Persuasive Speech Legalizing Marijuana Essay
Good Student
Professor Raynor
Persuasive Speech
Title: Benefits of Legalizing Marijuana
General Purpose: To Persuade.
Specific Purpose: To persuade or reinforce the attitude of my audience towards the legalization of marijuana being best for our country.
Thematic Statement: There are many reasons for why marijuana should be legal but due to lack of time I will only be discussing marijuana’s health risks and how it compares to alcohol, the government’s financial gain from legalization, and popular oppositions and myths about marijuana.
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I. Introduction: Hi my name is Good Student and I’m going to talk to you about …show more content…
some facts on Cannabis or marijuana.
A. Attention: I would like to ask a favor of everyone, because I am discussing something slightly controversial I would like you to keep an open mind or try to about what I have to say and realize that I am only stating well-researched facts.
B. Audience connect/credibility: With that said, I do not condone smoking. I am an objective person and feel that the pros greatly outweigh the cons when it comes to legalizing marijuana. I believe the best strategy for persuasion is presenting the facts and researched statistics on the topic at hand.
C. Thematic Statement: There are many reasons for why marijuana should be legal but due to lack of time I will only be discussing marijuana’s health risks and how it compares to alcohol, the government’s financial gain from legalization, and popular oppositions and myths about marijuana.
II. Body
A. Main Point: Marijuana can have a very positive overall effect, and compared to the adverse effects of alcohol any risk with marijuana is miniscule.
1. Support material: According to the CDC, “Excessive alcohol use is the 3rd leading lifestyle-related cause of death for people in the United States each year” (National Center, 2011).
a) In 2007 there was roughly 47,000 deaths due to alcohol and alcoholic liver disease and that is excluding accidents and homicides, so that number paired with the Drunk Driving Statistics of 2009; 11,000 driving fatalities due to alcohol make an annual estimate of around 57,000 deaths due to alcohol (CDC, 2011; Drunk Driving, 2011).
i) In comparison, many sources stated that there have never been any deaths due to marijuana overdose.
2. Support material: In 2008 in California, where medical marijuana is legal, “fewer than 200 patients were admitted in the hospital due to marijuana abuse; where as over 73, 000 are admitted annually due to alcohol abuse (Facts on Cannabis, 2011).
3. Support material: Marijuana has many beneficial properties including: sedative, anti-inflammatory, anti-convulsive, reduction of dizziness, increases appetite, anti-nausea, and a bronchodilator. Thus, it can help people with AIDS, hepatitis, eating disorders, insomnia, cancer and many other issues ranging from minor to major (Live and Feel, 2009).
(Transition/signpost): Those statistics alone should make you question why alcohol would be legal and marijuana would not be, but if that is convincing let me explain the difference legalizing marijuana could do for our country financially.
B. Main Point: I think we can all agree that our nation is currently in a financial crisis, and legalizing marijuana would be one way to help our situation.
1. Support Material: Without going into too many numerical values, in 2007, there was $112.9 billion dollars of marijuana in the United States. If that had been legalized it would have produced billions for the state and federal government (Gettman, 2007).
2. Support material: John Gettman notes that, “Consequently marijuana arrests cost taxpayers $10.7 billion in 2004” (Gettman, 2007).
3. Support material: In 2007, with the money saved and earned from legalizing marijuana the United States on a local and federal scale could have easily generated over 100 billion dollars, and that figure would only be larger in the future.
(Transition/signpost): Lastly, I would like to quickly address some of the main opposition points.
C. Main Point: I realize many parents are concerned for their children’s health and fear that marijuana is a gateway drug; they also feel that making it legal will make it more accessible to the youth as well.
1. Support material: According to The National Institute of Drug Abuse there is no link found between marijuana and cancer, despite the plethora of research done (NIDA, 2010).
2.
