Pubdate: Thu, 14 Mar 2013
Source: Herald, The (Everett, WA)
Copyright: 2013 The Daily Herald Co.
Contact:  http://www.heraldnet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/190
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n109/a09.html

NO EXCUSE TO DENY RIGHT TO GROW CROP

Regarding the editorial, "Approve hemp farming": The United States is 
one of the few countries in the world that denies farmers the right 
to grow industrial hemp. Apparently federal bureaucrats can't tell 
the difference between a tall hemp stalk and a squat marijuana bush. 
Prior to passage of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 (sic), few 
Americans had heard of marijuana, much less smoked it, despite 
widespread cultivation of industrial hemp.

The first anti-marijuana laws were a racist reaction to Mexican 
immigration during the early 1900s. White Americans did not begin to 
smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched federal bureaucracy began 
funding reefer madness propaganda. Decades later, marijuana use is 
now mainstream.

If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, 
marijuana would be legal nationwide. The direct experience of 
millions of Americans contradicts the lies used to justify marijuana 
prohibition. Reefer madness is a poor excuse for criminalizing 
Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. There is no excuse for 
denying farmers the right to grow industrial hemp.

Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom