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War on a Plant
12/3/03
"Marijuana never kicks down your door in the middle of the night. Marijuana never locks up sick and dying people, does not suppress medical research, does not peek in bedroom windows. Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could."
- William F. Buckley, Jr
 The administration is knocking down doors, violating rights and lying through its teeth all because of a plant. It's a complex plant with thousands of uses and hundreds of names. Varieties of the plant have industrial value, and other varieties (with levels of the psychoactive ingredient THC) have medicinal value... and can make people high. But these days, it's impossible to separate the varieties, because the government has declared war on every use of the plant (and sometimes, the mere mention of it).
 On November 5, in a stunning violation of constitutional rights, 14 police with guns drawn stormed Stratford High School in Goose Creek County, South Carolina. They forced over 100 mostly black students to lie face down while drug-sniffing dogs checked all their backpacks for marijuana. Students who didn't comply quickly enough were handcuffed. No drugs were found, and there was no probable cause for suspicion.
Drug Czar John Walters has been touring the United States advocating suspicion-less mandatory drug testing for High School students (despite the fact that such a policy has, as yet, constitutional limitations). This testing would mostly be aimed at marijuana use, and generally would not cover alcohol or steroids.
Representative Mark Souder (IN) is shopping around this week for co-sponsors for a bill to impose stiffer sentences for a variety of marijuana offences, adding new draconian penalties for distributing "high-potency" marijuana (including medical marijuana).
After 9-11, government ads tried to tie marijuana to terrorism (mostly to derisive laughter). Now John Ashcroft, not satisfied with the Patriot Act's infringements on civil liberties, is trying for even more with the proposed Victory Act. That act, in practical terms, actually defines marijuana sales as terrorism for law enforcement and sentencing purposes.
Instead of focusing on actual terrorists, a significant federal law enforcement effort has been used over the past two years to harass sick and dying citizens who are using medical marijuana in compliance with their states' laws. Time and time again in California, medical marijuana cooperatives have registered with the city and state with full support of their local government, and the DEA has used that information to storm the cooperative in riot gear and seize their assets under federal law.
Despite hundreds of major studies (including a significant report by our government's own Institute of Medicine) showing the benefits of medical marijuana, this administration constantly attempts to deny the scientific facts of marijuana.
The drug czar has taken to using bizarre, inflammatory statements to avoid talking about the science of medical marijuana, such as this comment: "There's no question, some people who are sick and smoke marijuana feel better. They would feel better if they took crack. They would feel better if they had a hit of heroin. The issue is not "feeling" it's one of efficacy and safety."
Kate Scannell in the Oakland Tribune wrote: "As a doctor, I am stunned by the intensity of the Bush administration's obsession with medical marijuana. It boggles my mind to think that our government officials are spending so much time and money to obstruct the use of a medication that might actually help cancer patients tolerate their chemotherapy, AIDS patients gain a little weight, glaucoma patients suffer less."
The government's crusade recently led the Aberdeen (SD) American News to wonder: "Is the motivation to protect American consumers or is it to allow pharmaceutical companies sufficient time to develop a synthetic version of cannabis in pill form?"
To defend his war, the Drug Czar has taken to attacking ethnic groups, political activists, and even entire countries. In October, he warned that Hispanics have the highest population growth rate and that their youth ages 12-17 have the highest rate of marijuana use. (The truth is, marijuana rate for that age group is 6.8% for Hispanics compared to 9.1% for whites).
Walters called Canada a "blemish" and threatened trade sanctions if they stray from the marijuana war; he called medical marijuana efforts in Maryland "immoral;" and he admonished the Dutch for not infringing more on citizens' civil liberties. He even attempted (unsuccessfully) to get Congress to pass authorization so he could use taxpayer money to campaign against pro-marijuana candidates and referenda.
Taxpayer money is, however, being used for television ads that promote false or misleading information (such as the one about marijuana and reckless driving), downplaying real problems related to alcohol and other drugs.
The federal government continues to deny financial aid to students with marijuana convictions (but not for offenses like rape).
In February, over 2,000 law enforcement officers, from multiple federal, state, and local agencies, conducted a massive set of investigations called Operation Pipe Dreams and Operation Headhunter -- arresting, shutting down, and seizing the assets of legitimate businessmen who made glass pipes and bongs. The first to be sent to prison was Tommy Chong. Chong's bongs -- a threat to national safety?
The DEA tried to unilaterally ban food products containing nutritious hemp seed or oil, despite the fact that they contain only trace amounts of THC (while allowing poppy seeds, which contain trace amounts of opiates). Fortunately, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has prevented the DEA from implementing the ban. As of this date, American can still purchase these items, although Canada receives the benefit, since growing industrial hemp is illegal in the U.S.
