Though a member of the hemp plant family, Marijuana or Cannabis possesses qualities not shared by hemp which grows wild in the mid-western U.S., and many other places.  Mid-Westerners often call it "ditch weed" or "dirt weed".  Marijuana generally goes by the names Pot, Weed, Grass or sometimes just "Smoke".  As the use of Marijuana has steadily been on the rise since the 1950's, its quality has risen in a parallel path.  21st Century users, smoking evolved, cultured Indica have tagged it with the title "Chronic".  Many users don't even know that Chronic is just very potent Pot!  Prior to major U.S. involvement in Asia, nearly all of the Marijuana smoked here was Cannabis Sativa.  But, simultaneously driven by smuggling routes, South and Central American Marijuana joined with the Asian infiltration.  Both of these areas primarily produce Cannabis Indica plants, which when grown for the same length of time as Sativa, will generally produce a much stronger drug due to higher concentration of THC!  Another factor contributing to stronger pot, was the Growers.  In the rural areas of the countries where pot is grown in large crops, the production had evolved for centuries before being exported to the U.S.  One example of the evolution of Pot growing was removing "male" plants and keeping only "females", which results in plants without seeds.  Until weed became classified as a "problem" in the U.S., the Asian and Central-South American countries were very slack in regard to their enforcement of the drug laws with an inclusion of Marijuana (not that many).  Though illegal, Marijuana and Hashish (a refinement of Marijuana) were openly sold and/or traded in Southeast-Asian market-places.  Often, locals even imposed taxes equivalent to other legal crops being marketed, though collection of the money was/is a clandestine affair.  The legality of Marijuana in the U.S. has been a burning issue since a movement for legalization in the late 1960's.  Another hotbed issue, more recently, has been the distribution of "Medical Marijuana".  This issue has evolved into a serious, yet un-addressed, Constitutional conflict between State and Federal Laws that must at some point be resolved.  The Feds have played their trump card, raiding Medical Marijuana distribution facilities in many States, including California where distributors are not breaking State Law!  The root argument for reform of Marijuana law is based on parity with Alcohol law.  By the end of the 20th Century there came to be some consensus among professionals that Alcohol meets the parameters as a more dangerous drug than Marijuana.  Though Marijuana fell into the category of a "Thee Gateway Drug", statistics have proven out that Alcohol is also a gateway drug, maybe even more often forming an addiction than Marijuana!

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