Death penalty or abortion or should marijuana be legal - Research Paper Example

By the 8th century hemp was widely used in Japan for making paper. Hemp provided the best quality and most durable paper available, even by today’s standards. Hemp sails and rope provided the means for Columbus to discover America in 1492, since any other fiber would have rotted in the high seas before reaching their destination. Wars were even fought because of cannabis, since in the early 1800's Napoleon declared war against Russia in order to cut off the supply of hemp to England which provided rope and canvas to the Royal Navy.

By the 16th-18th century hemp crops became one of the biggest sources of not only rope and textiles, but also paper, lamp oil, paints, varnishes and building materials in Europe, Russia, India and Asia (Hemphasis). Hemp became so important to the English empire that in the early 16th century, Henry VIII made it mandatory for landowners to cultivate at least ? acre of land for every 60 acres of land, or be fined by the monarchy (Narconon). Cannabis History in America In 1606 Louis Hebert, a French Botanist, planted the first cannabis crop in North America in present day Nova Scotia (Hemptrade).

The hemp crop became so highly priced to the American colonists, that by the early 17th century it became illegal for landowners in many states not to cultivate hemp in their farms. In the early days most textiles used for clothes and sails were made out of hemp as well as ropes, cordage and paper. Hemp was even used an acceptable form of legal tender during the 17th-18th centuries and it was even used to pay taxes (Hemphasis). Our founding farmers Thomas Jefferson and George Washington cultivated hemp on their plantations for their benefit.

Even when cotton started to be cultivated, it was so labor intensive that its use did not become widespread until the 1800's with the invention of the cotton-gin machine. According to the 1850 United States Census there were 8,327 cannabis or hemp plantations (minimum 2,000 acre) operating in the states. Most books in those days were printed in hemp paper due to its superior quality, strength and durability. The first copy of the Declaration of Independence was written in hemp paper. The U.S.

Constitution and the first American flag which were also made of hemp fibers. The widespread use of marihuana as a medicine started in America around the 1800's just like it had been used for 1000's of years in the rest of the world (Narconon). Why is it illegal? Legalize it! It was not until well into the 20th century that the use of cannabis and cannabis extracts became a legal issue, but due to all the wrong reasons: politics and special interests, racism, prohibition and demonization of cannabis.

During the late 19th and early 20th century the use of hemp diminished greatly due to increasing labor costs and with the widespread availability of the cotton-gin. Mainly cotton and other tropical fibers became the fibers of choice. By that time hemp industrial use was largely relegated to rope, cordage, birdseed and some products such as varnish. Trouble started brewing for the hemp industry when in 1916 the U.S. Government started recognizing the finite nature of the timber industry drafted USDA Bulletin 400 which called for the widespread