Essay #3: Redefine essay BTSC

Marijuana Redefined

Richard Nguyen

Let me first point out the obvious, and basic facts. Marijuana is a hemp plant that contains an ingredient called tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as delta-9-tetrahdrocannabinol, which is the main component in marijuana that makes people have a "high" feeling in their body. This chemical is found in the leaves, buds and flowers of the marijuana plant.  Despite the fact that it is less harmful than most other drugs, including tobacco and alcohol, it is the most common drug people are arrested for possessing. But marijuana wasn't always illegal to begin with; in fact it was first legal when it was first introduced to America. Let me give you a quick lesson on how marijuana started from being legal, to illegal, and back to legal again in some certain states. I want to give this lesson because most people gorw up and learn what marijuana is by doctors and the stereo types that people give it before actually understanding the background of marijuana. In other words, one must understand and be educated about something before one can make his or her own judgement.

First let me tell you how marijuana was first used in the early Americas before it became a drug. Marijuana was first introduced to America as a material that was used for clothing and rope in the early 1600's. In Jamestown, during 1611, marijuana was grown because the English introduced it to them, and later became a major commercial crop alongside tobacco. Until 1776 many colonies passed laws to encourage farmers to produce Hemp, Virginia designed laws to compel farmers, fining those who did not comply. In fact by 1750 to 1799 the first president of the United States cultivated Indian hemp, which could also be used for fiber and medicinal purposes, on his farm. By the 1920's, marijuana started to catch onto the authorities' attentions because of the effects it has on the body. New Mexico was the first to outlaw marijuana, and then other states started to follow suit with marijuana prohibition laws; including Wyoming (1915), Texas (1919), Iowa (1923), Nevada (1923), Oregon (1923), Washington (1923), Arkansas (1923), and Nebraska (1927).

In other words since marijuana was medically, and scientifically proven bad for you, then it must be prohibited for all to use. But through time, many more people started getting inventive on how to grow, smoke, and even eat marijuana illegally to surpass the legal system. People doing these activities to go around the legal system were only adding to the idea that marijuana is bad for one's health and others'. By doing something illegally means to do also means to add a bad reputation for someone or something. In this case marijuana got a bad reputation by the people who were using it illegally. As time passes, the more people who illegally use marijuana, the more of bad reputation marijuana gets. In other words, because of the bad reputation, marijuana just got stuck being studied about how it is bad for the body instead of how it can positively help others. This adds to my argument because the reputation dubbed marijuana to be bad, and therefore left people deciding to leave marijuana to be viewed as a harmful drug. To some others, fortunately, this has change in some states in the U.S. where there are studies showing promise that marijuana can have health benefits.

Studies started to show promising advances in the medical field that marijuana can actually have some health benefits. Such as smoking medical marijuana can help reduce the pain in a person who has cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Also, not only to help with pain relief in general, with someone who has nausea or glaucoma. So far patients in California and in Colorado have claimed that medical marijuana has helped with their medical issues, and started to give marijuana a good reputation. If medical marijuana is proven to help those in need for medical purposes, then marijuana will start to get a better reputation for itself, and get legalized in more states than just California and Colorado. This would be how the idea that marijuana is bad for one's health to being able to help one's health.

Marijuana started off being a natural resource that was a good product to grow for the American economy, such as for clothing and rope. But later was viewed as a bad substance for people to use because of the people who misused it, and started to give it a bad reputation because of their actions. It was because of their actions that started the idea that marijuana could be nothing more than just a bad substance or drug. To add more to the growing idea that marijuana was bad for you, the government condemned it to be illegal for people to use. But now, thanks to the study in the medical field, there became ways to show that the idea of marijuana being bad for one's health can change into an idea that it has beneficial medical use. If people start thinking positive that marijuana can help people medically, then the idea that marijuana was bad for can start to fade away and have a starting point to help people's lives. So in conclusion, marijuana can start to have a change in the idea from: marijuana is bad for you, to marijuana can be helpful to you, by giving it a chance to see if it can actually be beneficial to someone's health.