Rhetoric & Writing

Growing up in Brownsville meant exposure to all sorts of discussion about drugs. I remember in elementary, fourth and fifth grade, kids like myself and others would say we’ve smoked before. Of course it was all to look cool when I hadn’t really even touched any form of drugs myself, the same couldn’t have been said for a few others.

However, drugs were present in the household. Especially when I was in middle school and my older brother was in high school. He smoked marijuana pretty much everyday really. I don’t remember when it began exactly but he did it and he eventually ended up dropping out of high school because of it.

Now I never expected someone who I looked up to, to do such a thing. I can’t blame him though. He did always hang around with the wrong crowd and my parents were often at work, and when they were home they were usually drinking and fighting, usually just arguments unless my mom had too much to drink.

Of course, most will assume that growing up in this environment must make the decision of either being for or against marijuana an easy decision. It hasn’t. How can that be you might ask? Sure it wasn’t the best thing around for me growing up but I can’t simply make a wise decision without having all the proper information.

That’s not the end though, because at times I do feel like going against the legalization or use of marijuana. The reason for that is because I saw first hand how my brother got into a few other drugs after marijuana and how it has affected him. Then hearing that my best friend used to smoke made me worry that she might end up like him.

With the two people closest to me being users in the past and hearing information about marijuana other than the negatives that our schools are required to tell us as a form of the war on drugs, picking a side hasn’t been easy. My position has become one of being smart about it. Don’t just do it because everyone else is. Really think about whether or not it’s something you need. Use it when necessary if you have to. Being in control because it is possible to slip into other drugs and from there it can get worse.

“I know you don’t smoke weed, I know this, but imma get you high today.” For those of you who do not this quote, it is the opening line to the comedy Friday. I’m personally a huge fan of movies and can watch them all day. This particular movie revolves around the sell and distribution of marijuana in a community predominantly full of African Americans and Latinos.

I’m from Houston, Texas more specifically, Alief which is a recognized international school district. In Alief, the minorities are the majority. I’ve seen weed a lot at my school and know people who choose to use it for recreational purposes. It is actually pretty easy to get a hold of marijuana where I’m from. There are kids who attended my school who sold dope and were not afraid to walk around the hallways and ask if you would like to purchase some Mary Jane or how many Gs you could get for the amount of money you were holding.

One thing I noticed about the people that sold weed is that they made some serious cash and were not ashamed in flaunting it, even though they received their money from selling illegal narcotics. With the legalization of marijuana it could bring a tremendous about of money to the government. I mean why not sell weed? Cigarettes are more dangerous than weed killing thousands of people and causing serious medical issues, however, the government is capitalizing on them and no one is trying to ban the production of cigarettes.

The legalization of marijuana on the other hand could save the government money by not having to arrest people with possession of marijuana. That’s less tax dollars spent on accommodating the lifestyle of prisoners and could be used elsewhere. In Jennifer Jordan’s view, the legalization of marijuana “will bring hundreds of jobs, stimulating the local economy.” In other words, Jordan believes in the legalization of marijuana solely for the purpose of the economic benefits.

In conclusion, I agree with the legalization of marijuana. Why not legalize it? Thousands of people are smoking it and posting pictures in the act all over social media anyways. Why not make a profit from it? Why not try to improve the economy and try to help those who cannot help themselves? I believe the legalization of marijuana can be something positive like the production of cigarettes, depending on how you look at it. Both provide jobs to the many Americans who are unemployed.

My name is Ashley Bedford and here is my blog post:

The current “new wave” changes in our society, such as the acceptance of gay marriage and controversies on abortion, shifted the way we live our lives and the things we tolerate as individuals within this society. Along with many other changes, the legalization of marijuana remains as a “hot topic” that many Americans feel needs a solution.

As a fresh adult in our world, I never encountered a situation in which weed directly affected me or my family. I would “stay the course”, as they say, focusing on the most important elements of my life, going to school, getting good grades, basically assuming the “good girl” role. I always kept friends that played a great influence on me and never allowed me to stay off my track.

It’s safe to say I lived a privileged lifestyle up to this point, but thanks to technological advances, I’ve stayed informed about the world around me through various media mediums, such as the local news and internet web posts.

Huffington Post caught on to a Fox News poll showing a rise in marijuana legalization supporters within the past fourteen years, similar to that of the rise in supporters of gay marriage in the past, not only displaying the significance of the topic, but the widespread popularity in keeping up with this specific topic. Also stated in the article, one reason marijuana would not exist as a legalized drug, because of the drug’s high classified danger level, sitting right next to LSD and heroin on the list. Considered by many, the consumption of marijuana could potentially save lives and integrate into the medical field to help others, yet as the Huffington Post article states, the danger of marijuana could pose a threat on people’s lives.

I see the widespread popularity of marijuana legalization in our society through the Huffington post, along with many other sites, and start to question why. Similar to cigarettes, marijuana would serve as a product that contains many side effects, negatively harming the body, yet the majority of consumers approve of these negative side effects and would continue to use the drug regardless.

In observing our society’s trends, regarding their actions, I consistently found the majority to win in persuading the rest of the nation to submit to agreeing with their views, even though sources like the Huffington Post and Fox News do not explicitly state this, nor do they, and never will, admit this.

Normative Social Influence, exactly stated in Wikipedia, officially defined as “the influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked and accepted by them” plays a big role in society daily, because, similar to the gay marriage controversy, people want acceptance by society, so they agree with the legalizing weed. An example of this massive conformity lies on the day that gay marriage commenced as a legal action in America.

