Marijuana legalization Research outline
Kimberly Barros
4/13/15
English 101
Prof. Antine
Topic Sentence: Like alcohol in the 1920s, marijuana should be legalized because doing so would not only reduce crime, but make the substance more reliable and safer and would generate tax dollars.
Background/History:
Why is marijuana illegal? Why is it legal in some states and not in others?
Marijuana became widely criminalized in 1937 when congress passed the “Marijuana Tax Act” 1 as a result of a national propaganda campaign against the substance. Harry J. Anslinger 1 led the campaign as the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1930 to 1962. He used the themes of racism and violence to cause widespread hatred and fear of the drug in order to make it illegal. He was often quoted saying "Colored students at the Univ. of Minn. partying with (white) female students, smoking [marijuana] and getting their sympathy with stories of racial persecution. Result: pregnancy" and "Two Negros took a girl fourteen years old and kept her for two days under the influence of hemp. Upon recovery she was found to be suffering from syphilis." 2
In 1996, Proposition 215 was passed in California and this allowed for the medical use of marijuana. Since then, 22 other states, D.C, and Guam have enacted similar laws. These laws have now decriminalized possession and/or legalized medical marijuana in the state.1
How is it similar to the prohibition era before and after?
It is similar to the prohibition era in that both the prohibition of alcohol and the prohibition of marijuana were country wide bans on the substance that carried some form of legal punishment for their sale, use, and/or possession. In contrast, the ban on alcohol was created as a result of legislators claiming that the grains needed to distill alcohol were needed for food as the country was at war. Then in December of 1917, the US congress enacted a permanent ban on the sale, transportation, importation, and exportation of alcoholic beverages.
4/13/15
English 101
Prof. Antine
Topic Sentence: Like alcohol in the 1920s, marijuana should be legalized because doing so would not only reduce crime, but make the substance more reliable and safer and would generate tax dollars.
Background/History:
Why is marijuana illegal? Why is it legal in some states and not in others?
Marijuana became widely criminalized in 1937 when congress passed the “Marijuana Tax Act” 1 as a result of a national propaganda campaign against the substance. Harry J. Anslinger 1 led the campaign as the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1930 to 1962. He used the themes of racism and violence to cause widespread hatred and fear of the drug in order to make it illegal. He was often quoted saying "Colored students at the Univ. of Minn. partying with (white) female students, smoking [marijuana] and getting their sympathy with stories of racial persecution. Result: pregnancy" and "Two Negros took a girl fourteen years old and kept her for two days under the influence of hemp. Upon recovery she was found to be suffering from syphilis." 2
In 1996, Proposition 215 was passed in California and this allowed for the medical use of marijuana. Since then, 22 other states, D.C, and Guam have enacted similar laws. These laws have now decriminalized possession and/or legalized medical marijuana in the state.1
How is it similar to the prohibition era before and after?
It is similar to the prohibition era in that both the prohibition of alcohol and the prohibition of marijuana were country wide bans on the substance that carried some form of legal punishment for their sale, use, and/or possession. In contrast, the ban on alcohol was created as a result of legislators claiming that the grains needed to distill alcohol were needed for food as the country was at war. Then in December of 1917, the US congress enacted a permanent ban on the sale, transportation, importation, and exportation of alcoholic beverages.