It is well past time to pull back the curtain on this modern Wizard of Oz and unleash the economic stimulus that legalizing hemp and cannabis would provide to the U.S. economy. Over 25,000 products can be made from hemp. The economic impact of this modest change in policy could have a substantial favorable impact on the American economy. Remember hemp offered enough of a threat to DuPont’s petrochemical business that DuPont worked for several years to get the Marijuana Tax Act written and passed. Cannabis has enormous medicinal value.

Savings
If we returned to pre-1941 policy cannabis would be in both prescription and OTC products and hemp would be legal. This would be a real boost to the economy. Jeffrey Miron a Harvard faculty member and his co-author Kate Waldock of the Stern School of Business at New York University note that state and federal governments are staggering under enormous deficits and America’s national debt is at its highest since World War II. They contend that savings from law enforcement alone – less time spent on arrests, fewer people booked and jailed - would be over 8 billion dollars. In the grand scheme of America’s fiscal troubles, these are relatively modest sums but they are not insignificant. That represents only 20% of the 41.3 billion in Miron’s estimated savings. When you add in the total savings in expenditures and the taxes that would be generated by legalization of cannabis you’re talking real money.

Economic Benefit
These numbers do not take into account the economic boost that could come from legalizing hemp. For instance Henry Ford was a long-time proponent of the biofuel run cars. His Model T was designed to run on fuel derived from hemp. In the 1920s he promoted plant based fuel. In the late 1930s he built a car almost entirely out of hemp.

Nor does this fiscal analysis include the jobs that would be created by the new medicines that would be produced. Also it does not take into consideration what additional medical applications might arise from basic research. Obviously Dr. Lyle Craker, Professor of Botany at University of Massachusetts should be not only allowed but encouraged by the government to study cannabis as any other medicinal plant. This could result in a real explosion of new therapeutic products. What is the government afraid of? That science will discover a wide array of medical applications for the herb and health care costs will decrease?

Remember the driving force behind the Marijuana Tax Act was Lamont DuPont. He was concerned about competition to many of DuPont’s products: tetraethyl lead, rayon, nylon, and the sulfide chemical for making paper. By marginalizing hemp Dupont, either purposely or inadvertently, gave rise to increased demand for petroleum and petroleum-based products and thus directed more money and power to the Arab world and eventually Iran, al Quaida and the Taliban.

ONDCP, Ground Zero for Government Waste and Unconstitutional Activities
The government spends a lot of money on administrative activities alone related to the drug war. A special report released in May of 2005 by Citizens Against Government Waste includes the Drug Czar’s agency, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) as a center for government waste. Their report documents the cumulative waste and corruption in the war on drugs since its beginning.

The ONDCP was established in 1988 to oversee all aspects of America’s war on drugs and to coordinate U.S. domestic and international anti-drug efforts. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has morphed into a federal wasteland, throwing taxpayer money toward numerous high-priced drug control programs that have failed to show results. The Citizens Against Government Waste reported that after 17 years of operation and funding, ONDCP has not achieved its objectives of reducing “illicit drug use, manufacturing, and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences.”

The report stated that not only did the ONDCP not curb America’s drug problem, in the process of undermining our Constitutional rights and violating the Hatch Act, the ONDCP had WASTED $4.2 BILLION since fiscal 1997 on media advertising, fighting state legislation, and deficient anti-drug trafficking programs. The report notes that the ONDCP has “broken federal laws and spent money on illegal activities such as National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign.” According to the report, one of ONDCP’s cornerstone programs, the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, has been an utter failure. “The five-year effort has wasted $2 billion on propaganda with no measurable results.”

Winking at Freedom of Expression
The ONDCP has engaged in covert as well as overt government propaganda efforts. Reporter Daniel Forbes uncovered the fact that the ONDCP was bribing TV producers to approve their storylines and messages, including “ER,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” “Chicago Hope,” “The Drew Carey Show,” and “7th Heaven.” The Citizens Against Government Waste report states that the “ONDCP has failed to reveal the total of these expenditures” spent on the Anti-Medicinal Marijuana Campaigns. They say, it is “an inappropriate use of federal tax dollars to fly to Nevada on two separate occasions to voice opposition to a state law.”

Violating the Hatch Act
This is just the tip of the iceberg. We are encouraging and paying for Hatch Act violations by government bureaucrats. The federal government has illegally dabbled in state policies regarding cannabis in at least Vermont, Montana, Colorado, and Nevada. The Citizens Against Government Waste concluded, “Finally, ONDCP’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) (Note: HIDTA program is designed chiefly to curb drug trafficking across America’s borders) has become a drug prevention funding free-for-all for power-hungry politicians to bring home the bacon to their districts at the taxpayers’ expense, and has decreased drug enforcement in areas where it is critically needed.” Citizens Against Government Waste say that the HIDTA “is an example of a well-intentioned project going to waste.”