While many people posted their opinions, many felt the need to change their profile pictures to a rainbow filter in an effort to display that they accept the majority and support the law passing. Although, these kind of actions occurred to celebrate a new moment in American history, the amount of people that changed their profile pictures consecutively exemplifies this conforming mentality and non-individualistic approach to widespread controversies, like that of  the marijuana issue. Many people “followed the crowd” and did not stop to question why they should change their profile pictures and what message would that send about themselves, and what they stand for specifically, out in this world. Of course, not to imply that I oppose gay marriage, but the idea of embracing others’ opinions about a topic and not specifying your own or taking action solely after the implementation of a crucial action reinforces this idea of normative social influence.

Where the normative social influence of the topic of legalizing marijuana stands, plays a huge role on this shift in society siding more with the drug’s legalization than opposing. An article from the Pew Research Center states that many Americans side with legalizing marijuana due to the criminal laws attached to the possession of this drug and many favor a lenient law, replacing the harsher one, attached to marijuana.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e25in2BNo48

I agree that the marijuana laws place citizens in American jails over a “petty” charge, as rapper Two Chainz stated in a recent interview with Nancy Grace. Where I disagree in this lies in the very reason that this drug contains a harsh set of laws. My government teacher would always say, “the government is reactive, not proactive when it comes to laws,” and this very saying backs the government’s awareness of the drug’s danger level, because the government reacted to the growing hype of marijuana usage which lead them to restrict the very possession of it in the majority of places.

Exposure, even as much as decriminalizing this drug, would not only emphasize the effect normative social influence contains on changes in society, but would also would endanger people’s lives through their health and eventually will create more problems in our community.

For those of you who don’t know, My name is Kevin Hughes and I come from a little town called Dallas, Texas. Growing up around there really opened up the youth to multiple amounts of drugs, you really couldn’t hide from it you could only stay away from them or fall victim to them.

One drug that you can’t live without meeting or being exposed to while living in Dallas is Marijuana. In a popular marijuana research site it was said “Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States (SAMHSA, 2014)” (drugbase.gov).With the rising popularity of marijuana it’s very difficult to not meet someone who has smoked pot(marijuana) or someone who sells it. Now being open to drugs is a totally different thing  because you can always say no, Its your personal choice no one should make the decision for you.

I am for the use of marijuana, because not only does it bring good times, studies also show that there are medical break throughs that marijuana has helped with. One of my good friends would suffer from epilepsy and the medication the doctor prescribed could never really surpress the effects of his epilepsy. Now what really amazes me is that he found that with the use of marijuana his epilepsy would go away. This was a great breakthrough for him because now he is free from epilepsy, the only problem was having to tell his parents.

Legalization of Marijuana in Texas I believe is a great step towards a brighter life in America. It should be used for medicinal purposes and also for recreational if need be, the argument people made for weed is that it’s god’s plant and is a part of nature. Unlike other drugs weed isn’t made in a lab its grown from the earth. Its funny how the government allows the use of tobacco and alcohol to be legal when they are some of the most addictive problems. They cause multiple problems for families when Marijuana theoretically would only bring them closer.

With the use of Marijuana constantly increasing we shouldn’t bash the people that use it no matter for medicinal or recreational. The progress that has been made with marijuana show that you can be successful with being under the influence. Not only do some top music artist gain publicity from the use but also athletes and successful business people. This only shows that weed has no real effect on your life choices what you choose to do with your life is your own adventure.

Having to be exposed to the smell of marijuana daily has shaped my viewed on marijuana itself, being exposed to music that constantly reminds me of the use of marijuana around me by individuals has shaped my mixed emotions  on the word itself. It is often believed that the more you repeat a statement or for example a mathematical problem, the more you become more comfortable with it. And I totally agree, the word marijuana has been so overused that I no longer find the word disturbing, I enjoy rap music and I cannot keep count on how many of this songs highlight the use of marijuana that has become a vogue today.

Many people suggest that marijuana should be legal and that it I used as a medicine for many people. When you hear about a person that consumes marijuana many of us conclude that this particular person is a criminal, a rapper, or a failure, but could this stereotypes be completely wrong? Would you believe that Bill Gates one of the wealthiest American voted for marijuana legalization for his home state in the 2012 referendum, pretty surprising? Although marijuana can be relaxing and can heal pain, it is also often abused. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration a large percentage of those arrested test positive for marijuana.

Is it possible for marijuana to have effect on the rebellious actions of many of these teenagers? The drug abuse has many negative effects such as respiratory diseases and dead brain cells. So why risk your life? I understand that it is necessary under certain circumstances such as medically, but I also believe it exposes each person to a risk of becoming addicted to the substance and taking extreme circumstances to be able to keep purchasing the substance. If marijuana was to become legalized society would change forever, we will see people becoming addictive to marijuana due to their freedom, and we will see the constant selling of marijuana, is it fair for people to start making huge amount of profit by selling this substance? Overall I am not strongly against marijuana, I acknowledge its pros such as relieving PMS, or for the treating of migraines but I will also not be a participant on the legalization of marijuana. Can you imagine our society will change if it was legalized? Marijuana would become like water, necessary for everyone.

Is this how society would look like?

I believe that the body should heal itself, for example that a fever does not require an Advil pill to end. This pain relievers are temporary, we should let our body build defense against these illness and let the body due its natural process. Marijuana should not be used for reasons such as stress or as a pain reliever. As stated by president Jimmy Carter,  “I do not favor legalization. We must do everything we can to discourage marijuana use, as we do now with tobacco and excessive drinking,we have to prevent making marijuana smoking from becoming attractive to young people, which is, I’m sure, what the producers of marijuana….are going to try and do. I agree with President Carter, marijuana as s before can become addictive, I cannot imagine children smoking this substance at an early age.