Spliting Cannabis Hairs

The debate over marijuana legalization is louder than ever for many different reasons. The depression-like economy has forced Americans to look for new economies, and seriously talk about social issues we have tried to suppress. Marijuana criminalization seems to be at the top of the list because of its social, economical, and environmental impacts, and as a horticulturalist, It's interesting to compare the different arguments and their parallels to specific marijuana plant species. Certain species seem to have direct impact on rural and urban environments, and have many people questioning the reasons behind our current classification and criminalization of the cannabis plant. Wikipedia's explanation of cannabis goes like this:"Cannabis (Cán-na-bis; English pronunciation: /ˈkænəbɪs/) is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa,[1] Cannabis indica,[1] and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. [2] Cannabis has long been used for fibre (hemp), for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a recreational drug. Industrial hemp products are made from Cannabis plants selected to produce an abundance of fiber. To satisfy the UN Narcotics Convention, some hemp strains have been developed which contain minimal levels of THC (Δ9- tetrahydrocannabinol), one of the psychoactive molecules that produces the "high" associated with marijuana. The psychoactive product consists of dried flowers of plants selectively bred to produce high levels of THC and other psychoactive chemicals. Various extracts including hashish and hash oil are also produced from the plant." Hemp, is the fibrous species that has been grown for thousands of years and harvested for human and animal consumption. Hemp based products range from food, clothing, shelter, and fuel. The plants fiber is used to make building materials, clothing and paper. The oils from hemp are used as lubricants, fuels, and their high omega-3 fatty acid content are used in food and dietary supplements. The U.S government wasn't always down on hemp, as a matter of fact, they depended on the growth of hemp and mandated early American farmers to grow the plant for the good of the nation. The Declaration of Independence and Constitution where drafted on hemp,and many president's grew hemp including Washington and Jefferson. During the 19th century, a rugged hemp fabric called "Duck", was used to cover wagons and Levi Strauss used it to make jeans. Hemp's problems in America started during the early twentieth century because of it's relation to its cousin Marijuana, and it's threat to the oil and timber industry.

Marijuana is the cannabis species cultivated for it's high THC levels and get's it name from it's popularity with Mexican immigrant farm workers who used it as a recreational drug during the turn of the twentieth century. The laborers would cultivate the plant, smoke it, and according to intimidated whites, would turn into uncontrollable savages, lusting for their woman. It's popularity with black jazz musicians also aided in demonizing the plant in the minds of white Americans, and led to its ultimate illegalization. However, racism may not be the main reason why marijuana became illegal. William Randolph Hearst used his newspaper empire to publish the so called" horrors" of marijuana use by immigrants and minorities, in an effort to ban the drug. Some feel that his campaign to ban cannabis was more about hemp than marijuana. Hearst owned millions of acres of forests he planned to use for paper and other industrial production and hemp threatened to compete with all of that. Hemp also threatened the oil industry who wanted the automobile to use products that were based on petroleum, not hemp. The U.S. government also had a stack in the beef with hemp. Alcohol prohibition was lifted and marijuana prohibition seemed easy to enforce due to it's popularity with minorities.

The people who currently want to legalize cannabis, want it to be legal for the same reasons it was in the past. Legalization will have a great impact on people both in the urban and rural environments. Rural farmers and environmentalists have become advocates for hemp legalization, and urbanite's and scientists seem to be taking up the cause for marijuana legalization. Both groups are passionate about the reasons for thier convictions, and sometimes are at odds with each other, but just like in the past, are classified together under the same controversial genus