Given that hemp is as old as time, it's not surprising that it helped shape early America, proudly cultivated, for example by Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. Medical benefits of marijuana include clearing of bronchial passages, relief of migranes and treatment of glaucoma. Hemp is also an excellant source of linen, rope, cloth and paper, the term "canvas" is actually derived from a word for cannibis, and the first Levi's Jeans were made from hemp.

Paper made from hemp is acid-free and non-polluting, one acre of hemp could make the same amount of paper as four and a half acres of trees. The Declaration of Independance was written on hemp paper.

Hemp has a hundred uses and can grow almost anywhere, but it was outlawed so the rich could get richer.

William Randolph Hearst was a media giant, industrialist and the model for Orson Welles' Citizen Kane. In the mid 1930's he stood to lose a fortune because a way was developed to make paper from hemp cheaper than making it from wood pulp. Hemp was expected to be America's first billion-dollar crop.

Hearst had vast holdings in pulp timber and paper mills and stood to lose millions as cleaner, superior methods of paper production were embraced.

Luckily for Hearst, he owned a large portion of America's newspapers and had no pesky morals about how he could use them, he started a misinformation campaign and printed the exact opposite of what the scientific data of the day was - that marijuana could turn you into a bloodthirsty rapist/killer after only minor use. He called it the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.

At the time most Americans (like today) think that because they read it, it must be true. Most people also think the government is on their side.

DuPont Chemicals had also just developed nylon and and rayon, synthetics that would be in direct competition with hemp for many uses. The US Treasury Secretary who was also financially tied to DuPont appointed his son-in-law, Harry Anslinger, as Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Anslinger testified before Congress by reading Hearst's newspaper articles word for word.

He was then quoted by Hearst as saying "If the hideous monster Frankenstein came face to face with the monster marijuana he would drop dead from fright."

When in 1944 the New York City Laguardia Marijuana Report refuted the violence claims Anslinger changed his position: "Marijuana causes it's users to become so peaceful and pacifistic that in the future American boys will not fight in our wars."

By then Congress had passed the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 effectively outlawing marijuana possession. It was unconstitutional to tell an American they were unable to use certain substances, so it was a tax loophole they used. Luckily nowdays the constitution rarely stands in the way of the gov't doing anything they please. Back then people really believed it mattered.

Surprised? Even now Hearst's outlandish claims are often used as justification for billions of dollars spent on prohibition in the US.

George Bush Sr served a stint as Director of the President's US Drug Task Force, was the director of the Eli Lilly Company from 1977 to 1979. The Eli Lilly company has been trying to synthesize the active ingrediants in marijuana for years, but if cannibis were legalized they would lose a third of it's patented drug monopoly, including Darvon. The Bush family happens to own controlling interest in the company.

Here's a riddle, if as much as 80% of all violent crime can be linked to alcohol abuse - not to mention 40,000 deaths due to alcoholism and drunk-driving, why is cannibis the one that's illegal?

The answer is because you can't make rope, paper, cloth or safer, cheaper medicines out of booze.