A Rhetorical Analysis Of Drugs By Gore Vidal

Billy’s presentation on opium caught my attention tremendously. Not only did he do a good job, but the topic itself interested me. The strife and hassle that went into the legalization of opium importation truly baffled me. The way opium usage is described by users in the book and by people in history, to be honest, makes it sound enticing. The adverse effects are definitely not worth it though. Opium usage can result in anxiety, depression, and even death caused by overdose. I do not know if In respect those who chose to use this drug but I definitely respect the people who died in the Opium Wars. I previously had no idea there were wars fought just for drugs. While I do not share these men 's passion for opium, it takes a lot of courage to

Currently, drugs are on the list of the high concern for Americans. We consider it one of the major problems facing our country today. We see stories on the news about people being killed on the street every day over drugs. Too many people believe that drugs are only an inner-city problem, but in reality they affect all of us - whether you use or not. Marijuana has carried a lot of negative and unnecessary stigmas over the year, but the time has come to shake that bad reputation. If the United States adopted a policy towards the total decriminalization of marijuana, the country would benefit from many economic advances and overall crime rates would be reduced. In my opinion, the current drug policy of our government is failing to do its job.

Chapter two introduces the policy problems related to the War on Drugs, as well as other policies that banned or limited other use of alcohol and drugs. Authors start with the history of the regulations of mood altering substances that began in colonial times, and then it escalated with “The Father of Modern Drug Enforcement”, Dr. Hamilton Wright. President Roosevelt assigned him to be the first Opium Drug Commissioner of the United States. Dr. Wright saw drugs as a big problem, according to the text the drug prohibitions started with his opinions on limiting drug use. In 1906 the Pure Food and Drug Act was signed and required the labeling of the ingredients of the products. There were other acts signed after that period, first we had The Harrison

The topic of this controversial essay will be about is the legalization of marijuana. I will be advocating for the legalization of marijuana. The legalization of marijuana is so controversial because it was outlawed in the past, but now people are discovering new things it could do and wish to have it legalized once again. The legalization of marijuana can offer medical benefits, generate a lot of tax money, and decreases prisoner space.

The previous decades saw increased the decriminalization of certain drugs, such as marijuana, as they began to be used more casually. However, the 1980s and the specifically the Reagan administration saw the “War on Drugs” start. Led by Nancy Reagan, the “Just Say No” campaign dominated the headlines as parents became concerned about their children using drugs (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, n.d.). Under new leadership, the government began to criminalize drug use to unprecedented levels. In a span of seventeen years, from 1980 to 1997, the number of the incarcerated individuals imprisoned due to non-violent drug offenses increased from forty thousand to five hundred thousand (Drugpolicy.org, n.d.). At the start of the decade only 2% of Americans viewed drugs in America as a major issue, but after only nine years, that number grew to an astonishing 64%. The media and politicians contributed to this meteoric rise in such a short time. Television networks and news programs began to cover the negative side effects of drugs that were ignored during the two previous free living decades. Politicians viewed the “War on Drugs” as an opportunity to strengthen their name recognition since the majority of drug related legislature became front page news. The 1980s saw the birth of a highly addictive and inexpensive drug, crack cocaine. This spinoff of the considered designer

Drug legalization has been a very fiercely debated topic in the United States. Therefore, William Bennett took on the fight for the war on drugs. He states that "he has learned from the former Secretary of State George Shultz that our concept of fighting drugs is "flawed." The only thing to do, he says, is to "make it possible for addicts to buy drugs at some regulated place." He will discuss into depth each of these 4 points in his argument which are 1. Legalization will take the profit out of drugs, 2. Legalization will eliminate the black market., 3. Legalization will dramatically reduce crime., 4. Drug use should be legal since users only harm themselves. Therefore, of the four arguments for legalizing drugs that Bennett has refuted, and

The prohibition of intoxicating beverages was one of the least successful experiments in American social and criminal history, but in spite of its obvious failure in the 1920s, the American experiment in prohibition is still being continued today. For decades, our leaders have been telling us that America is in the middle of a drug epidemic, and the trade in illicit drugs has certainly created a criminal industry that is incredibly profitable and extremely violent. Until recently, however, few respectable political or law enforcement officials have been willing to consider the possibility of legalization. The moral, medical and social disgrace attached to illegal drug use was simply too great. In recent years, however, as the crisis has escalated

With the pressure to legalize marijuana rise for government officials, protesters argue that decriminalizing marijuana would help society and benefit the people living in the Unites States. In states that have already legalized marijuana, it has been documented and proven that marijuana usage has been higher than before legalization, even if the consequences were very severe (“Marijuana Decriminalization”). If people are so highly dedicated to continuingcontinue using marijuana, even with their lives and future at stake, what could stop them?

