A majority of Americans have been exposed to or heard of marijuana, which is derived from the dried leaves of a hemp plant called cannabis sativa. For thousands of years, marijuana has been used as medicine, food, fiber, and an intoxicant. In recent history it has been argued that the drug marijuana is addictive, but this belief has since been proven false. It has also been argued of late that marijuana causes abnormal behavior that oftentimes contributes to criminal activity. These two arguments are the basis for those activists wanting marijuana to remain illegal, even for purposes of medicinal use. Marijuana is, however, legal for medicinal use in California and Arizona. Activists for legalization of marijuana want to further this effort and make it available for medicinal and general use to all Americans in all states of legal age. In any case, the legalization of marijuana debate has been ongoing for several years among members of the United States Government. It has also divided Americans" attitudes toward marijuana's legalization for over three decades. There are a multitude of arguments supporting both sides of the debate, thus, the reason why the legalization of marijuana argument has been so difficult to resolve. .
With trends that closely resemble those of alcohol prohibition, marijuana prohibition has been in effect since 1937. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to stop Americans from using the drug, then, like the alcohol prohibition efforts, it has failed. .
Statistics show that marijuana use has risen every year since 1990; therefore, many people have concluded that the drug war is failing. Its failure is not an issue. Indeed, the issue is knowledge, or lack thereof. This knowledge involves information regarding taxpayers" money, health, and free choice. Information regarding these issues have either not been adequately publicized or have not been readily retained by the public.