Stay the Course: The Fight For Marijuana Awareness

With the newly released statement from the Department of Justice, some feel the battle for marijuana legalization has been won, however the war for this country’s future is just beginning. The DOJ is claiming that it will allow states with strict cannabis laws in place to continue with their present course of marijuana sale and production, as long as they create “a tightly regulated market” and are strict in the enforcement of said laws; not legalizing marijuana, but choosing not to enforce the federal law themselves. A hypocritical move, and there in lies the problem. By keeping marijuana illegal, and on the controlled substance list, the Feds are intentionally not allowing cannabis to be researched and developed on the large-scale level of which this country is in dire need. The typically ambiguous wording of their statement is reminiscent of the Patriot Act, allowing the government to interpret what they feel to be “robust controls and procedures” or “tightly regulated” (of which both are repeatedly used) on a case to case basis and thereby continuing their attempt to control the flow of information and production.

Most those involved in the Marijuana Movement are happy to take the ground that the Federal Government has given up by claiming they will stay out-of-state business if the state rigorously enforces strict cannabis laws. Unfortunately, marijuana, as well as hemp, continue to remain incorrectly categorized on the schedule 1 controlled substance list. This category is for substances that are thought to be addictive, with no medical value, both of which are dramatically and categorically untrue in regards to cannabis. It has been made clear that the movement is very passionate about one’s right to freely and recreationally smoke marijuana, but the true course of cannabis and its path to reviving this country lies within its medicinal and industrial uses. Both of which are vast, and factually undisputed. Despite what one would hear if choosing to listen to typical anti-marijuana propaganda, cannabis has the ability to cure cancer and naturally alleviate many serious conditions. This has been proven by some elite medical organizations, most recognizable of which is Harvard Medical.

Hemp on the other hand has been utilized by this country since its inception and can out produce every other resource available without the harmful side effects for the planet. It can be grown and harvested in a matter of months and enriches the soil for future agricultural crops. Not to mention that it is almost absent of THC and incapable of getting a person high. This as well is factually undisputed. Those that stand to lose their interests in the current timber or oil industries, as well as many others, do not want to see these harmless plants legalized (and their profits lost to alternative resources) no matter how much more productive they are or in how many ways it can save the planet.

With deforestation, pollution, dependency on foreign oil, oil spills, non biodegradable products piling up, and medications that cause more harm than good, Americans are slowly heading toward environmental and personal collapse. It may seem unlikely, even impossible, that one plant could solve all of this, but the research is there for those willing to see the truth instead of the manufactured lie. It will take a very long time to climb out of the hole that America has dug for itself, but cannabis is the answer to many of the most important questions facing this country today. Those answers have nothing to do with smoking, and completely revolve around the vast possibilities continuing to arise from this plant. The more marijuana is studied, the more Americans begin to see just how truly versatile this plant is on a medicinal and industrial level. Those fighting for the legalization of marijuana must not stop with this small advance but rather rise to their true heights now that the goal is near. The government’s patronizing attempt to pacify the masses with their, “We will just look the other way” tactic, is just that, a tactic. A gift of leniency from the proverbial parental figure graciously allowing the people to do what no one has the right to deny them. It is their hope that the momentum will die off with this small victory, and the movement will not be seen to fruition.

Absolute and total legalization of cannabis in medical as well as industrial aspects of American culture is the end game, and all who want a future with this planet must stay the course.