Rhetorical Analysis Of The Cannabis Experiment By Daniel Cressey

In the society we live in, everybody wants to be right. People will have their own unique stance on any controversial subject, and marijuana is no different. Marijuana is a very important topic of discussion especially in the current election season. The drug is discussed on television, social media, and virtually everywhere on the internet. In the article “This Is Why Marijuana Should Be Legal Everywhere” associate viral content editor for The Huffington Post, Renee Jacques, challenges traditional notions of the prohibition of marijuana by brilliantly using rhetorical appeals to persuade you to join the majority. Contrary to Jacques, John Hawkins, writer for www.townhall.com, takes a different stance in his article “5 Reasons Marijuana Should Remain Illegal” holding tight to the traditional, negative view of the drug by using a mixture of logos and pathos to make you question why any human with a brain would smoke cannabis. Although both writers use rhetorical strategies to persuade you to their respective side of the argument, the differing degrees the authors use those strategies renders Jacques’ article much more persuasive to a general audience.

Thesis Statement: Marijuana has been regarded as a harmful plant that can endanger lives and is thought to be nothing more than an extra problem to be dealt with in today’s society. However, based on its economic value and medical benefits, the cannabis has proven to outweigh its negatives with numerous other positives.

The role of how marijuana is used in the United States is being reexamined, rethought, and recalibrated, Barcott emphasize throughout his book. The new adjustment in America's relationship with cannabis cannot be measured in just monetary or social terms, “there are more profound movements going ahead here; social realignments, social alterations, and budgetary modifications” Barcott believes. Barcott show marijuana came to be one of the most vilified drugs in the market ever since the war on drugs was announced in the 1980s. However, the author shows how those who were against that movement are now cheerful that the way of that line of thinking is finally coming to a close. “Weed the

Marijuana is a drug that is an ongoing issue in the United States for many years debating about whether it should be legal, so in 2010 the state of California proposed the “Tax, Regulate, and Control Cannabis Act” for voters to vote on which would make marijuana illegal. Charles Stimson, a former assistant U.S. Attorney specializing in crime, had strong opinions about what he thought about the issue and was paid to write an article by the Heritage Foundation where he could voice his opinion about legalized marijuana. In his article “Legalizing Marijuana: Why Citizens Should Just Say No,” Charles Stimson tries to persuade his audience, voters of California, that they should vote against legalized marijuana. He tries to persuade his audience

The decriminalization of marijuana is an incredibly controversial topic in the United States. Conservative views deem the drug dangerous and debilitating, while reformers suggest that legalizing the plant would have an enormous positive impact on the economy. While others, the terminally ill, wish for the plant to be legal so it can be offered as a less toxic and sometimes more effective alternative to harsh prescription drugs. an overwhelming wealth of facts that state the benefits marijuana can have medically.

“The information you get from social media is not a substitute for academic discipline at all.” - Bill Nye

For the last century there has been an abundance of false information being spread about the drug marijuana. Even in commercials on television, misleading facts about the drug have been presented to the audience. Some misconceptions about the drug include its potential to cause addiction, the damaging of brain cells, genetic damage, violent behavior, and damage to the immune system. These misconceptions, which have plagued a large percentage of the population into thinking that marijuana is a bad drug, have caused many set backs in the process of gradual legalization. (http://legalizationofmarijuana.com/ )

Not only is Newhouse’s opening statement, “No one has ever died from simply using marijuana” an incorporation of pathos, but it is also an incorporation of logos, another very powerful rhetorical strategy (1). In his statement, he implies that of the many people who have used marijuana, not one person has died. Newhouse’s opening statement is subtle and appears to be numberless, but it is a statistic nonetheless. Throughout his article, Newhouse makes references to many different statistics, all referring to marijuana.

