WC:852
            
             Marijuana: A Closer Look At The Facts
             The legalization of marijuana has been a widely fought issue since its prohibition in 1937 ("Does" 1). This drug has been grown for many years and for different reasons other than pleasure. Marijuana can be used for medical purposes as well as hemp being used for industrial purposes. These purposes are very beneficial to society. Yet, the down side is the amount of people who smoke marijuana, which has been proven to cause short-term memory loss while the drug is in use ("Marijuana Myths" 1). But, are the cons of legalizing marijuana outweighed by the pros? Or is it simply another drug to cause problems to today's youth?
             In 1937 the government came out with The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 banning the cultivating, selling, buying, trading, or consuming of marijuana. This after the media and government produced many articles putting down marijuana and its supposed harmful effects. Many advocates of marijuana believe that the new, money producing materials of synthetic fiber and plastic were being overlooked because of the less expensive (which meant less revenue for the government) crop, hemp. The frenzy known as "reefer madness" began because of the government reporting that reefer, or marijuana, was a harmful drug. The government first had to replace the words marijuana and reefer in place of hemp because society, for 162 years, had accepted hemp and all the ways it was put into use. For the government to now say it was harmful is something that the public would not believe, so the terms marijuana and reefer were brought in to throw off society. Hemp was becoming a very popular crop; it w!
             as even the first crop to be referred to as a "billion-dollar crop". The fact that hemp can be used to make over 2500 products supports the billion-dollar crop theory ("Marijuana/hemp" 1). The government had to put its own foot in its...