Why Marijuana Should Be Legal [Paperback]

Ed Rosenthal (Author), Steve Kubby (Author), S. Newhart (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

Marijuana hit mainstream America over 30 years ago and has been accepted by a large segment of society ever since. Despite government efforts to isolate and eliminate its use, it is more popular now than ever. Why Marijuana Should Be Legal analyzes the effects of marijuana and marijuana laws on society. The book addresses the drug's industrial and medical applications, preserving our Constitutional rights, economic costs, health effects, and sociological aspects. New and updated information includes how state officials are acting against the legalization of marijuana and how U.S. marijuana laws are based on inaccurate and outdated information. In discussing such issues and many more, the book presents clear, documented evidence for all of its conclusions. Also included is an annotated list of organizations that lobby for change of marijuana laws. "Rosenthal and Kubby offer crisp, well-reasoned arguments for legalizing marijuana."—Mike Tribby, Booklist "[A]n important contribution to the current national dialog on moves toward the decriminalization of this controversial drug."—The Midwest Book Review

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Far from being a crippling addictive lure, marijuana is actually "one of the most benign substances known to man," according to this fact-filled and impassioned pro-pot manifesto originally published in 1996. The authors, marijuana-law reform activists, detail weed's many medicinal uses in the treatment of diseases like AIDS, glaucoma and cancer, examine the wonders of industrial hemp, and tout legalized marijuana as a potential economic boon and a lucrative tax-cow. The real problem, they argue, is the criminalization of marijuana, which has wasted untold billions, trampled our Constitutional liberties and thrown millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens into jail even as it has fueled crime by taking marijuana out of the legal marketplace and putting it in the hands of criminal syndicates. They blame this policy of prohibition on an unholy alliance of panicky parents, pharmaceutical and liquor companies eager to maintain their monopoly on medicinal and mind-altering substances, and the law-enforcement and prison industries that thrive on the war against pot. The authors amass a wealth of statistics and carefully reasoned arguments to support their controversial view and conclude with a helpful list of marijuana-law reform organizations and a quixotic exhortation to tokers to take vigorous action on behalf of legalization. This book is a compelling challenge to the prohibitionist orthodoxy.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Rosenthal and Kubby offer crisp, well-reasoned argument for legalizing marijuana, obviously suffering none of the short-term memory loss said to afflict the pothead as they proceed and never, never letting a sentence trail off in an ellipsis. They contend that most of the evidence against marijuana is overblown, misinterpreted, or false and that the war on the weed has harmed society more than the drug itself ever could. After decades of government-sponsored antipot propaganda, and with California passing a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for medical applications, this is a timely screed. Selected Doonesbury strips illustrate main points and lighten the overall mood appropriately, and an intensive notes section provides readers with sources for further research as well as documentation. Mike Tribby --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Running Press; 2 Sub edition (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560254815
• ISBN-13: 978-1560254812
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #490,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'ere, read this!, March 12, 2007

By 

S. Bachechi "creative medium" (cyberspace) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Why Marijuana Should Be Legal (Paperback)

We really need to take this issue seriously and consider the benefits of legalizing! I'm not a smoker, but have friends and family who are. They are upstanding, conscious, hardworking citizens who don't deserve to have to sneak around. We could alleviate so much financial stife in the US if we would be more open minded about this issue. And of course, the by-products are amazing too. The author has his facts straight and writes in an easy communicative style. Buy one for the republican in your family.

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT ! Everyone sharing this belief should read it., June 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized (Paperback)

This book gave me even more reasons to believe why marijuana should be legalized, including: constitutional rights, industrial, economical, and health benifits. My congratulations on a great publication.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Edition of The Classic, May 20, 2003

By 

Dr Mitchell Earleywine "Dr. Mitch" (Albany, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Why Marijuana Should Be Legal (Paperback)

It's great to see this book out again. The authors make a perfect case for cannabis legalization by explaining established facts about constitutional rights, industrial uses of hemp, and the safety of the drug. They don't get bogged down in hundreds of references and citations, but everything they say has clear empirical support.