“Marijuana gives rise to insanity – not in its users but in the policies directed against it. A nation that sentences the possessor of a single joint to life imprisonment without parole but sets a murderer free after perhaps six years is in the grip of a deep psychosis.” – Eric Schlosser, author of “Reefer Madness”.

Sharing my story with you - Jay H.

I just wanted to write to share my story with you, and as many people as I can. I was never a "smoker" until about a year ago. My brothers smoked, friends smoked, but I only did a handful of times. I am 36 years old, and 4 years ago was diagnosed with a baseball size cyst in the ventricle of my brain. I have had a migraine for 4 years now, perminant brain damage, cognative and physical defecits, and two brain surgeries, and a VP shunt that drains fluid from my brain.

I have been on over 35 different medications, 8 nerve blocks, and countless other methods to try reduce pain and the effects of my illness.

At the advice of a few Dr's and some friends I started smoking marijuana on a regular basis, and even cooked it a couple times to eat in brownies. My only word to describe how it has helped me, as a Christian man, is that it was a BLESSING! I know there is a lot of controversy, but after researching this plant for 4 months, I was amazed at just how "mis-informed" a LOT of people are, and how much benefit there is from the cannabis plant use.

When I started smoking, I was able to go off ALL other medications, I had little to no pain, I could think better, cognitive impairments virtually disappeared, AND I was able to function again with little limitations from my illness compared to before. I am the father of two small children, and to not be able to even go play catch with them, or do family things like before because of being too tired, or in too much pain, has done more damage to me than the illness itself has.

CANNABIS GAVE ME MY LIFE BACK! I feel normal again when I'm on it, and don't need any of that other POISON that is going to destroy my kidneys and liver over time. I fear being on pain pills the rest of my life because I know how much they can damage the body, and how addicting they are. I can't go a handful of hours without having it due to pain, withdrawal, and the side effects are HORRIBLE! If I stay on them I know I will probably die from liver and kidney failure BEFORE I will from the effects of my illness! That is sad, but true! NOTHING I have ever been on even comes close to what cannabis does, and when using it, I don't need anything else. To be able to go off of fentanyl, nucynta, percocet - and ONLY have to use cannabis, with NONE of the side effects, NONE of the harm compared to ANY other prescribed medication! No brainer as far as I am concerned! I have always been an intellectual person, into sciences, etc, and wanted to make sure it was a wise choice to start using. So, I assure people, I HAVE done my homework. I have read countless reports, studies, from reputable sources, I have seen all the pros and cons, and at the end of the day it ALL points to more benefits of cannabis. I understand the legal side of it, and of course, money is the root of the lack of legalization! It is sad, it's a shame, and it needs to be changed!

I tell everyone I know, I am not ashamed nor will conceal my use to ANYONE, as I believe in it, and am walking PROOF that it can be used for good. I would love to get involved with organizations to use my story to help the process of legalization. I would go before congress if the opportunity ever presented to fight for this. To me, this IS life or death. I don't want to stay on these medications that eventually will kill me. I don't want my illness to keep me bed ridden, non-functional as it does so often. I see something in front of me, something that helps me more than anything else has, after thousands of dollars spent on medication, and the government, and medical industry tell me I can't. Even while they themselves have PROVEN that it is a good thing! I take TWO hits off a decent strain marijuana, and I am in NO PAIN, I CAN FUNCTION, I CAN LIVE MY LIFE AGAIN. At the end of the day, people who are against it have no idea as to the benefits, because people are UN-EDUCATED. That is a FACT, and if more people would learn about it, then I would challenge ANYONE to tell me how it is bad.

Unfortunately with being disabled, and not able to afford it regularly, I only smoke now once in a while, and have had to go back on pain meds regularly. I am going to start growing so I have a steady supply, and can have my life back. I only wish that more people were educated, and if I can help it, I will do what I can to make sure that happens!

Thank You for what you are doing! I believe in this!!

What's New

Alabama: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   HB642 - The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act of Alabama

Arkansas: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Florida: Medical marijuana petition drive underway.

Idaho: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Illinois: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   Bill Status of SB1381

Indiana: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Iowa: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Kansas: Medical marijuana petition drive underway.
   Marijuana Bill Reaches House
   Cannabis Compassion and Care Act

Maryland: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   Bill Status of SB 627

Massachusetts: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Minnesota: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Missouri: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   HOUSE BILL NO. 1670 - An Act relating to the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes
   Cottleville Mayor Don Yarber hopes Missouri legislature passes medical marijuana law

New Hampshire: Considering a medical marijuana law.

New York: Considering a medical marijuana law.

North Carolina: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   North Carolina Medical Cannabis Act

Ohio: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   HB 214

Pennsylvania: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   HB 1393

South Carolina: Considering a medical marijuana law.

South Dakota: Medical marijuana petition drive underway.

Tennessee: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Texas: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Wisconsin: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   The Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act



Featured Recipe - Mary Had a Chili Lamb by Jay R. Cavanaugh, PhD