Author Archives: Juan

Richardgrabman, “Web Log Comment” Alternet.org. Alternet. 2014. Web. 03 Aug. 2015.

Article was originally posted to Dollarandsense.org

The controversy that I am doing is the economic benefits of pot legalization. For my paper 2 I am analyzing the articles “Pot Economics” the source that I am summarizing is a comment posted on Alternate.org reposting of the Dollarandsense.org story. This is a direct comment to the story and will help teach me about the audience that has read the article.

In regards to the credibility of the writer there is barely any. There are  two main pieces that help give the Richardgrabman credibility is that his comment is grammatically accurate which shows that he took consideration when posting the comment. The second would be the credibility of the audience. Given that he has posted a well written comment there is little denying that Richardgrabman has read the article and put his opinion in it. Moreover, Richardgrabman is a frequent commentator on Alternet stories amassing close to 2000 in his 6 year stint. The website itself Alternet.org is a website that targets the people that follow alternate media so it is probably well respected within that community.

Richardgrabman makes notes of some of the arguments of the article. He argues that while Schneider gives a nod to the potential problems with legalization in regards to Mexico and United States relations, there still the question of exportation. Richardgrabman asks what if the legalization would really help the Mexican agriculture crop as he sees it more as a grab for corporate executives (like Vicente Fox, which Schneider brought up in the article.) He then points that it would better if it didn’t happen as it would pressure the growers to want to grow excessive amounts in order to make a profit. He then follows this up with a point that marijuana crops are take a lot of water to grow and could effect Mexico hard as it has limited water resources. Furthermore, Richardgrabman addresses the comment made by Schneider about the cheapness of Uruguayan marijuana noting that the two things have nothing to do with each other. As a reply to another comment, Richardgrabman says that Uruguayan marijuana is targeted more domestically instead of for export. He emphasizes that the legalization was more so created to combat the Paraguayan marijuana problem.

Schneider, Dan. “Pot Economics: What’s the Future of the American Marijuana Market“.  Dollarsandsense.org. Dollars & Sense, Mar./Apr. 2014. Web. 29 Jul. 2015.

“Pot Economics: What’s the Future of the American Marijuana Market.” by Dan Schneider is an article that discusses the controversy of the economic benefits of marijuana legalization.  This source is important to the controversy as it explores the various points and options that could be taken from legalizing marijuana. In the article Schneider highlights certain aspects such as the illegal market, how it would be grown and the legal commercialization of marijuana.

Schneider seems to be a credible source as the article is full of different points all backed up by reliable sources. He includes a source such as the trade journal Medical Marijuana Business Daily to bring up the potential of what the market could look like. Schneider, although a freelance writer, is part of the Dollar and Sense Collective. Moreover, Schneider is not passionately involved with the whole marijuana scene but seems to argue for many aspects of the legalization, such as the failure of the Drug War and the giant stimulation of marijuana to the economy. One citation that Schneider uses is the article “The War on Marijuana in Black and White: Billions of Dollars wasted on Racially Biased Arrests” sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union. Furthermore, I believe that Schneider is a credible source as he never presents a one sided argument. He is able argue while acknowledging some questions to the controversy such as noting that while a source says that the marijuana industry can become a “46 billion dollar industry” that other’s say it could anywhere between “10 billion to 40 billion.” The text is also found in an appropriate place, an economic website. The website would most likely be respected for it’s economic analysis instead of having a natural bias towards something.

In his article, Schneider questions the possibility of Colorado’s and Washington’s legalization opening the door for other states to legalize it. One concern that Schneider describes is the importation of marijuana in which he notes that Uruguay who legalize the use of marijuana and selling it for 1$ a gram as opposed to the United States in which it is closer to 15$ a gram. Moreover, Schneider brings up the point made when he cited Steve DeAngelo, co-founder of Oaklands’ Harborside Health Center, that it will come to a point where where marijuana would just be sold by “indifferent cashiers” instead of specialized dispensers. The main take away that Schneider makes is what will happen when marijuana becomes more legalized in other places not if. He encourages independent sellers, non-profits and oriented organizations to jump on the cannabis bandwagon.

Schneider is able to build up credibility for argument through various ways. He first appeals to his audience, he alludes to a possibility of legalizing marijuana but doesn’t deviate from the main reason of the website, economics. He also covers question the audience would be wondering such how would the money part work by citing that percentages that both Colorado and Washington are using for their selling. Furthermore, Schneider backs up his argument by dropping big names such as Jamen Shively and Vicente Fox who opened their own weed shop; weed magazine High Times also started its own privately own equity fund. Schneider also adds credibility by bring up Brian Laoraungroch who was trying to use the incoming “green rush” to collect funds in 2013 to which it is conceded that many people will want to jump on board for the money. Although arguing the economic benefits of marijuana legalization, Schneider is able to put a level field of information from many credible sources, historical analysis and statistics. The sources being organizations like the ACLU, the historical analysis is the effects of prohibition from 1919-1933 and statistics about the money around marijuana.

Gray, Eliza. “The Drug Threat in Plain Sight.” Ebscohost.com. Time. 21 Apr. 2014. Web. 19 Jul. 2015.

Eliza Gray, a Time Magazine reporter, investigates the substitute for pot which is synthetic marijuana.  Gray covers the the creation of the the designer drug, the various reason for it’s use and the harmful effects it has on people. More importantly, she highlights the law’s losing battle with keeping the drug of the street.

A claim made by Gray, synthetic marijuana is a becoming the most complicated drug problem beating out others such a cocaine and heroin. Gray attributes this to the drug being able to be sold in public because variants aren’t illegal although they attempt to mimic the “high” of cocaine and marijuana. To properly illustrate the harmful effects of synthetic marijuana Gray tells the story of Jesse, an 18 year old, that was smoking on the various names of synthetic marijuana, K2. According to the story Jesse’s mom notice there was something weird about her son but disregarded it when he told her it was “like legal marijuana.” Gray’s point here is that many young people think that it is a form of legal marijuana but don’t know all the chemicals that are sprayed into it. Along with this Gray marks the fact that these things along with the cheap price and not showing up on a drug test as the reason teens buy synthetic marijuana. Inversely, Gray remarks that while people argue about the status of marijuana as a gateway drug that it is relatively safe and a reason that the Colorado and Washington movements were successful. The author brings this up in order to emphasize the harmful effects such as vomiting, nausea and excessive heart rate.

Gray also gives insight into how law enforcement struggles to keep the harmful substance off the streets, such as outlawing things that replicate the effects of marijuana and the many things that sellers do to keep it “legal.” What Gray is saying that while the government is making the chemicals that comprise the drug illegal the chemist tweak it so it can purport to be “legal.” Furthermore, Gray points out that most of the people buying synthetic marijuana, under names such as K2, Spice or anything else, are young teens that could not buy cigarettes or alcohol. Gray makes light of how even if marijuana is made legal it still wouldn’t be accessible to teens so they resort to the designer drug. Gray also noted that many people aren’t aware of the difference between pot and synthetic pot. Grey affirms this by saying that a man in Colorado, where weed is legal, bought some synthetic brand that had the same name as real brand. Gray  remarks that dealers are using the rise of legal, natural marijuana in order to push their deadlier version.

This article is helpful to me because I am going to write about the how synthetic and legal marijuana interact. In the article Gray writes about the harmful side of synthetic marijuana and how it’s troublesome. This article would not only be help to my peers seeking to write about synthetic marijuana but also to those looking to write about how other drugs effect and are effected by the legalization of marijuana.