Noel Merino Drugs

We want what we can’t have. Much like the prohibition in the 1920’s, history is repeating itself as our country becomes divided on the issue of marijuana legalization. In fact, there are many comparisons between marijuana and alcohol use in today’s society making us wonder whether or not marijuana should be legal. In an article written by Noel Merino titled, “Research Shows That Marijuana Use Is Safer Than Alcohol Use”, many comparisons are made pointing towards marijuana as a safer substance than alcohol despite its criminalization. Merino’s argument overflows with statistics on alcohol, but lacks in several areas. Although, there is plenty of evidence, the argument lacks any emotional appeal and includes unaddressed assumptions, false
He fails to address many terms and descriptions he uses in his case for decriminalizing marijuana that raise questions to his bias on the issue. Merino cites the the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services when he writes, “25% to 30% of violent crimes in the U.S. are linked to alcohol” (p. 3). According to the U.S. Department of Justice, is equal to 5 million alcohol-related violent crimes per year (p. 3). Despite the fact that the given information comes from credible U.S. government sources, Merino never explains them with own thoughts. Particularly, he never defines what constitutes a “violent crime”. Without the interpretation of the type of violence being committed, the audience cannot decide whether marijuana is safe or not. What constitutes violence for one person may be very different to another. For example? I’m not sure if people don’t have a common grounds on what is violent or the threat of violence. No examples of any specific acts of violence done by either an alcohol or marijuana user is given, forcing the audience to interpret the statistics in any way they please. In an effective argument, the author would pound his own interpretation of the numbers into the minds of his audience in an attempt to persuade them to his own vision of the issue. However, the author just assumes that his
To establish some emotional appeal to the audience, the author should include a hook at the beginning of the paper that draws in the audience. Perhaps it could be a short story of someone who was deeply affected by drug or alcohol use that supports the author’s claim. Logos is necessary for an effective argument, but pathose will provide an emotional bond. If there are too many statistics and not enough emotion, the audience may lose interest or not understand the relevance of the numbers. The logos appeal in this paper was superb, but there was little reinforcement of the facts by the author himself. More elaboration of the statistics given can greatly improve their effectiveness on the audience. However, there is often a bias towards more incriminating evidence on alcohol, which makes sense for the author’s claim, but does not show much credibility on his part. The author must show both sides truthfully, then persuade the audience with his own thoughts to create a truly effective argument. Overall, the article “Research Shows That Marijuana Use is Safer Than Alcohol Use” proves to be a weak argument lacking in several criteria. The author over achieves in his use of logos by providing numerous sources and statistics, but greatly lacks any emotional appeal to hook the readers an