Реферат: The Advantages Of Being Legal Essay Research

crops. It can be used to produce various things such as textiles, paper,

clothing, plastics, cosmetics, food stuffs, insulation, and animal feed. Hemp

seeds can be used to make high protein foods and the oil can be used to produce

non-toxic paint, varnish, detergent, diesel fuel, ink, and lubricating oil.

One acre of hemp produces as much fiber as two to three acres of cotton

and one acre also produces as much paper as two to four acres of trees. The

advantage of using paper products produced by hemp is that hemp’s growing cycle

is around one hundred days, while it takes trees years to grow to produce the

same amount of paper. Hemp was cultivated in the U. S. until 1937, when the

Marijuana Tax Act outlawed marijuana. In 1942 the government encouraged American

farmers to cultivate hemp for the war effort, but then in 1955 prohibitionists

had reasserted a total ban on production. Now the DEA, Drug Enforcement

Administration, remains firmly opposed to any notion of revising the federal

laws to allow hemp’s domestic cultivation.

Every year 400,000 Americans are arrested for marijuana and thousands of

them are sent to prison. Marijuana users and dealers account for sixty percent

of all prisoners today. Because of new anti-drug laws, these prisoners can be

jailed for up to thirty years, and most are, even for minor crimes. Federal and

State governments are spending billions to build more prisons to house hundreds

of thousands of non-violent drug offenders.

Legalization would kill the black market for marijuana. Marijuana sales

would be regulated by state and federal governments. It would also help the

economy by a reduction in law enforcement costs, and police could focus more on

dangerous drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and crystal meth.

Some people who oppose the legalization of marijuana say that traffic

fatalities would increase. The myth is that 40% of drug related emergency room

visits are marijuana related. The fact is that this statistic purposely excludes

the legal drug of alcohol, a drug notorious for causing violence and accidents.

A marijuana related emergency room visit does not mean marijuana caused the