Ever since marijuana’s introduction to the United States of America in 1611, controversy of the use and legalization of the claimed-to-be Schedule I drug spread around the nation. While few selective states currently allow marijuana’s production and distribution, the remaining states still skepticize the harmlessness and usefulness of this particular drug; therefore, it remains illegal in the majority of the nation. The government officials and citizens of the opposing states believe the drug creates a threat to citizens due to its “overly-harmful” effects mentally and physically and offers no alternate purposes but creating troublesome addicts hazardous to society; however, they are rather misinformed about marijuana’s abilities. While

In his article “Legalizing Marijuana: Why Citizens Should Just Say No,” Charles Stimson argues that citizens of California need to go out and vote against legalizing marijuana. Stimson tries to persuade voters by explaining the negative effects marijuana has on people who smoke it and comparing it to “hard drugs”. Stimson goes on by saying that since marijuana causes many health problems and damages the economy that it should remain illegal in order to ensure the safety of the people. Stimson’s argument is not effective in persuading his audience that marijuana should be illegal. The claims he makes are extremely flawed.

CNN’s documentary “Weed,” led by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chronicles his journey around the world interviewing leading scientists and physicians, growers, patients, and experts, tackling the tough questions regarding marijuana, it’s medicinal value, and witnessing first-hand how it is affecting the lives of individual families. In 2009, Gupta wrote an article in TIME Magazine called “Why I would Vote No on Pot,” but now he has made a complete reversal on his views and has apologized for not looking hard enough, far enough, or reviewing research papers from smaller lab in countries outside of the U.S, and for dismissing the voices of legitimate patients who had success using cannabis to treat one disorder or another His willingness to challenge current views, dispel certain myth, correct his own errors, and enlighten the masses, and advocate for medicinal use of cannabis, has helped to shift

"Marijuana is the second most popular drug after alcohol in the country today. So many people smoke marijuana that the numbers alone seem to legitimize and condone its presence in people's lives. Yet, even in moderation marijuana is not 'safe.' Somehow this information had not filtered down to people who think they are smoking a fairly innocuous drug. Our society perpetuates the myths about pot being a fun, harmless, recreational drug. These myths feed into people's denial of marijuana's problems" (Baum 6). However, the abuse of marijuana is a problem. It is not only a personal problem, but also more importantly a social problem. Throughout history marijuana has been used to serve various purposes in many

The article, “Hooked on Just Saying No”, was written to address the problems of the War on Drugs. It discussed the problems with prohibition. Back in the early 20th century, America’s prohibition of alcohol failed; it caused social and economic problems all over America. When alcohol became legalized, bootleggers ended up becoming legal brewers and distillers, becoming wealthy from the profit. However, “prohibited drugs could yield even bigger profits than prohibited alcohol” (the Economist). Therefore, after marijuana becomes legal, it should be controlled and regulated, to prevent the monopolization of the market. Taxation of marijuana and less incarceration for marijuana would yield economic benefits to the government, leading to more funding for productive activities such as better education and drug rehabilitation.

In the article “Marijuana Use and Alcohol Use Are Dangerous for Society”, Sven Olov Carlsson writes a letter to president Barack Obama informing him on the dangers of marijuana and alcohol use to societies. Carlsson is president of IOGT International, a politically independent organization that advocates for a world free of alcohol and other drugs; he is the international president of the World Federation Against Drugs. In his letter, Carlsson briefs marijuana as highly dangerous for the users mental health and well-being along with their community. He believes the thought of making cannabis regulated would lead to a disaster because alcohol is poorly regulated. And the fact that

Within today’s society, Cannabis is seen as a harmful substance of such negative controversy. Marijuana is a very prominent and controversial issue in society today. Despite many malicious allegations have been made regarding marijuana today, the truth of what marijuana’s real dangers are are beginning to come about again. Sadly, these facts have been held under considerable judgement because of what people stereotype a pot smoker as. This has been brought under heavy criticism due to the stereotypical view of what people view as the typical “pot smoker.” This image society has of a lazy and unambitious America has all been the result of almost one hundred years of false propaganda and stereotypes gossiped by certain private individuals trying to keep weed illegal for their own personal benefit.