Persuasive Speech: Marijuana Should Be Legal

General Purpose: Speech to Persuade Specific Purpose: To get my audience to be pro on legalizing marijuana Thesis Statement: Marijuana isn't harmful and should be legalized Organizational Pattern: Cause and Effect To the AIDS or cancer patient, marijuana is the plant that fights nausea and appetite loss. To the nutritionist, its seed is second only to the soybean in nutritional value and is a source of cooking oil and vitamins. To the paper or cloth manufacturer, it is the plant that provided much of our paper and clothing for hundreds of years and produces four times more fiber per acre than trees. To the environmentalist, it is the plant that could greatly slow deforestation, restore robbed nutrients by other crops, and help prevent erosion. Preliminary findings show the drug may prove effective against glaucoma and asthma, and control such side nausea in cancer treatment. I concretely believe that marijuana should be legalized in the United States, primarily for the use of medicinal purposes. In technical or for the average American, marijuana, it is used only for recreational purposes. I think marijuana is a plant that could save many lives if it was made legal. My goal is to reverse prejudices, relieve ignorance, and inform people of the known and potential therapeutic uses of this remarkable plant. As of today the nation stands behind three basic ideas of what to do with marijuana; legalize marijuana, make it legal only as a prescription drug, or keep it as it is, illegal. People, who are pro-marijuana like me, argue that marijuana is considerably less harmful than tobacco and alcohol, the most frequently used legal drugs. Furthermore marijuana has never directly caused anyone's death. People who side with the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes believe that the ends justify the means. But the people who want to keep it illegal think that the medical uses do not outweigh the harmful side effects. Before deciding whether marijuana should be legal or illegal, one needs to know some basic facts. Lester Grinspoon, M.D. and James B. Bakalar note "most botanists agree that there are three species of marijuana; Cannabis sativa, the most widespread of the three, is tall, gangly, and loosely branched, growing as high as twenty feet; Cannabis indica is shorter, about three or four feet in height, pyramidal in shape and densely bran... ... middle of paper ... ... the medical value. It should be used by those people whose last alternative for relief is marijuana. These people who are ill should not be punished by suffering. Prescription drugs are not to be taken unless prescribed by a doctor. So in fact, we are not legalizing a drug, only introducing a new weapon for fighting illnesses. I hope to have changed people?s minds that have some of the hostilities towards marijuana. Its uses go far beyond just getting "high." It can be used to make paper, therefore saving many trees, clothes, and most importantly for medicine. . The evidence has clearly shown that marijuana has been around for a great deal of time and has served multiple purposes throughout history. Although I do not condone smoking marijuana as a recreational drug, I feel that its positive aspects would greatly assist us in the present as well as the future. Sources Grolier Electronic Encylopedia, Electronic Publishing, Inc., 2005 Grolier Wellness Encyclopedia, Drugs, Society & Behavior. Vol. 3, 2002. Ethan A. Nadelmann, American Heritage Magazine, Feb-Mar, 2003 Medical Marijuana, http://www.lec.org/Drug_Watch/Public/Documents/Med_Marijuana_Paper.htm, 2014.