Encouraging The Legalization of Marijuana

Marijuana use has always been a debate for the public for a very long time. Whether it should be legalized or not and if marijuana overall has its benefits. With marijuana being illegal, the public does not give the opportunity to know what the positive outcomes could be for the public. The Business Insider article “All Drugs Should Be Legalized Immediately, Says Harvard Prof” by Henry Blodget uses tone and ethos to constructively emphasize how marijuana will improve the economy. 

Henry Blodget’s article is based on an interview he had with professor Jeffrey Miron. The author introduces Miron’s argument with estimations of how much money is used in order to prevent the consumption of drugs. Blodget asks questions to Miron such as “But won’t we become a nation of drug addicts?” and as a response Miron explains that even with alcohol and tobacco being legal this does not make everyone consume them and not everyone is addicted to them (Blodget). Blodget’s intended audience is targeting people who are against the legalization of drugs/marijuana. Blodget is targeting this group of people because they should be open to new information and be able to view things in a different perspective. The purpose of this article is to inform the public of the economic situation that the legalization of drugs could impact, not in a negative way but a positive one. The audience should be persuaded and be in agreement with the author. Blodget is able to support his argument with the use of tone and ethos. Tone is used in this article in an assertive way where Blodget is able to get straight to the point and lay out his points. Blodget writes, “Our current drug policy doesn’t work, Miron observes… Meanwhile, because the products are illegal, they’re dangerous, lo-quality, and unregulated, and they generate zero tax revenue,” to emphasize that even if these drugs are illegal, people are still able to get their hands on them and most of the time those drugs are not the best quality and there is no gain in money. This is written in an assertive tone because the information given directly and with confidence. The rest of the article is also being written with this tone which makes it persuasive. In Blodget’s article there is ethos being used since his data is credible and is based off of research being made by professor Jeffrey Miron from Harvard. 

In the article “Legalizing Drugs Would Boost US Budgets By $100 Billion, Harvard Researcher Concludes” by Tom Angel, there is a discussion of the research done by Jeffrey Miron who is a director of economics in both Cato and Harvard University. Miron’s research continues to focus on how marijuana will help the economy increase. Tom Angel and Henry Blodget present Miron’s research, Angel’s presentation will show new findings from the research. While Henry Blodget’s article was in 2010 and was based off of older research from Miron, Tom Angel’s article was in 2018 and it is based off of newer analysis from the research of Miron. Although both authors use an ethical appeal to present this data, Angel produces a more in depth article that provides data tables from Miron where it shows comparisons of the effect that legalization would induce. Angel expresses that, “This report estimates that $47.9 billion is spent annually on drug prohibition enforcement,” to forbid the use of marijuana and in order to implement this, states have to spend a lot of money. These are newer estimates from the Miron in 2018. Angel continues with, “Whereas $58.8 billion could potentially be raised in tax revenue,” this would emphasize the gains that the states could possibly earn if they do go in favor of legalizing marijuana. With Angel comparing the estimates of how much money is being lost and then how much money would be earned if they did legalize marijuana, it gives the reader a better understanding of why legalizing marijuana can be seen as a positive outlook for the economy. The use of ethos is emphasized in this article because Angel gives credibility towards the professor Jeffrey Miron in order to show to his audience that the information being provided is a trustworthy source. 

Marijuana most of the time is introduced as something that the public should always stay away from because it could cause danger. Marijuana overall has always been a controversial and sensitive topic for everyone. The public has always focused on the negatives and the downfalls of marijuana use but never the benefits that it could potentially have. In the article “Opinion: Legalizing marijuana crucial step for Louisiana economy” by Max Nedanovich, Nedanovich claims that, “In 2017 alone, Colorado, a state that has legalized recreational marijuana, collected upward of $247 million in taxes and fees revenue from marijuana sales.” The state has collected a large amount of money based on taxes and fees on marijuana alone. This is a huge step in the economy, Nedanovich explains that legalizing marijuana would bring growth towards the economy and this is a beneficial step for the state to take. Yet of course the selling of marijuana will have its limits just like there are limits for buying alcohol which Nedanovich explains later in his article. Nedanovich was able to provide valuable data that supports the argument where it shows one way of how marijuana can be beneficial and can cause a positive effect. Nedanovich reinforces that, “Medical marijuana use is only legal for a very limited number of patients with specific ailments and illnesses,” this piece reassures to the public that the legalization of marijuana is made with the best intentions and in order to make it happen then there will be limits to make sure that not everyone will get their hands on marijuana. Only to the people who actually need it and if they meet the requirements to purchase it. Another benefit that Nedanovich affirms is that,“Growers sell marijuana products to dispensaries that provide jobs, and patients conveniently receive their medicine.” Legalization of marijuana is able to provide more than the public thinks, jobs could be provided if marijuana is sold, since it is legal they would be getting paid. In this article it does not focus on just one point, there are many points that the author brings to light to show to his audience that there is more than one benefit. It is not only about the economy but the legalization of marijuana is able to help medically too, now more conveniently than ever. In Nedanovich’s article, there is more of a reassuring tone directed to his audience in order to show that the legalization of marijuana could be a positive outcome for the state. This reassuring tone is able to persuade the audience because of the many points provided instead of just one and that would answer their question as to why marijuana should be seen as a positive topic. 

