I believe Jon Stewart would approve of the blog I am following discussing the legalization of marijuana. Some of the posters reply to other posters with substantial evidence to their claims, including research. Furthermore, one particular poster, jmgaertner, opens a post with, “Ok, I agree with your claim that tobacco and alcohol have very negative effects on the body.” By saying “I agree” he or she is acknowledging the opinions of the person he is replying to. Jon Stewart stressed the importance of doing this instead of disrespecting the opinions of others and thus sinking down into a deep hole that gets a debate nowhere. I’ve never seen Crossfire so I can’t say I know how it goes but I’m assuming that the two debaters on the show aren’t respecting each others positions and finding some common ground and thus having a civilized debate. For the majority, the blog I am following does do this.
Should Marijuana be Legalized? November 17, 2009
Yes. It only makes sense to me that cannibis becomes legal.
-It could bring huge revenue to the US economy.
-It is just as harmful if not less so than other mind-altering substances such as alcohol and tobacco.
-Legalizing/ decriminalizing it would save money. Meaning it would take out all these civilians put in jail for possessing marijuana or dealing it which is wasting the dollars of American civilians.
-It’s regulation would prevent the youth population from having so much easy access to it. Putting an age restriction on it, such as 18, would make it harder for kids as young as 10 to get marijuana.
-Our current laws AREN’T working. Just as prohibition didn’t work, neither is the illegalization of marijuana.
- A huge population of the American people believe the best way to handle this issue is to legalize cannibis (even those who don’t care about smoking it). And after all, isn’t this supposed to be a country ran by the
people?
New Perspectives November 10, 2009
http://publish.indymedia.org/en/2009/08/928504.shtml
This article discusses more of the governmental approaches of the legalization of marijuana. It states that the current law isn’t really working and there must be a better way of handling this issue. Most Americans say the best way to handle the issue of marijuana is just to legalize it. Robert Pastor brings up the idea of concentrating on the health associated with drug use and treatment for it instead. This is a new perspective to me. In addition to my positive arguments about legalizing pot, I can also argue that the current law just isn’t working.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/newsandviews/2007/08/drugs_legalize_it.html
This article at first seemed to be against legalizing weed, but then switched gears. It discusses how legalizing weed, along with other drugs, would cut down on crime. This statement makes you take a second look for sure. But really, without the profit motive of drugs, you put dealers out of business. This argument is interesting and if I wanted to appeal to an educated, intellectual audience I might use this argument. However, I’m not so convinced of it myself, so I don’t think I will incorporate it into my remix,
Legalize it. November 2, 2009
For my remix project, I chose the legalization of marijuana. I believe the benefits of marijuana being legal outweigh the drawbacks. My audience is American civilians who are against this argument and those who aren’t sure where they stand. I want to make these points: marijuana is no more physically harmful than alcohol, it would bring much revenue to our economy, and the money keeping marijuana users in prison is a waste. I am going to take the parts from each original video that contribute to these points and combine them. I also may take segments from videos speaking against this issue and put them in a context that makes them seem stupid.
