When marijuana was first outlawed it was not because of the harmful effects. The effects of marijuana were not known until recently. Marijuana originally became illegal because of the paper industry. Nearly 90% of the world’s paper before 1883 was made entirely from hemp based fiber. In the early 1930’s the U.S. department of agriculture wanted to make all of its paper from hemp based fiber. However the project was put on hold until someone could find a cheaper and more effective way of separating the hemp fiber from the pulp. During this time Dupont Chemicals and Hearst Paper and Timber and a number of other large companies developed a way to make paper out of trees. In 1936 shortly after tree paper manufacturing had started a machi

ne was developed that could separate the hemp from the pulp. To make sure that their companies didn’t go under with the new competition, the companies put up huge sums of money to make marijuana and hemp illegal. The companies put up advertisements that portrayed marijuana in a very bad light. For example one ad read “Killer weed with roots in hell” as well as other similar ads.

Marijuana can also be used as many other things. According to the department of agriculture hemp meets all standards needed to be used as a source of fuel. When put through hydrolysis the plant can produce ethyl alcohol. At the moment corn and other products are being researched to make cellulose to make ethanol, but will never be able to match the 80% cellulose of marijuana. Hemp can also be used to make clothes. Hemp is warmer then cotton, easier to produce and takes up much less room.

If one were to use other legal drugs as precedents then marijuana is a very safe drug. In 1986 Leo Hollister of the Stanford School of Medicine said that, “…compared with other licit social drugs, such as alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine, marijuana does not pose greater risks…” A regular marijuana smoker will smoke between 2-4 joints a day. The typical tobacco smoker will smoke between 40 and 60 cigarettes a day. The tobacco smoker is at a much higher risk then the ma

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