Throughout all of human history, societies have ingested a wide variety of plant and animal products with noticable side effects for medicinal, religious, and recreational use. The book Green Gold The Tree of Life: Marijuana in Magic & Religion by Chris Bennett, Lynn Osburn, and Judy Osburn points out that “hemp has played a prominent role in the development of the religions and civilizations of Asia, the Middle East, Europe and
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| Major uses of industrial hemp | Source: Purdue University |
The hemp plant – and its intoxicating cousin marijuana – have been under scrutiny since at least 1936 when the propaganda film “Tell Your Children” (or “Reefer Madness” as it is commonly known by today) was released demonizing the weed.
The following year in 1937 the United States passed the controversial Marijuana Tax Act upon “hearsay and emotional pleas from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and a few state law enforcement agents,” writes Chris Conrad in his book Hemp Lifeline to the Future. “The law was tied neither to scientific study nor to law enforcement need. The legislative review concluded that Congress had been
Renowned criminologist William J. Chambliss of George Washington University notes in his exposé On the Take: From Petty Crooks to Presidents:
Making the drug illegal and thereby creating crime networks is a very high price to pay for a relatively small benefit.… Where marijuana use has been essentially legalized, crime networks have dissipated in importance in the production and supply of this
commodity.4
Then in 1942 as a result of international upheaval, the U.S. Government temporarily reversed its stance, producing the documentary “Hemp for Victory” to encourage farmers to grow the fibrous plant for the war effort.
During the Turbulent 60s, recreational use of marijuana and other drugs skyrocketed, and the trend continued virtually unabated until U.S. Presidential First Lady Nancy Reagan spearheaded the “Just Say No” Policy in the 1980s.
One interesting find is that marijuana is not conducive to Mind Control, according to Cathy O’Brien with Mark Phillips in their 2004 book Access Denied: For Reasons of National Security. “Since it can render mind control uncontrollable by penetrating memory compartmentalization, marijuana is strictly forbidden in the military, special forces, among spies,
Related links
1 Chris Bennett, Lynn Osburn, and Judy Osburn, Green Gold The Tree of Life: Marijuana in Magic & Religion (Frazier Park, CA: Access Unlimited, 1995), p. 4.
2 Ibidem, p. 2.
3 Chris Conrad, Hemp Lifeline to the Future (Los Angeles, CA: Creative Xpressions, 1993).
4 William J. Chambliss, Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Sociology Department at the George Washington University and President of the American Society of Criminology (1988), On the Take: From Petty Crooks to Presidents, Second Edition (Indiana: University Press, 1978, 1988), p. 215.
5 Cathy O’Brien with Mark Phillips, Access Denied: For Reasons of National Security (Guntersville, AL: Reality Marketing, 2004), pp. 159-160.
See also
Kevin Crosby, “Decriminalization,” SkewsMe.com, at http://www.skewsme.com/decriminalization.html (retrieved: 25 March 2011).
Small, E. and D. Marcus. 2002. Hemp: A new crop with new uses for North America. p. 284–326. In: J. Janick and A. Whipkey (eds.), Trends in new crops and new uses. ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA; at NewCROP™, Purdue University Center for New Crops & Plant Products, at http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-284.html (retrieved: 25 March 2011).
Related videos
“Reefer Madness,” 1936, video at Google Video, http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6696582420128930236 (retrieved: 26 March 2011). (
“Hemp for Victory,” 1942 U.S. Government Documentary, laisc video at YouTube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne9UF-pFhJY (retrieved: 26 March 2011). (
“Hemp Revolution part 1 of 2,” 1995, video at Google Video, http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3070358204716119824 (retrieved: 26 March 2011). (
“Hemp Revolution part 2 of 2,” 1995, video at Google Video, http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8376961766517588127 (retrieved: 26 March 2011). (
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http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=portugal-drug-decriminalization
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