The Weed War: Profitable Pot

The Weed War: Profitable Pot

The debate on legalizing marijuana has been going on for decades and has altered in numerous ways. It keeps going on because there are so many arguments on why it should not be legal. Slowly, however; citizens all throughout America are fighting for the legalization of marijuana. Americans do not feel there is anything wrong with the use of marijuana, as long as that restrict when and how we act upon using marijuana. Similar to how alcohol and prescribed medicines have guidelines while being used.

Neil Boyd in the November 4, 1991 "The Vancouver Son: Drugs safer if legalized, says author" for the legalization of marijuana because it would bring in billions of dollars and that legalizing weed would reduce street violence. Boyd first states that it could bring in billions of dollars because of the tax revenue. Boyd also states that street violence would drop because alcohol and other drugs, such as cocaine, cause people to become more violent, where as weed relaxes the mind. Boyd also uses statistics to back up his claims.

The older essay uses ethos very well in grabbing the audiences trust. The last part of sentence one states "by Simon Fraser University criminologist Neil Boyd." This simple statement gives people trust while reading the article. It makes people feel more comfortable in believing the article. "His book - High Society: Legal and Illegal Drugs in Canada," is also stated in the article which means that this persons argument has not only been heard before, but people agreed with that person on a serious level. I feel like this author has very good authority in what he is talking about.

Boyd used numerous statistics to show why weed should be legal in a majority of his article. He stated that "tobacco kills about 35,000 a year and another 15,000 deaths are alcohol-related, compared to less than 20 marijuana- and LSD-related deaths annually." He is simply arguing that there are more harmful effects from legal substances than there are from using marijuana. The logos affect that Boyd used the most is with reason. He tried to convert people by stating facts but did not state facts that were very logical. When I say this, I mean that his statistics were weak and did not have a very big affect on my opinion of marijuana but would seem like a reasonable argument to people who have lesser knowledge of the topic. In all honesty, it is a good argument and is really overlooked. But the people who need to be persuaded are usually prepared for that statement during this argument. Boyd does use certain statistics that are very persuasive such as "Legalizing marijuana would create about $ 2 billion in tax revenues in the first year alone." I believe that is an argument that is truly persuading government officials to legalize marijuana because marijuana would be a very profitable item. Money is a big factor in why weed is in consideration of being legal.

I feel like Boyd used pathos the most in his essay because he really tried to get to the emotional side of his audience. He would bring up how drinking and driving kills so many people, while being