The DEA has also stifled research on industrial hemp. By law, research projects are allowed, but the government creates so many obstacles to legitimate efforts as to make it almost impossible. Hawaii gave up its planned research project this fall out of frustration with the DEA. (The Illinois legislature passed a research proposal in 2001, which was vetoed by then Governor Ryan, after pressure from the DEA and the Drug Czar.)
Much closer to home... Mobilizing Students and Activists for Hemp (M.A.S.H.) is having a Hempfest this week (Thursday, December 4, from 3-8 pm in the Illinois State University Bowling and Billiards Center Activity Room). They'll have bands and speakers and hemp activities and information. But students in the residence halls won't be allowed to see the flyers. University Housing Service has banned the flyers simply because of a hand-drawn hemp leaf. Their denial is probably illegal content-based regulation of speech by a government entity. At the very least, it is another attack on a useful plant -- demonizing it through classifying it, a priori, as substance abuse.
Just how dangerous is this plant?
Recreational marijuana use can cause dependency (not addiction), but the Institute of Medicine report classified marijuana withdrawal as mild (similar to caffeine). Drug Czar claims of high levels of marijuana users in treatment are directly attributable to increased referrals from law enforcement and drug testing regimes (i.e., marijuana users who were caught, not marijuana abusers).
You literally cannot fatally overdose from marijuana use (it is not physiologically possible). Recent studies have shown that even smoked marijuana over time appears to have little or no affect on mortality, and is certainly safer to use than many legal products.
Nobody should drive when impaired in any way, but the recent hype about severe dangers from marijuana driving is false. Studies in the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, England, and Canada have all shown that marijuana drivers are much more cautious (to make up for impaired reaction), as opposed to drunk drivers who are more aggressive. Most studies showed that fatigue was more of a safety concern in driving than marijuana use.
Marijuana use does not cause use of harder drugs. While those who use hard drugs often started with marijuana, there is no causal connection. Over 40% of Americans have smoked marijuana at some time in their lives (94,946,000), yet very few go on to other drugs, and most voluntarily stop smoking marijuana at some point with no ill effects.
Marijuana is an effective medicine, pain reliever and nausea suppressant for a variety of illnesses and treatments, and its most significant "negative" side effect is euphoria. Studies in the past few months have shown optimistic potential for its use in treating multiple sclerosis, head trauma, and epileptic seizures.
Hemp is an environmentally friendly miracle plant. Its nutritional value exceeds soy. Its fiber can replace cotton and wood in many instances with greater crop yield and lower environmental impact. The various parts of the plant can be used to create such things as confectionary, salad oil, body care cosmetics, animal food, gamma-linolenic acid dietary supplements, specialty industrial oils, plastic-molded products, specialty papers, construction fiberboard, biodegradable landscape matting and plant culture products, coarse and fine textiles, animal bedding, thermal insulation, construction materials, medicinal cannaboids, essential oil, insect repellant, alcohol, fuel, and a whole lot more.
Hardly seems like an enemy we should be fighting, does it?
- by Pete Guither
Faculty Advisor, Mobilizing Activists and Students for Hemp
Author, DrugWarRant.com
Hemp Facts:
At a volume level of 81%, hemp oil is the richest known source of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids (the "good" fats). It's quite high in some essential amino acids, including gamma linoleic acid (GLA), a very rare nutrient also found in mother's milk.
Hemp can yield 3-8 dry tons of fiber per acre. This is four times what an average forest can yield.
Hemp can displace cotton which is usually grown with massive amounts of chemicals harmful to people and the environment. 50% of all the world's pesticides are sprayed on cotton. Hemp fibers are longer, stronger, more absorbent and more mildew-resistant than cotton.
Hemp can displace wood fiber and save forests for watershed, wildlife habitat, recreation and oxygen production, carbon sequestration (reduces global warming), and other values.
Because of its importance for sails (the word "canvas" is rooted in "cannabis") and rope for ships, hemp was a required crop in the American colonies.
Right now in Elkhart, Indiana, Johnson Controls is manufacturing door panels for Chrysler Sebring convertibles using a product called Eco-Cor that they created. Eco-Cor is stronger, lighter, more fire resistant, and cheaper to produce than other plastics. Eco-Cor is composed of 25% hemp fibers and Johnson Controls imports it from Canada. The number of products is endless. Ford specialist Ellen Lee says this is "potentially a billion-dollar industry."
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp. Ben Franklin owned a mill that made hemp paper. Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper.
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