The legalization of marijuana has become a hot-button issue in the last several years with fifty-eight percent of Americans wanting the drug to be legalized, surging ten percentage points since 2012. (Swift, 2013) Due to the recent burst that the cannabis industry has experienced, there have been many genres written on the topic but two of the best genres that reach an audience and give them useful information is an internet article written by Dr. Sanjay Gupta titled "Why I Changed my Mind on Weed" and a video documentary made by comedian Doug Benson titled "Super High Me.” Dr. Gupta wrote the article for CNN.com admitting that he was wrong about cannabis in the past and now finds it a helpful and useful drug. Doug Benson filmed this documentary …show more content…
Sanjay Gupta as a neurosurgeon or a media personality on health-related issues who usually makes frequent appearances on CNN which makes his credibility among peers tremendous. This makes anything he writes or says highly respected and Americans are going to listen and actually absorb the information that he communicates. Dr. Gupta was able to admit that he was wrong about marijuana and write a completely different article about it because his credibility with other topics are well respected. If a rookie journalist would have flip-flopped on a topic as big as cannabis reform, their audience would have dismissed the article completely, but because of Gupta’s credibility, audiences continued to listen and respect his opinion. Dr. Gupta makes a connection with the audience by affecting the emotions of the audience and elicits sympathy. In “Why I changed my Mind on Weed” he mentions a three year old girl by the name of Charlotte Figi He says that medicinal marijuana has limited the her seizures from 300 per week to two or three per month. Dr. Gupta is trying to evoke an emotional response from the audience by saying how medical pot has helped a young girl get better. He elicits sympathy by mentioning that in 1970 the Assistant Secretary of Health, Dr. Roger Egeberg, wrote a letter recommending marijuana to be classified as a schedule 1 substance because there was not enough information on the plant. That recommendation has stayed the same for 45 years …show more content…
Gupta writes his article in a general format that includes several pictures and a video about cannabis but the way the audience gets drawn into the article is because he uses an immense amount of specialized language. The pictures and videos are all related to marijuana so his audience reading the article can also click on the other links to learn more about the topic. The conception of “Super High Me” originated with a joke from Doug Benson’s stand-up routine, asking “If there’s a movie called Super Size Me about a guy who ate McDonald’s every day, why couldn’t there be a movies call Super High Me, where I smoke pot every day?” He shared this joke with a filmmaker, Michael Blieden, who saw potential producing the joke into a film. The structure and delivery of this movie came from copying “Super Size Me” but instead of eating McDonalds every day for thirty days, it was smoking pot. This was a smart idea because it drew audiences into the project since “Super Size Me” was a very well-known and popular
For over seventy years, marijuana has been a growing problem in our society. Due to all of the controversy over this drug, there have been countless battles fought concerning marijuana's capabilities. In the 1930's, a moral panic surfaced with regard to the use of marijuana. The movie Reefer Madness is a perfect example of how the media stereotyped and distorted this new drug in order to construct it as a social problem, convincing society that this narcotic was single handedly destroying humanity.
The series “High Profits” demonstrates the works and restrictions of the United States government regarding the issue of legalizing recreational marijuana. Breckenridge Cannabis Club business owners, Caitlin Mcguire and Brian Rogers, demonstrate both the struggles and profits of this up and coming industry. This series portrays virtually every viewpoint possible by including opinions from an array of political actors who discuss the influence of the government on this topic and the impact this topic has on the general public.
A highly controversial topic within the United States is whether or not the use, either for recreational or medicinal purposes, of marijuana should be legal. Renee Jacques, a writer for The Huffington Post, strongly believes that marijuana is completely harmless and includes the many reasons why in her article, “This is Why Marijuana Should Be Legal Everywhere.” The article was published on January 23, 2014, and at this time The United States was going through legalization changes. Jacques includes eight reasons why she believes marijuana should be legal; the main idea of these points being that everyone partakes in the use of marijuana and it is in no way, shape, or form harmful. Jacques introduces her article by including how Washington
With marijuana is becoming legal in some states for medical reasons, other states are still questioning how marijuana can be beneficial and even a problem. In “The Truth about Medical Marijuana” by Carrie Shortsleeve, published in 2013 on the website Men’s Health, Shortsleeve describes how tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, found in marijuana, can be used for medical benefits. In the passage, she explains how the immune system and brain are affected by THC especially if the substance is high in dosage. When Dr. Mahmoud ElSohly, Ph.D., “the director of the University of Mississippi’s Marijuana Project,” injured his back, he begins to research what benefits marijuana has when using the drug as medicine, and Shortsleeve shares this with people who maybe considering medical marijuana. Shortsleeve uses statistics, in depth research, and real- life situations to show how some people trust marijuana as medicine; even though, some of these people were once against medical marijuana.
In this documentary, Super High Me directed by Michael Blieden gives an interesting argument on how marijuana affects a person. In this film, he shows that in two months, when using marijuana, it can change and affect an individual. For this documentary, he chooses Doug Benson to prove his point, who does stand-up comedian and uses marijuana on a regular bases.
