Research Paper on Marijuana

The legality and legal policy towards marijuana have been debated throughout history. The United States of America has been through the entire spectrum in terms of whether or not to legalize the plant, as well as what punishment, if any, is appropriate for the use or distribution. In more recent years, as a country, America has become more lenient towards marijuana use at a state level. Marijuana remains an illegal drug in the terms of the American federal government. As per the recent mid-term election November 4th, 2014, there are nineteen states with legal marijuana for medicinal use. Four states boast legal marijuana for recreational use: Colorado and Washington, both of which legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, and Alaska and Oregon had an approved cannabis ballot measure in the recent election, legalization to come into effect starting 2015. America seems to be taking a step in the right direction in terms of its policy towards marijuana, but this should merely be a starting point. The initial basis for the illegalization is baseless, it is almost ridiculous that marijuana is still illegal. Marijuana should not be illegal, the most beneficial policy includes regulation similar to tobacco and alcohol.
Marijuana was not always illegal in the United States. Marijuana was initially used in America for hemp to make clothing, ropes, and sails in the seventeenth century. This was such a common practice, Virginia’s Assembly actually enacted a law requiring every farmer to grow hemp in 1619. This was the first American legislation regarding cannabis. At this time, hemp was also recognized as legal tender in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland. Hemp was a valuable commodity, as it was a versatile product able to be used in several ways. Domestic production of hemp thrived until after the Civil War, when it was replaced by other materials, domestic and imported, for many of its purposes.
William Brooke O'Shaughnessy, a British physician who spent