Letter: Marijuana Opponents Ignore The Facts
Michael C. Limper
June 5, 2008
Asbury Park Press
Despite what opponents say, marijuana does not have to be smoked to benefit from its therapeutic qualities. It can be cooked and eaten. Many people with cancer, multiple sclerosis, narcotic addictions and other medical conditions can benefit from marijuana consumption. ("Marijuana group exploits the sick," May 27.)
Proponents aren't using propaganda. They are merely stating the facts. It's law enforcement that thrives on negative and mostly untrue propaganda.
Hemp has played an important role in this country. The sails, ropes, rigging and sailor's clothing on the Mayflower and many other early settlers' ships were made of hemp. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper. Clean-burning fuel can be made from hemp. Many nutritious foods come from the hemp plant. The book "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" by Jack Heror is full of facts.
George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, to name a few, grew hemp. Before 1927, farmers were fined if they didn't grow hemp.
The only reason it became illegal is because business moguls such as William Randolph Hearst, the DuPonts and big pharmaceutical companies successfully lobbied for laws to make it that way. Why? They wanted to develop things from petrochemicals. Plastics, fuel, fabrics, food, medicine and many other things can be made from the hemp plant. None of those products made from hemp harm or poison the environment, as do petrochemicals.
No one has been recorded as dying from smoking marijuana. You can't say that about taking morphine, cocaine, alcohol or even caffeine and aspirin.
I challenge anyone to find a negative fact about marijuana use. I don't believe there is one. | 