People react to the drugs in their system and have different experiences than others. “We are aware of that one person’s pain experience may differ from another’s based on factors such as tolerance..” (Faupel, Horowitz & Weaver, 2010, pg.13). What does it feel like to be high? The heart increases rapidly and gives the user an anxious feeling; one user could feel fine while the other not so much. The article relates to this because one person may think that marijuana is not harmful and that it should be legalized while another person with a heart condition may think differently. “The distinction between legal and illegal drugs is largely political; ideally it would be informed by science” (Faupel, Horowitz & Weaver, 2010, pg.20). It is a mistake to assume that all illegal drugs are
There has always been controversy about marijuana and the affects it has on health and the issue of legalization. Some people believe it is very destructive to one’s health, and yet others feel the complete opposite about it. Is Marijuana truly harmful to one’s health? “Marijuana, the Deceptive Drug”, written by George Bierson, was published in the Massachusetts News. In this article, Bierson determines that marijuana is harmful in many ways. He seems to think that it damages the brain, the reproductive system, and also contributes to the halt of production in the immune system. Bierson also tries to persuade the reader that marijuana is a “gateway drug” that leads to larger drugs in the future. However, by conducting research of my own, I have come to the conclusion that Bierson’s article simply lacks truth.
Marijuana in America became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was openly sold in pharmacies in the late nineteenth century (“Busted-America’s War on Marijuana Timeline”). The National Institute of Drug Abuse defines marijuana as, “The dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, which contains the psychoactive (mind-altering) chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as well as other related compounds” (“DrugFacts: Marijuana”). It was not until the Food and Drug act of 19...
Throughout history people have used marijuana for its dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds to relieve pain, stress, and other medical issues from one’s life. Within the recent years it has become one of the most debated issues in the United States. In the 1930s, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs) claimed that marijuana was a “gateway” drug and was a powerful, addicting substance. During the sixties marijuana became a symbol for rebellion against authority so it became very popular by college students and “hippies”. So in 1982, Drug Enforcement Administration increased pressure on drug farms and houses which decreased the use of marijuana. In the past twenty years marijuana has become a
Mekdlawit Demissie IGED 130-06 Informative Speech Outline Topic: Marijuana Speech Goal: To inform the audience about the long and short term effects of marijuana usage. Central Idea: Marijuana is the most commonly used drug amongst young people in the United States. Introduction: I. Attention getter:
Lately it seems that drug policy and the war on drugs has been in the headlines quite a lot. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the policies that the United States government takes against illegal drugs are coming into question. The mainstream media is catching on to the message of organizations and individuals who have long been considered liberal "Counter Culture" supporters. The marijuana question seems to be the most prevalent and pressing of the drugs and issues that are currently being addressed. The messages of these organizations and individuals include everything from legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, to full-unrestricted legalization of the drug.
Dr Gupta looks like he never smoke Marijuana at least in the documentary, although he had the chance to try it at numerous occasions while traveling around the world looking for answers for his questions. He looks unbiased to me. He asked those who oppose the legalization
For nearly one hundred and fifty years marijuana has been illegal in the United States of America. Though marijuana naturally grew in all of our fifty states, it was outlawed due the superior strength and durability of hemp rope. This threatened to replace cotton rope, which would cost wealthy cotton owners a lot of money. To this day marijuana is still outlawed in the U.S., however rope has nothing to do with it. Once slavery and the “cotton boom” were over hemp made a little bit of a comeback in a smoking form. Then, in the early 1940’s the government began releasing anti-marijuana propaganda. In the 1960’s when marijuana became popular amongst pop-culture, a movie by the name of “Reefer Madness” was released depicting marijuana users as fiends and criminals who’s normal everyday lives fell apart, and spun out of control due to the addiction to the drug. Even in the present day organizations, as well as the government, continue to try and sway people from using the substance by portraying users as irresponsible idiots. Some examples of behaviors portrayed in the commercials are: accidental shootings, running over a little girl on a bike, molesting a passed out girl, supporting terror, and impregnating/becoming impregnated. I feel that these advertisements are ridiculously tasteless and misleading. Through personal experience, surveys, an interview, and a case study I intend to prove that marijuana users do not behave in the fashion that the anti-marijuana campaign ads would suggest, and furthermore, I expect to find that the ads so grossly misrepresent the common user, even those who do not use disagree with the negative portrayals. I also challenge you to think about the suggested situations and behaviors from the commercials, I feel that you’ll see every situation and behavior in the advertisements is much more feasible to a person under the influence of alcohol than under the influence of marijuana.
Marijuana, also known as Cannabis is the third most well-liked recreational drug, which only falls behind alcohol and tobacco, in the United States (The Whitehouse, n.d.). Marijuana is made up of dried leaves, plants, stalks, and pits from the hemp plant Cannabis Sativa, which comprises of the mind-altering compound delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), in addition to other associated compounds. This plant substance can correspondingly be converged in a resin called hashish or an adhesive black fluid called hash oil. Efforts to legalize marijuana for medication treatment and recreational use in the United States have grown in current years. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that marijuana may perhaps assist in a reduction of nausea, encourage hunger, and lessen pain (Food and Drug Administration, 2006). On the other hand, the American Medical Association (AMA) does not tolerate marijuana as a medication (1995-2013). So many answers are needed with such contradictory opinions around this exceedingly controversial drug to decide what measures need to be taken from the federal government for a final solution.
...ed that legalization does not result in the best possible outcome; instead the best solution would be decriminalization of marijuana and legalization of medical marijuana. This solution is not only more feasible than complete legalization but also can be argued to be the more ethical solution. This is because it encompasses most of the advantages to legalization while reducing many of the risks substantially. The changes we will see in the future regarding this issue will “be shaped by whether the various experiments with legalization, decriminalization, and medical marijuana are deemed successes or failures” (Dionne and Galston). The nature of ethics clearly shows that there is never a definite course of action that should be taken, but through deliberation and analysis using the ethical theories, one is able to produce the best solution given the circumstances.