Cannabis and Hemp

Recreational drug use.  It's interesting when you think about how somebody in Venice Beach, CA lighting up a joint could somehow be connected to a 19 year-old mother of 4 in east Texas living on welfare checks.  They're both just trying to get high and forget about their troubles for a few more hours.  Proponents of the legalization of marijuana like to say that marijuana doesn't hurt anybody and that it might actually have some health benefits.  Proponents of our continued war on drugs will tell you that drugs ruin lives and families and we need to do everything that we can to stop this injustice.  I say, why the hell is this up for an argument?  We thought that it was a bad idea to have alcohol be made or sold in our country for consumption.  This lead to an avenue that was profitable for organized crime.  Organized crime grew and prospered, and when prohibition ended (maybe with the intention of lowering crime) it sank its teeth into other vices that people were willing to pay for on the black market.  The idea is that legalizing marijuana will create a profitable tax flow for the government and we can all stop spending so much money on enforcement of a (supposedly ridiculous) prohibition.  They say crime will decrease like it did at the end of alcohol's prohibition.  Did crime decrease at that time because we allowed for the production and sale of alcohol again?
Some people say there are health benefits to smoking/eating/breathing marijuana.  Some people say that it is a drug and it will kill you.  in 2009, a government poll said 16.7 million people had used pot within 30 days of the poll.  With a current population of 307 million, that would equate to 5.4% of America's population smoking pot and telling the government about it.  Currently, there have been no deaths directly linked to marijuana use (supposedly).  A google search will tell you that there are lots of marijuana deaths.  I'm not really sure.  I don't work for a government agency that is supposed to know these things.  I work for a government agency that doesn't give a fuck.
I need a really, really good reason to legalize a drug which is known to mess up people's lives.  For that matter, credit cards and cheap mortgages are almost as bad as hardcore drugs if you want to fuck up your life.
Hemp on the other hand.  Why the hell is it illegal to grow hemp?  Probably because it is associated with marijuana, which it can be.  Hemp can grow almost anywhere, with very little water and poor soil.  It can be made into fabric which is stronger and softer than cotton.  It can be made into rope which is nearly as strong as equivalent nylon, if not stronger.  It can be made into pulp and then paper, reducing our need to chop down trees for paper.  It can even be made into bio-diesel with little effort.
Aaargh.  Watch the documentary The Union and tell your friends to watch it.  Don't necessarily believe it all.  Just watch it.