All of this leads to groups and individuals alike to search for solutions to end this ongoing crisis. In Matthew Cooke’s, “How to End the War on Drugs” he brings about possible solutions to end the war. Cooke (2013) suggests making all drug sales, possession, and use non crime nor jail able offenses, allow pharmacies to sell recreational drugs to adults only, with plenty of warning information, and outlaw advertising for recreational drugs (Cooke, 2013).While this all may seem reasonable at first glance, the author’s use of over emotion does not play to his advantage.

Sorting Through the Science on Marijuana, written by Itai Danovitch, touches on what marijuana is, the innocuous and detrimental effects it can have on a body, and how the legalization of this drug would affect the rates of marijuana use. Throughout the piece, Danovitch speaks from an unbiased point of view; he is neither for the legalization and use of this drug nor against it. Itai Danovitch not only establishes a dependable and impartial article, he also connects to the reader, both, emotionally and logically through statements validated by facts.

The War on Drugs has been a long battle between the government and drugs in the United States. Legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes can have a great impact on society and legalizing marijuana for recreational use can have a much larger impact. Some people believe that legalizing marijuana would do more harm than good; but this is not the case. In this essay, I will be arguing for the legalization of marijuana because it reduces the stats for the number of criminals, it saves taxpayers money, it strengthens the economy, it is beneficial to health, and it is less harmful than other drugs, along with countering the common misconception of marijuana as a gateway drug for teenagers its abuse.

Millions of people around the world are consumers of marijuana. The demand for legalizing marijuana has grown throughout the years. Users of marijuana pledge for it to be legalized to avoid the prison life. For now, marijuana is an illegal drug in almost all countries. With the demand of it increasing, the legalization of marijuana has grown to be a very controversial topic recently. This subject has been debated numerous times over the past few years. People’s points of view and researches about the topic have varied greatly. Some people believe that marijuana should be legalized, while the rest feel should stay prohibited.

Marijuana has existed for many years and has remained illegal in many states but has become legalized for recreational use in four states, which are Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Alaska. Medical Marijuana has become legalized in thirteen states, some of which are California, New Jersey, Michigan, etc. That signifies that medical marijuana is legalized in twenty five percent of the states, and that recreational marijuana is legalized in less than one percent of the states. Some people deem that recreational marijuana should be legalized for numerous reasons including the positive overall health effects they suspect that it provides. Opposing that argument, Recreational marijuana should not be legalized in all fifty states for countless reasons

While at Woodstock a “pharmacy district” developed where one could buy or sell many different types of drugs (Gerdes 20). Not only was there the consumption of marijuana, but also there also was many other drugs like alcohol, LSD, acid, and heroin (Crampton and Rees 212, 226; Gerdes 19; Johnson par. 1). There also was a fan who had heroin overdose that lead to death while at the festival (Crampton and Rees 226). In today's society all of theses drugs still have a major toll on the country. In the 1960’s marijuana use had no outstanding effects on the United States people but in today's society the use of marijuana had become a huge epidemic over the past years. Even though it has been scientifically proven that marijuana can help seizures, Crohn’s, and effects of cancer, yet many people in today's society still believe that it has no use. In the United States 45 percent of drug arrest in 2013 were due to marijuana, but at Woodstock in 1969 when there was a controversial “Drug War” no one was arrested for marijuana (Merino par. 3). The use of marijuana is more strict in the United States now then it was in

As of recent, the war on drugs has been a very often discussed topic due to many controversial issues. Some people believe the War on Drugs has been quite successful due to the amount of drugs seized and the amount of drug kingpins arrested. I believe this to be the wrong mindset when it comes to the war on drugs. The war on drugs isn’t a winnable one so we must do all that is possible to assist those who struggle with drug addiction and decriminalize small amounts of drugs. These minor changes in the way we combat drugs will create significant change and have lasting effects.