http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/Po...9586503&page=1
A new poll shows that 81% of Americans favor legalizing marijuana for medical reason, while a majority favor legalizing it for recreational use. These numbers are far higher than even ten years ago.
With the lessons of Prohibition lost on the Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan (especially Reagan), Bush, Clinton, Bush, and for now, Obama administrations, it would appear that the several States are pushing back against federal hegemony over controlled substances. If we examine when and why pot was made illegal, do we really see the need for it to remain illegal in this day?
The Bureau of Narcotics was formed in 1930, with Harry J Anslinger as chief. Because drugs were not a revenue source, and faced with the prospect of losing his job because of a lack of action, it is alleged that Anslinger, W.R. Hearst and the alcohol lobby in 1934, in an effort to 1) keep Anslinger's job, 2) keep hemp from replacing wood pulp in Hearst paper empire, and 3) ease marijuana's competition against booze banded together to make marijuana illegal.
Certainly, there are many other reasons. Mass hysteria (Reefer Madness, anyone) over a couple of murders that were blamed on pot, led to public calls for the banning of the drug.
There are several books on the subject I should read:
Legalizing Marijuana: Drug Policy Reform and Prohibition Politics by Rudolph Gerber.
Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence
Mitch Earleywine
Economics and Marijuana: Consumption, Pricing and Legalisation
Kenneth W. Clements & Xueyan Zhao
For the record, if it's legal, I'm not going to try it.
A new poll shows that 81% of Americans favor legalizing marijuana for medical reason, while a majority favor legalizing it for recreational use. These numbers are far higher than even ten years ago.
With the lessons of Prohibition lost on the Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan (especially Reagan), Bush, Clinton, Bush, and for now, Obama administrations, it would appear that the several States are pushing back against federal hegemony over controlled substances. If we examine when and why pot was made illegal, do we really see the need for it to remain illegal in this day?
The Bureau of Narcotics was formed in 1930, with Harry J Anslinger as chief. Because drugs were not a revenue source, and faced with the prospect of losing his job because of a lack of action, it is alleged that Anslinger, W.R. Hearst and the alcohol lobby in 1934, in an effort to 1) keep Anslinger's job, 2) keep hemp from replacing wood pulp in Hearst paper empire, and 3) ease marijuana's competition against booze banded together to make marijuana illegal.
Certainly, there are many other reasons. Mass hysteria (Reefer Madness, anyone) over a couple of murders that were blamed on pot, led to public calls for the banning of the drug.
There are several books on the subject I should read:
Legalizing Marijuana: Drug Policy Reform and Prohibition Politics by Rudolph Gerber.
Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence
Mitch Earleywine
Economics and Marijuana: Consumption, Pricing and Legalisation
Kenneth W. Clements & Xueyan Zhao
For the record, if it's legal, I'm not going to try it.
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