To the AIDS or the cancer patient, it is the plant that fights nausea and loss of appetite. To the health enthusiast, its seed is second only to the soybean in nutritional value. It can be used to manufacture vitamins and be created into a healthy source of cooking oil. To the goods manufacturer, it is the cash crop that provided much of our paper and clothing for hundreds of years, and produces four times more fiber per acre than trees. To the environmentalist, it is the plant that could greatly slow, and possibly end, harmful deforestation. .
In technical terms, hemp, cannabis, or to the average American, marijuana, is thought to be used only for recreational purposes. On the other hand, some people feel Marijuana is the plant that could progressively save the world. The intention of this essay is to relieve ignorance, reverse prejudices, and inform people of the known and potential uses of this remarkable plant. .
As of today, the nation stands behind three basic ideas of how to deal with marijuana; legalize marijuana, make it legal but only available by prescription, or keep it as it is, illegal. Americans, who are pro-marijuana, argue that marijuana is considerably less harmful than tobacco and alcohol; the two most frequently used legal drugs. Furthermore, marijuana has been proven never to directly cause anyone's death. Those who want to keep it illegal think that the medical purposes will never outweigh the harmful side effects. Before deciding whether marijuana should be legal or illegal, one needs to know some basic facts. .
There are three species of marijuana; Cannabis sativa, the most widespread of the three, is tall, gangly, and loosely branched, growing as high as twenty feet. Cannabis indica is shorter, about three or four feet in height, pyramidal in shape and densely branched. Cannabis ruderalis is about two feet high with few or no branches. It is also said that Cannabis has become one of the most widespread and diversified of plants.