Decriminalize Marijuana For The Good Of America

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Term Paper Title	Decriminalize Marijuana For The Good Of America
# of Words	2349
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	9.4

Decriminalize Marijuana for the Good of America

Decriminalize Marijuana for the Good of America

     Currently, drugs remain high on the lists of concerns of Americans and
are considered one of the major problems facing our country today.  We see
stories on the news about people being killed on the street every day over drugs.
To many people drugs are only an inner-city problem, but in reality they affect
all of us - users and non-users.  I believe that the negative affects we
associate with drugs would be greatly reduced if the United States adopted a
policy towards the total decriminalization of marijuana.  The current drug
policy of our government is obviously failing.  Drug laws have created
corruption, violence, increased street crime, and disrespect for the criminal
justice system.  Current drug legislation has failed to reduce demand.  It's
just too hard to monitor illegal substances when a significant portion of the
population is committed to using drugs. (Inciardi and McBride 260)
     Marijuana comes from the hemp plant, which can readily be grown on
fields across the nation and was cultivated heavily in colonial period.  After
130 years of being legal, the potential problems of marijuana were brought into
the public eye by Harry J. Anslingler, the commissioner of the Federal Bureau of
Narcotics and author of Marijuana: Assassin of Youth (Goldman 88).  In his book,
Anslinger portrayed images of Mexican and Negro criminals, as well as young boys,
who became killers while under the influence of marijuana.  With the added
public pressure,  President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law the
Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.  This law made the use and dale of marijuana federal
offenses.  At this point marijuana was removed from the public eye, and heavy
users included poor Negroes, migrant Mexicans, and Jazz Musicians (Himmelstein
3).
     Marijuana reappeared in the mid 1960's with the emergence of the
"Hippie."  Widespread objection to the use of marijuana remained because of the
set of valued and lifestyles associated with it, but use appeared in colleges
and among middle-class youths in the suburbs (Himmelstein 103).  Marijuana
became a symbol of a counter-culture, and youthful rebellion.  As a consequence,
marijuana use rose for the next ten years.  Marijuana was becoming more accepted
across the nation.  As the users of Marijuana changed, the attitudes about the
danger of  Marijuana broke down.  In 1970, the Comprehensive Drug Abuse
Prevention and Control ...

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