The Legalization of Weed

The Legalization of Weed

After reading Brooks and Samuel's articles on their opinions on the legalization of weed, the question that arises is, why not legalize weed? Both have their separate opinions on this controversy and both have very valid reasons to support them. Brooks's standpoint is neutral, meaning he doesn't mind if it is legalized or not because people will outgrow it as they mature. Samuel is completely against it saying people just want to get high and do absolutely nothing, hurting their own lives. Two states, Washington and Colorado, have already legalized marijuana and most likely more states in the near future. The results of it being more beneficial or harmful to society will soon be established. Although, Samuel does have a point that people just want to get high and escape life for a few moments, Brooks's neutral stance brings up a good point that people will eventually overcome their need of weed, therefore the legalization of weed benefit society more than harm it.

In the article," Weed: Been There, Done That," by David Brooks, he admits that he used to smoke weed with his group of friends. With his background and experiences with weed, he accumulates three points on the legalization of weed and what he believes how it'll affect Americans as a whole. His first point is that everyone will go through some type of embarrassing moment while one is high, making them rethink why one did it in the first place. His second point is that he witnessed one of his old friends that was the brightest in his group slowly throw away his life because of weed. His last point is, as he got older, there are responsibilities an adult in a business world should obtain in order to be taken seriously and professionally. With that in mind, he brings up that one's priorities change and weed won't be the satisfaction one will seek. Instead, it'll be having a sense of accomplishment after hard work.

In Brooks's article, his targeted audience is for teenagers and above. The reason for this is teenagers are aware of weed and that a decent amount of them use it. He even openly admits that he had a phase as a teenager where he smoked weed regularly. His examples of him using weed relates to people who have used weed. He connects to them in order to grab their attention and inform them what will happen to them in the future. In this case they will overgrow the use of weed and will stop using it to be more professional. His emotions do affect his opinion and is shown when he mentions that a he has a friend that was very intelligent turn into a pothead with no motivation. He definitely gets his point through to the audience by connecting with them and sharing his life experiences. Teenagers most likely won't listen to their parents so when another adult shares his or her story of their time with weed, they will open up their ears and take in what he or she has to say. Also, his writing style is a more direct and easy for any one to comprehend. There isn't a hidden message, just an informative article letting his audience know what happened to him will most likely happen to the weed users as they mature. Brooks's straightforward tone makes it easy for the audience to think from his perspective and give them insight.

From a neutral standpoint to a negative one, in the article," Legalizing Pot Isn't About Medicine, It's About Getting High," by Howard C. Samuels, he expresses his opinions on why it shouldn't be legal. He believes the problem is even considering the fact of legalizing marijuana, not the health effects, nor the potheads in the nation. He mentions that people believe that it should be legal for medical reasons, but refutes and says that people can get it by faking symptoms and having fake doctor's notes. He believes if people want weed, they'll find a way to find it, which is a problem in this society. He also mentions that, potheads aren't usually found outdoors because potheads stay inside because they lose the sense of motivation to anything and lie around the whole day. Another point he mentions is the advertising strategies and its flaws. They're going to market it to the young like cigarette companies did for the longest time. His last point is that he believes that it's only going to slow one down and weaken them mentally. If one really needs to get high all the time, you really need to dream on.

In Samuel's article, his angle of vision is also an opinionated one,

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