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Politics : Bush-The Mastermind behind 9/11? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LPS5 who wrote (7218)	7/12/2004 1:09:42 PM
From: Rock_nj	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 20039

Well, how about the insane propaganda campaign against marijuana and hemp? That's manipulation if there ever was manipulation in our society. On a health and societal impact basis, there's no way alcohol should be legal, while marijuana is illegal. A fair minded person, after examining the health and societal impacts would have to conclude that the current policies are illogical, as a lot of countries have already concluded and either legalized or decrimilized marijuana. All sorts of powerful industries controlled by wealthy and powerful people have spent decades ensuring that marijuana is tarred in the public arena and kept illegal, starting with Reefer Madness in the early 20th Century and moving on from there ("The Emperor Wears No Clothes" is an excellent resource concerning the propaganda campaign against marijuana). Marijuana/hemp is competition for the acohol, tabbacco, textiles, paper, and oil idsutrials I'm sure there are forces in government who have helped make and keep marijuana illegal. Right after prohibition ended, the feds were looking for another boogeyman to justify their budgets, along comes marijuana, public enemy #1. Perhaps an arguement can be made that marijuana should remain illegal, although it seems rather shaky considering the fact that a far more dangerous substance like alcohol is not only legal but readily available to be used and abused. Alcohol is just as much a gateway drug as marijuana, so that argument seems rather hollow. In any case, I'm sure people could go round and round about the merits of marijuana legalization. But, there's no reason why hemp should be illegal. Hemp is not a drug, it's a plant that has many industrial uses. It is grown in many industrialized countries, but not the U.S. Why? Could it be that some rich and powerful people don't want it to be legal and competing with their products? Why can't I grow an acre of hemp and sell it to a manufacturer like so many others do in other countries? Even seemingly good-minded government policy is often manipulated in the interests of the rich and powerful. A good example is the EPA's efforts to clean up our dirty air. Even though it had been studied for years and was found to be highly toxic and able to migrate through ground water readily, MTBE was chosen as an additive to boost gasoline oxygen levels to produce cleaner emissions and air. Government regulators passed up a much cleaner alternative oxygenate known as ethanol, which is biodegradable, so if it leaked, it wouldn't be toxic and would naturally degrade. Well, MTBE did clean up are air somewhat, but it also contaminated ground water all over the country, and has been especially problematic because it moves through ground water so easily and is highly toxic. The government, under pressure from the oil industry which saw a lucrative market for MTBE, decided against using ethanol (the safer option) in favor of MTBE, and we're all paying the price for that little bit of manipulation of our democratic process.