Rhetoric & Writing

My name is Telana Weeden. People have asked me where I’m from at least ten times in the past four days and I always reply, “Dallas,” in the driest tone possible. However, I don’t consider myself “from” Dallas. Dallas has only been my place of residence for the past three years and where I attended high school. I was actually born and raised on the south side of the beautiful city of Chicago, Illinois. I grew up on the Southside where marijuana—or “weed”, as Chicagoans like to call it–was definitely not hard to come by. I grew up around it. Everyone knew where–and how–to get it. You would think it was legal based on how easily accessible it was.

If we’re being honest here, I have smoked before. I was peer pressured and had the idea that smoking weed would make me “cool”. I had the mentality that if everyone around me was doing, then I should be doing it as well. My friends were doing it and my cousins were selling it. It was a normal recreational activity.

Over some time, my viewpoint on the legalization of marijuana has changed from opposition to agreement. While I have seen what it can do to those who smoke it religiously and I’ve chosen not to smoke, it has been a great advocate to those who have health issues and experience pain. If it can be helpful to someone, then I am all for it. I feel as though if there is something out there that can help people it should be taken full advantage of.

There are those that say smoking weed is dangerous and it’s a bad thing to do…blah, blah, blah. These are the people who are unfamiliar with it and always assume the worst because of what is put into the media, but isn’t alcohol just as bad when abused as well? It’s more toxic, more addicting, and more harmful to the body. People have died from alcohol. Nobody dies from marijuana. As the prominent actress Jennifer Aniston puts it, “I enjoy smoking cannabis and see no harm in it.” If Rachel Green can smoke pot without being classified as the stereotypical marijuana user, it can be assumed that marijuana can’t be that bad.

Now whether or not marijuana is legalized will not stop the use of it because ultimately people are going to do what they want to do. It has been that way for decades now. Now if you ask me I think Mary Jane is here for the long run. It’s been here and I’m certain it will stay.

Hey guys my name is Henry Barragan and I’m kid from east Dallas, close to where Dallas becomes Mesquite. My parents are divorced and have 3 brothers. I didn’t really live in that bad of a neighborhood, but in a place that had a bad reputation. So when I tell people that I graduated from Bryan Adams High school, I would get one of either two responses. “Never heard of it”, or “How did you survive that school?” I usually get the ladder. Well if you can guess, it’s because people know that a lot of the kids in the school use drugs, more notably, marijuana.

I honestly never used marijuana in my life. Mainly because of all the anti-drug propaganda I’ve seen on TV in my early years and having almost all of my life being told that if I used drugs, I would be disowned by my family and god. So throughout middle school I would be scared from all the high school stories that most people usually heard in their life. Stuff like, “If you didn’t do marijuana, you weren’t a cool kid”, or “If you did marijuana, then you would go straight to prison” It may seem silly nowadays to listen to what other little kids say but back then this confused the hell out of me to the point I develop anxiety. It hit me pretty hard because at the time my parents were fighting over custody over me and my siblings so I was already heartbroken as it was at the time. So adding the confusion of these pot stories wasn’t helping. I know it wasn’t the worst situation someone could be in but I was pretty mentally exhausting for a child.

However to my surprise, when I got to high school it wasn’t as tainted with drugs as I thought it was. I’m not goanna lie; I did come across situations where I’ve seen marijuana being used and even being offered to me, but the good thing is that it was only a couple of times. I always pondered why I wasn’t exposed to dear old “Marry Jane” as much as I thought. Then I came across several articles reporting that many celebrities confess using marijuana in their daily lives, there was even an article saying that marijuana use was becoming “Mainstream”. The plant was a main topic of jokes, shows, and even the reason why people come up with great ideas…..sometimes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BYn18OYt6U

So the more and more I kept researching on the topic of marijuana, the more fascinated I became. Not to the point of deciding to use the plant, but just to the point I understand why people want it legalized. Even here at our school, there has been research showing that the drugs popularity is in a decline. http://news.utexas.edu/2015/07/13/marijuana-use-is-down-disapproval-is-up-among-young-teens

Overall, my opinion has drastically changed however without sounding too contradicting; I still wouldn’t see myself using it anytime soon. Not because of the reason mentioned earlier, I just don’t want to use it plain and simple. I think pot has a lot more well use then people lead on. Hell if people want weed to be legalized, then let them. Let them be them, and you do you.

Hi, my name is Kathy Vo and I’m from Houston, TX. I have 1 1/2 sister, I’m one of the first in my family that is going to UT. I have never smoke marijuana. My parent are quiet protective so I don’t hang with crow that smoke pot, so I might have the traditional thought of how thing are bad or not normal. So my only engagement to the topic is  the news and classmate using them. To be honest I might be a little judgmental, but I can be sway with reason.

Doing anything start with temptation and  even though it look cool to some, not all agree. Marijuana is not only use for getting so call high, but also a type of medicine. Like many green, people are sometime not even aware that they use the green leaf as they only take drug base on what the doctor has prescribe. They mainly focus on the effect and what is does. The only time that we look at the ingredient is when we are allergic or on a diet. Yet the  7 pointed leaf has been proven to help cure or slow down different diseases and problem , such as “glaucoma, epileptic seizures, and etc.”

To learn more read the following article: http://www.businessinsider.com/health-benefits-of-medical-marijuana-2014-4 .

This is cure not something to overdose with.