Although, the main topic in articles should not just be the growth of the economy. There are other topics that should be brought up to show their importance. Such as the article, “Recreational Marijuana Legalized in Colorado and Washington” from UWIRE text where they state that, “Marijuana is nontoxic and therefore does not have the ability to cause death by overdose like other drugs do.” The main point that this article focuses on is the physical effects that it could cause on a person and the outcomes that it does and does not have. Marijuana does not cause death so therefore if there were cases that might have stated this then it was probably because of other drugs in the person’s system. There are many damaging drugs that would cause severe damage, they also state “It does not damage the lungs like tobacco” (UWIRE Text). In support of their claim they state, “According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 28 people die every day as a result of drunk driving car accidents” (UWIRE Text),  this emphasizes that there are other consumptions out there that cause more harm to the public and are legal. UWIRE Text used ethos since they used credible sources that would prove to the audience that the evidence being provided is reliable. They were able to build up to their claim and provide evidence from other sources that will for sure persuade the audience. Bringing up how many people die per day because of the influence of alcohol would make the audience realize that alcohol causes negative outcomes that will lead to death and yet it is still legal, meanwhile marijuana is not. There is also data provided where they show how smoking is as negatively effective, they also indicate that, “According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 443,000 people die prematurely every year from smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke” (UWIRE Text). This would show to the public that there are other things they should be worrying about also because they cause way more harm even if it is not direct use. With smoking there is also secondhand smoke that will affect those around the person who is smoking even worse. Marijuana does not cause these negative outcomes unlike smoking. 

The Business Insider article “All Drugs Should Be Legalized Immediately, Says Harvard Prof” by Henry Blodget does make his beliefs clear and what his main point in the article is. The message is clear for the audience to understand, Blodget is aiming for the audience to know the reasons as to why they should legalize drugs and to see the advantages that it will bring to the state and the community. Although the article does need more analysis on what the professor is saying. But overall the piece is effective because of its use of tone and ethos which make the article valuable and persuasive for readers. 

Works Cited

Angell, Tom. “Legalizing Drugs Would Boost US Budgets By $100 Billion, Harvard Researcher 

Concludes.” Marijuana Moment, 23 July 2018, www.marijuanamoment.net/legalizing-drugs-would-boost-us-budgets-by-100-billion-harvard-researcher-concludes/.

Blodget, Henry. “All Drugs Should Be Legalized Immediately, Says Harvard Prof.” 

Business Insider, Business Insider, 6 Oct. 2010, www.businessinsider.com/all-drugs-should-be-legalized-immediately-says-harvard-prof-2010-10. 

Nedanovich, Max. “Opinion: Legalizing marijuana crucial step for Louisiana economy.” UWIRE 

Text, 29 Sept. 2018, p. 1. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A556313580/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=c967e57c. 

“Recreational Marijuana Legalized in Colorado and Washington.” UWIRE Text, 15 Nov. 2012, p. 

1. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A555879350/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=4e2fba75. 

Reflection

At first I was confused with the assignment and thought we had to make an argument against the topic that we chose but then I got the hang of it and understood what we had to do. So my thesis was not doing what it was supposed to but when I understood the assignment I changed my thesis. When I did change it my thesis was weak and so I tried to make it better which resulted with the thesis that I have in my introduction. The thesis was a process and I believe it was one of the challenges I faced while writing this paper. When looking for relevant information about the same topic I thought it was difficult to find scholarly sources in the CCNY library. There were not many articles that circled around the drugs and marijuana situation where it connected back to the economy along with their benefits. In order to find the 2 scholarly articles I had to focus on key words and not just write a whole sentence on the search bar. Those key words would consist of marijuana benefits, economy positively affected, and the legalizations of drugs/marijuana. That was how I was able to overcome that challenge, I just had to keep looking and putting in different keywords. For popular media sources I did not have as much trouble to find a good article that was relevant and useful, so it was not a challenge. There was a source that I did find and at first I thought it was relevant but then discarded it because sometimes I overthink a lot and so it resulted with me thinking it was not as valuable as the others since it did not have as much information as the other sources that I have chosen. Sometimes I find it difficult to analyze because there are so many things I want to point out about the evidence being used, but I have to remember that I have to stay relevant and to not get out of track or my thoughts won’t be as organized and then the paper could become a mess. So I tried my best to stay focused on the topic and to not be disorganized with what I am analyzing or it will confuse the reader.