Support material: The National Institute of Drug Abuse also recorded that in 2009 nearly half of all seniors in high school had smoked marijuana. For those people, worried that making it legal will make it more accessible I would like to point out that it is not difficult to come by and it is nearly the majority of the population has tried it at least once, therefore; legalizing it allows the government to make money instead of lose it in this regard.
3. Support material: Probably the most widespread rumor about marijuana is that it is a gateway drug. Not only have there been no studies that prove that, but there is evidence that shows that the people dealing marijuana deal other drugs as well and therefore can influence their buyers to harder drugs. Legalizing marijuana allows the governments to have quality control so there is no question that the marijuana is not laced with a harder drug.
Transition: To sum up the opposition I would like to point out that if you were concerned that legalizing marijuana would create an easier opportunity to access it, that may be true but it is easy to come by as is and legalization would allow for cleaner strains and an overall
profit.
III. Conclusion: To wrap it up, I have discussed why marijuana should be legal and through factual evidence I have shown that marijuana is clearly less harmful than alcohol, has several benefits including the potential to make our country billions in profit, and addressed the most popular arguments against legalization. Based on the factual evidence, regardless about how one feels about actually smoking the plant, I would hope the clear choice would to be stopping the bleeding of funds and legalize marijuana. Thank you.
References
Overdose, Drug War Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/58
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Alcohol and Public Health. (2011, October 14). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/
Facts on Cannabis verse Alcohol. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.saferchoice.org/content/view/24/53/
Drunk Driving Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://dontdiedrunk.org/drunk-driving-stats/?gclid=COKpvYratawCFeddTAodZjAKFw
CDC/National Center for Health Statistics, Alcohol Use. (2010, October 22). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/alcohol.htm
Live and Feel. (2009). Retrieved on November 13, 2011, from http://www.liveandfeel.com/medicinalplants/marijuana.html
Gettman, J. (2007). Lost Taxes and Other Costs of Marijuana Laws. The Bulletin of Cannabis Reform. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.drugscience.org/Archive/bcr4/6Fiscal.html
The National institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). (2010 November). Retrieved on November 13, 2011, from http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/marijuana.html
Professor Raynor
Persuasive Speech
Title: Benefits of Legalizing Marijuana
General Purpose: To Persuade.
Specific Purpose: To persuade or reinforce the attitude of my audience towards the legalization of marijuana being best for our country.
Thematic Statement: There are many reasons for why marijuana should be legal but due to lack of time I will only be discussing marijuana’s health risks and how it compares to alcohol, the government’s financial gain from legalization, and popular oppositions and myths about marijuana.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Introduction: Hi my name is Good Student and I’m going to talk to you about …show more content…
some facts on Cannabis or marijuana.
A. Attention: I would like to ask a favor of everyone, because I am discussing something slightly controversial I would like you to keep an open mind or try to about what I have to say and realize that I am only stating well-researched facts.
B. Audience connect/credibility: With that said, I do not condone smoking. I am an objective person and feel that the pros greatly outweigh the cons when it comes to legalizing marijuana. I believe the best strategy for persuasion is presenting the facts and researched statistics on the topic at hand.
C. Thematic Statement: There are many reasons for why marijuana should be legal but due to lack of time I will only be discussing marijuana’s health risks and how it compares to alcohol, the government’s financial gain from legalization, and popular oppositions and myths about marijuana.
II. Body
A. Main Point: Marijuana can have a very positive overall effect, and compared to the adverse effects of alcohol any risk with marijuana is miniscule.
1. Support material: According to the CDC, “Excessive alcohol use is the 3rd leading lifestyle-related cause of death for people in the United States each year” (National Center, 2011).
a) In 2007 there was roughly 47,000 deaths due to alcohol and alcoholic liver disease and that is excluding accidents and homicides, so that number paired with the Drunk Driving Statistics of 2009; 11,000 driving fatalities due to alcohol make an annual estimate of around 57,000 deaths due to alcohol (CDC, 2011; Drunk Driving, 2011).
i) In comparison, many sources stated that there have never been any deaths due to marijuana overdose.
