A Greener Path
Marijuana is the most used illegal substance on the planet. However, it wasn’t always that way. It was only made illegal in 1937. Before that farmers were encouraged by the states as well as the federal government to grow marijuana for textile use and some basic forms of medicine. After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, Mexican Natives flooded the United States from the south an introduced the recreational use of marijuana to Americans. Since racism was still in its prime, people began to associate the plant with the immigrants and their prejudices eventually got the best of them. People began to look past the significance of the plant, no longer reaping its benefits. All of that aside, marijuana is one of the safest and most medically beneficial plants on earth and should be legalized for medical and textile use in all states.
To start off with, there are some arguments that need to be cleared up. Whenever the subject of marijuana is brought up, it’s hard to avoid talking about its health risks. For example, Whenever something is being combusted and inhaled there is the increased risk of respiratory problems such as cancer. Since there is no conclusive evidence proving marijuana has any effect on respiratory function or cancerous cell production it’s hard to prove anything. There are ways around this however. Marijuana can be eaten, vaporized, taken in pill form, tinctures and a few other ways that totally avoid lung harm. Another controversial topic is that marijuana makes people lazy and even harms the brain, lowering intelligence. One family of the marijuana plant, Sativa, is known to increase the desire to be physically active and stimulates the creative parts of the brain. According to the Canadian Medical Association there are no lasting effects on IQ after quitting, even in heavy smoker (Fried 1). With these myths out of the way it’s easy to see how safe marijuana actually is. There is no reason that marijuana should…