With the legalization of marijuana, irresponsible legal age people can misuse the substance and over dose and cause major red flag in society. Leaving people to think the drug is not suited for legalization. With that being said researcher and young open minded people are becoming aware of the perks than the cons. One of the biggest perks that I can think of is the solution to the problem near the border. The legalization could make “money for education instead of for gangsta”, which enhance my thought on  why I believe that the legalization of marijuana is a good thing. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XKhlJ6U_Rw

Like the video above  they made a  great point on why shouldn’t the plant be legal, if alcohol is proven to be worst than marijuana. To me the subject can be argue for both side and it is all base on the side you look at it that make it a mention able topic among American and big news station like the one  above.  Please comment and tell me what you think ,and if you agree or disagree with the topic base on my point of view of the subject. Thank you for reading this blog.

Marijuana has always existed, and has improved the lives  of those around me that I do not see the harm in the legalization of it. I come from South Side of San Antonio and it is seen as the run down side of town where drugs and gangs go hand in hand. However marijuana has never been seen as a big deal. There were way worse drugs than marijuana, like crack cocaine, acid, and PCP. I have always been surrounded by those who use a use drugs, however just because some people give it a bad name it should not be seen as a horrible thing.

Growing up I had friends and family that would use it for medicinal purposes. At first glance I would question why people were smoking something that smelled like skunk. My parents would always threaten my brothers and I to never used it. Saying things like “Let me find out.” or ” I wish you would.”, while holding something up with the intention on throwing it at us. However despite what I have always been taught my view of marijuana, commonly refured to as weed, has never been negative. I have seen it as an aide to those that need it. To my surprise though, my parents did not say anything when they found baggies with residue of weed in my brothers room. They had seen how he was no longer getting mad all the time and was not as stressed out about everything.

Marijuana has been known to calm people like those who suffer from bipolar-ness, anxiety, autism, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as people with insomnia that are too high strung to sleep. It also affects those with cerebral palsy and muscle spasms in a positive way by releasing some of the pain they have to endure. The disorder that has also benefited from marijuana is glaucoma, it has help release some of the pressure in the eyes.

There is the controversy of why people can’t just use medications that is prescribed for them already. However unlike man made drugs, marijuana is natural. Benefits that come with marijuana are that not only that it helps with better appetite or that it causes less damage to the kidneys but that is not as expensive as some medication. In Joan Bello’s book The Benefits of Marijuana she says  “With the expansiveness that occurs with marijuana, the subject may begin to notice infinite possibilities to raise the quality of his/her life that would otherwise have remained hidden from normal, defensive consciousness. And feelings of health and happiness naturally lead to hope, which of itself can be curative.”

I do believe in the legalization of marijuana, for medicinal purposes. Those who don’t need it already use it so why not make it available to those who actually need it.

Hey, my name is Evelyn Alvarez and honestly, I don’t have a very passionate opinion on marijuana. I have two brothers and none of us smoke it. Some of my friends do it occasionally, but it’s nothing excessive. I see marijuana as something people do, because they want to,  and what do I care if they do or don’t smoke. I don’t run their lives.

This is how I see it, from the day we are born we are taught “good and bad” morals. If at the age of fifteen a person decides to smoke marijuana then they should already know what they’re getting into. At that age they should already have their own mindset, so smoking is on them. Once they make up their mind there’s no way to change it.

This debate has been going on since the beginning of time (I’m exaggerating, but it feels like it has). In all seriousness, I cannot see the big deal over this basic plant. When I was a kid I was brainwashed, by my mother and school, into thinking weed was the worst thing in the world and, if I ever did it, I would die.  Now, after I’ve looked at the facts and the experiences from my friends, I don’t understand what makes this debate so heated. Everyone has their own life and way of thinking and there is no way to change that. We are all born with different perspectives on what is right and what is wrong. If smoking seems good for you then do it, if not, then don’t.

I don’t think this debate will ever be settled, or at least, anytime soon. Marijuana will always be an irritating topic, because people still smoke it, even though it’s illegal. People do what they want and no law will stop them from doing it. They have their life and we all chose how we want to live our own lives. So, I’m ending this with a wise quote from the very smart Riff Raff “To each his own”.

Hello, my name is Sabrina Villanueva. Ever since I was little my mom would tell me how bad smoking marijuana was and her reason was “just because.” She said if she ever caught me high she’d throw a chancla at me, Ha! I’ll have you know she told me this my first day of kindergarten! I kid you not my mom even went to the extent of bringing home a drug test when I was in middle school because I came back from a long day of basketball practice “dazed and confused.” Apparently being exhausted was the new high. Being from Brownsville, TX, it is not hard to come upon marijuana, but I would never go against my mother’s word even though I disagree that marijuana is bad “just because.”

I personally would not use marijuana because I choose not to, but that does not mean that I think it is bad or shouldn’t be legalized. I say that marijuana should definitely be legal. I mean, how can it be any worse than alcohol or prescribed narcotics?

Since I a kid I was persuaded to believe that people that did smoke marijuana were dumb. But why? That’s like saying everyone that has taken a sip of beer was a drunk. As I have grown older, my eyes have opened up to realize that there are more benefits of legalizing marijuana than if it weren’t. And that’s the truth, it is literally the blunt truth!

I can go on and on about marijuana and it’s benefits but I’m sure you have heard it all before.

But I will tell you why I think marijuana should be legalized. There’s always that one pot head in your family that says marijuana makes them feel good and what not. My cousin is one of them. He always “wakes and bakes” or so I’ve been told. It wasn’t until recently that weed actually helped him with his Bell’s palsy. Many people with Bell’s palsy take months to recover their facial muscles back to normal but for my cousin, it only took two weeks thanks to weed.

Scientists from the University of Bonn agree that “endocannabinoids seem to play an important role in regulating inflammation processes” and therefore speed up Bell’s palsy recovery.

If marijuana were to be legal, it would be in the hands of the holder to decide what to do with it. Legalizing it would not mean you would have to go out and start smoking a joint because it’s legal. Now, my mom may not like my stance on the subject, but I’m sure she’ll see my point of view when marijuana is legalized.