Analysis Of Nancy Reagan's Argument Against Drugs

In the 1980s and early ‘90s, Nancy Reagan proposed an anti-drugs campaign with the slogan Just Say No. Her solution to the drug problem was to teach children to say no to drugs, and rely on self-restraint to defeat temptation. Reagan believed children would be able to turn away from drugs if they had parents who raised them to be morally sound. Conservatives give priority to Moral Strength, and see those who use marijuana and drugs as morally weak and lacking self-control. A drug user, then, must change their personal values instead of relying on drug treatment centers or social change in order to quit their habit, Lakoff explains, “If the metaphor of Moral Strength has priority over other forms of explanation, then your poverty or your
The logic of empathy is, as Lakoff defines, “If you really feel what another person feels, and if you want to feel a sense of well-being, then you will want that person to experience a sense of well-being. Therefore, you will act so as to promote a sense of well-being in that person” (114). A key ingredient in marijuana is cannabidiol (CBD), which has many potential medical uses without the psychoactive effects of THC. CBD oil has proven to be a very effective treatment for people who suffer from epilepsy and seizures. “High Science” reports a mother’s frustration when she tried to get CBD oil for her epileptic child, as Sides writes, “Reports like these [ones that show the effectiveness of CBD] only deepen [the mother’s] frustrations with what she has come to regard as the imbecility of federal marijuana laws that put her at risk of arrest for transporting a drug that ‘wouldn’t get a mouse high’ across state lines. ‘It’s unacceptable,’ she says, ‘that we’re allowing our citizens to suffer like this’” (55). The well-being of others is important to liberals, and they believe that people should receive treatment for their ailments and diseases, even if that treatment comes from marijuana. Many liberals promote the legalization of medical marijuana because more research will become available and, with it, more
According to the metaphor, work should be safe, stimulating, fair, and promote a happy life, which is in contrast with Strict Father morality where work is the “application of self-discipline for the sake of self-reliance” (Lakoff, 131). Many people find working with cannabis to be an enjoyable experience. More and more scientists and farmers are beginning to realize the plant’s potential. Sides interviewed one of Denver’s chief horticulturists who said, “It’s these low-THC strains that really keep me up at night, dreaming about what they can do,’ [the horticulturist] says, noting that marijuana contains numerous substances—cannabinoids, flavonoids, terpenes—that have never been investigated in depth”