2. Support material: In 2008 in California, where medical marijuana is legal, “fewer than 200 patients were admitted in the hospital due to marijuana abuse; where as over 73, 000 are admitted annually due to alcohol abuse (Facts on Cannabis, 2011).
3. Support material: Marijuana has many beneficial properties including: sedative, anti-inflammatory, anti-convulsive, reduction of dizziness, increases appetite, anti-nausea, and a bronchodilator. Thus, it can help people with AIDS, hepatitis, eating disorders, insomnia, cancer and many other issues ranging from minor to major (Live and Feel, 2009).
(Transition/signpost): Those statistics alone should make you question why alcohol would be legal and marijuana would not be, but if that is convincing let me explain the difference legalizing marijuana could do for our country financially.
B. Main Point: I think we can all agree that our nation is currently in a financial crisis, and legalizing marijuana would be one way to help our situation.
1. Support Material: Without going into too many numerical values, in 2007, there was $112.9 billion dollars of marijuana in the United States. If that had been legalized it would have produced billions for the state and federal government (Gettman, 2007).
2. Support material: John Gettman notes that, “Consequently marijuana arrests cost taxpayers $10.7 billion in 2004” (Gettman, 2007).
3. Support material: In 2007, with the money saved and earned from legalizing marijuana the United States on a local and federal scale could have easily generated over 100 billion dollars, and that figure would only be larger in the future.
(Transition/signpost): Lastly, I would like to quickly address some of the main opposition points.
C. Main Point: I realize many parents are concerned for their children’s health and fear that marijuana is a gateway drug; they also feel that making it legal will make it more accessible to the youth as well.
1. Support material: According to The National Institute of Drug Abuse there is no link found between marijuana and cancer, despite the plethora of research done (NIDA, 2010).
2.
Support material: The National Institute of Drug Abuse also recorded that in 2009 nearly half of all seniors in high school had smoked marijuana. For those people, worried that making it legal will make it more accessible I would like to point out that it is not difficult to come by and it is nearly the majority of the population has tried it at least once, therefore; legalizing it allows the government to make money instead of lose it in this regard.
3. Support material: Probably the most widespread rumor about marijuana is that it is a gateway drug. Not only have there been no studies that prove that, but there is evidence that shows that the people dealing marijuana deal other drugs as well and therefore can influence their buyers to harder drugs. Legalizing marijuana allows the governments to have quality control so there is no question that the marijuana is not laced with a harder drug.
Transition: To sum up the opposition I would like to point out that if you were concerned that legalizing marijuana would create an easier opportunity to access it, that may be true but it is easy to come by as is and legalization would allow for cleaner strains and an overall
profit.
III. Conclusion: To wrap it up, I have discussed why marijuana should be legal and through factual evidence I have shown that marijuana is clearly less harmful than alcohol, has several benefits including the potential to make our country billions in profit, and addressed the most popular arguments against legalization. Based on the factual evidence, regardless about how one feels about actually smoking the plant, I would hope the clear choice would to be stopping the bleeding of funds and legalize marijuana. Thank you.
References
Overdose, Drug War Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/58
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Alcohol and Public Health. (2011, October 14). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/
Facts on Cannabis verse Alcohol. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.saferchoice.org/content/view/24/53/
Drunk Driving Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://dontdiedrunk.org/drunk-driving-stats/?gclid=COKpvYratawCFeddTAodZjAKFw
CDC/National Center for Health Statistics, Alcohol Use. (2010, October 22). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/alcohol.htm
Live and Feel. (2009). Retrieved on November 13, 2011, from http://www.liveandfeel.com/medicinalplants/marijuana.html
Gettman, J. (2007). Lost Taxes and Other Costs of Marijuana Laws. The Bulletin of Cannabis Reform. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.drugscience.org/Archive/bcr4/6Fiscal.html
The National institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). (2010 November). Retrieved on November 13, 2011, from http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/marijuana.html