are
you in NORML? A: Yes, South Florida chapter. I'm the secretary. Q: Whats the
highest price you've ever seen? A: $150 1/4 ounce. Q: Is sinsimilia good? A: Yes
$100-125 ounce. thats usually imported. Q: can you use a plant more than once?
A: no. you kill the male plants as soon as you find their sex, and harvest the
females. Q: What kind do you grow? A: Average weed. Q: How do you get the seeds
or what you need to grow them? A: They are in the stuff I buy. Q: Whats the best
kind? A: Depends on how it's grown. Q: Do you think alot of people smoke weed?
A: If it was legal & sold for the same price as tobacco (since when does tobacco
cost $200 an ounce?!?!) it would make 2.1 BILLION! Tobacco makes 3.1 billion,
and alcohol make 1.6 billion. (I have NO idea how much 1 ounce of tobacco costs,
but it can't be more than $10. Marijuana sells for 20 times that much! That
would be OVER 40 BILLION!) Q: Would it be better if legalized? A: Yes, another
taxable income for the government. Prices would go down. The crime factor would
be gone. It would take the money out of the hands of criminal and put it in the
hands of the government. It's not addictive, you can't overdose unlike alcohol,
but the smoke does cause cancer. Q: Would less people use it if legalized? A:
no. Q: How much is caught by the government? A: 2% of total in U.S. Basically
thats the government admittinng that they are losing the war on drugs. Q: How
does it smell? A: Usually good, sometimes bitter. a sweet smell. Q: THC makes
you high right? A: yes, they have found it causes no long lasting effects. Water
Pipes/bongs remove 80% of the smoke Q: Do you eat it? A: No, eating uses up
more. That way isn't cost effective. (end of interview) Marijuana doesn't cause
brain damage. The smoke does cause cancer, but so does tobacco. The smoke can be
reduced by up to 80% with special paraphenalia. We used to have limited
knowledge on the subject, now our knowledge is increasing. Marijuana doesn't
lead to sexual promiscuity all the time, but a
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