as many as sixteen thousand marijuana offenders may now be in federal prison, comprising about 17 percent of the federal prison population. In Michigan, in 1995, 22% of those sentenced for marijuana offenses were sent to prison. The same year, in N Y State, 34 % of the people convicted of marijuana offences were incarcerated. Sentences for Marijuana Convictions in 1995, N Y State Division of Criminal Justice Services, New York, July 1996In Texas, 33 % of those convicted of marijuana possession were sent to prison. A slightly higher proportion of sellers and distributors (43%) were imprisoned, and half of them possessed two ounces or less of marijuana at the time of arrest. In Georgia, where marijuana arrests have doubled since 1990, about four hundred marijuana offenders were sent t prison in 1995, more than half of them for possession. Of more than 1,500 people now in prison for a marijuana offense in California, half were convicted of possession. Under California’s “three strikes” law, more people have been sent to prison for possessing marijuana than for all violent offenses combined. In addition to ten of thousands of inmates sentenced to state and federal prisons for one year or more, tens of thousands of marijuana offenders are serving sentences of less than a year in local jails around the country. The hemp plant (Cannabis Sativa/Indica/Ruderalis), or "marijuana" as it is known in America today, has been illegal in the U.S. since 1937. Up until this point, it was the second most used pain medication in America, and one of the greatest cash crops of states such as Kentucky. The first U.S. flags were made of hemp, as were the first Gutenberg Bibles and the first Levi pants. In 1943 hemp was made legal again, as the government rolled out its "Hemp For Victory" war program. Complete with a patriotic film that urged farmers and youth groups to grow cannabis, the program raised thousands of tons of hemp for th...
