A Website Analysis on the Reformation of Marijuana Laws

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A Website Analysis on the Reformation of Marijuana Laws

NORML, or the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, founded in 1970, is a non profit, public interest advocacy group which fights for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition and want an end to arresting responsible marijuana smokers. In its website, the organization states that its mission is to “move public opinion sufficiently to achieve the repeal of marijuana prohibition so that the responsible use of cannabis by adults is no longer subject to penalty” (NORML website). Cannabis, the scientific term for the plant which the marijuana leaf is grown on, is used throughout the site. NORML, the oldest and largest marijuana legalization organization in the country, supports the idea of a legal marijuana market, and removal of all criminal penalties for the private possession and responsible use of marijuana by responsible adults. Through their website, NORML hopes to inform people who are interested in helping their cause to learn more about them, and to keep organization members connected to what is happening in other chapters and around the world.

A similar website is the organization, Efficacy’s site. Efficacy is a Connecticut-based, non-profit organization advocating peaceful ways to respond to social problems. The site is very effective in attracting people’s attention through colors and quick, interesting facts. It does this by having a bar on the top of the screen that change every couple of seconds, with facts such as, “The US imprisons more of its own people than any other country in the world,” and “the drug war has been Americas longest war”(Efficacy-Online). Beyond this, the first headline on the ...

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...look at from an analytical stand point because of the contrasting views that people generally have drilled into their heads since a young age. Before looking at the NORML web site, I did not know that there was a site such as NORML that was professionally run, and politically active. Although Efficacy is not presented as professionally, I feel that the site reaches a person like me much easier. The site reaches for a much broader audience, and interesting facts kept me attention. This is a good example of a large group looking for change which splits into smaller groups, and will be able to gain an even larger audience than if they were in one group. NORML will get the attention of people in power, and while they may not be taken too seriously because of their extreme views, they will pave the way for more moderate groups like Efficacy to create social change.

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