At one very prosperous and advantageous point is this country’s history, hemp was beginning to be recognized as the future in textiles, food, medicine, fuel and just about every other important necessity of
today. In 1916, the U.S. Government predicted that by the 1940s all paper would come from hemp and that no more trees would need to be cut down. Government studies report that 1 acre of hemp equals 4.1 acres of trees. In 1938, hemp was called the ‘Billion Dollar Crop.’ It was the first time a cash crop had a business potential to exceed a billion dollars. The simple profitability and versatility of this plant greatly threatened those who’s fortunes were tied to all that hemp stood to replace; primarily the Hearst family and Dupont Industries and their mutual investment in the prosperity of timber and synthetics, both of which were dramatically outmatched by what hemp was producing. Due to the fact that hemp was widely regarded as the plant of the future, those set on destroying hemp had to find a way to purposefully and discreetly mislead the public. Thus began the all-out war against hemp disguised as a war on the Mexican ‘marihuana.’
Myth # 9 – The Marijuana Movement is just an excuse for people to get high
Americans pride themselves on the simple freedom of one’s right to choose. Yet in today’s America, this seems a slowly dissolving right as the government continues to increase the number of things they deem illegal; for one’s own safety of course. The Last American Vagabond wholeheartedly fights for the right of each individual to do whatever one deems necessary to one’s own body, whether that be smoking marijuana or drinking something proven as deadly as alcohol. However, that is only one small part of what defines the Marijuana Movement and its goals.
The movement was started as a public outcry against the government’s encroachment on all personal freedoms in this country, and centered around one issue in particular: marijuana legalization. This focus was chosen because, along with legalization, it ties all current constitutional issues together under a banner that 
ultimately represents the gravest issues facing this country today: loss of civil rights, government misconduct and misappropriations, and a century long conspiracy, of which is slowly becoming public knowledge; as well as uniting two vastly different generations under one flag.
The idea that plants as useful and medically valuable as hemp and marijuana are not only illegal but regarded as the most dangerous of all drugs, is laughably absurd. Americans are awakening to the sad truth that they have been intentionally lied to for a generation about a plant that could have saved the lives of many, in order to protect the investments of a few. A point has been reached in this country where it seems as if the will of the people is no longer what decides the course and creation of law, but rather the needs and desires of whatever cooperation spends the most money, which by definition would make the U.S. no longer a democracy.
Those behind the movement are using the platform of cannabis legalization to stage a national intervention in regards to the people’s rightful place as the governing body of this nation. If the leaders of this country can tell the American people that they know what is best, despite the overwhelming agreement on the issue of legalization, then this country has truly forgotten itself. Those in power want the public to believe that cannabis remains illegal not because it stands to replace the vast amount of the fuel and pharmaceutical industries, which a majority of the top one percent of this country are invested in, but because it’s dangerous, despite the overwhelming amount of evidence to the contrary.
The right of each individual to consume whatever substance they desire in the privacy of their own home is certainly a part of this debate. Yet the true fight is centered on whether the true governing body of this country remains a small percentage of wealthy men (ones that represent the smallest demographic of Americans) or We the People of the United States of America, the decision is yours…
Follow the change. Be the change.
[accordion title=”Top Ten Marijuana Myths Continued” close=”1″]Myth #1 – Marijuana is More Harmful Than Alcohol, Tobacco and Prescription Drugs
Myth #2 – Marijuana is Addictive
Myth #3 – Marijuana Causes Schizophrenia
Myth #4 – Marijuana Has no Proven Medical Benefits
Myth #5 – Marijuana Use Leads to Harder Drugs – “Gateway Theory”
Myth #6 – Marijuana Causes Memory Loss and a General Reduction in Logic
Myth #7 – Marijuana Contains Over 400 Chemicals
Myth #8 – Marijuana Has Yet to be Subjected to Adequate Scientific Study
Myth #9 – The Marijuana Movement is Just an Excuse for People to get High
Myth #10 – Opposition to Marijuana Legalization is Driven Entirely by Cautious Prudence[/accordion]
Sources: Popular Mechanics, 1938/1941, http://www.votehemp.com/new_billion_dollar_crop.html, http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2014/08/19/alcohol-is-still-the-deadliest-drug-in-the-united-states-and-its-not-even-close/,
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