The broad scope of this paper is marijuana. From this topic I developed an argumentative research question that is more direct and controversial; should marijuana be decriminalized in the state of South Carolina? I am arguing for the decriminalization for marijuana in South Carolina. I narrowed down the topic because this issue directly effects me because I live in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and attend the University of South Carolina, so I am always in the state. I also realized that I can't make a valid argument for the total legalization or retail sale of marijuana in South Carolina if it is not even decriminalized yet. While many states have decriminalized and others are following, South Carolina has some time to go before it sees this change. Medicinal Marijuana bills were just introduced in September 2015 to the government, but could possibly be approved, hopefully, sometime in 2016, suggests Chris Riotta of News.Mic.  

I am interested in the decriminalization for marijuana because the laws have affected my good friends, the law is unjust, and because marijuana has little to no health hazards. The decriminalization of marijuana affects my values, it being illegal makes little sense to me. The government regulates and profits off of alcohol and tobacco but will not end the prohibition on marijuana even though both cause serious health problems and can often end with death. Marijuana, on the other hand, has been tested in multiple studies and health problems related to marijuana are minimal and much more mild compared to the health problems related to alcohol and tobacco. Also, I have now had four friends who have been arrested for smoking marijuana. They were harming no one, they were just relaxing and trying to enjoy themselves. They were fined upwards of nine hundred dollars and now have a criminal record. There is a program that can get it expunged but that too is quite costly and one can only use it once. I am qualified to write about this because I have seen situations where kids have been arrested even though they were harming nor bothering no one and also because I have personally dabbled with the use of marijuana.

The first article is from NORML.org. The article presents four reasons as to why the decriminalization of marijuana should be supported, and then multiple facts to support each claim. The four points they make are that police resources will be able to focus on more important crimes, criminal prohibition is more dangerous that the marijuana itself, use will not increase if decriminalized, and prohibition laws do not affect the use of the drug (Foundation, NORML. "NORML.org - Working to Reform Marijuana Laws." Marijuana Decriminalization Talking Points. NORML FOUNDATION, 2015). The major value for this article and the organization that wrote it are marijuana reforms. Their slogan is "Working for marijuana reforms" so this explains their beliefs and values. They see marijuana as something that can be beneficial to society so they are working to teach people the facts about marijuana so then they will join the cause and help to decriminalize marijuana and then eventually legalize it. The authors are very credible. The board who reviews everything that gets published are credible people, they consist of scientists, researchers, businessmen and women, writers, attorneys and producers. The chair of the board is a criminal defense lawyer so that means he has much knowledge on the topic. The article is credible because with every claim they make they back up with multiple facts that have been cited from a credible source itself. The authors and the article have some bias because these are people who support the decriminalization of marijuana so they would not go into the negatives of the drug or use any information that might hinder their cause. 

The main claim in this article is to explain the process South Carolina is going through regarding to marijuana laws. South Carolina is currently in the process of sending bills to the government for medicinal marijuana. If the South Carolina's Senate Medical Affairs Committee passes the bill it will then be sent off to congress for them to vote on. If passed restriction will be lowered for medicinal marijuana patients. (Riotta, Chris. "Marijuana Legalization South Carolina: Could State Legalize Medical Pot?" Mic. News.Mic, 11 Nov. 2015). The article also goes into detail where Marijuana is decriminalized, where recreational use is legal, and where it could be legal next. The major values of this article was to keep people updated where South Carolina is with marijuana regulation and to show where other states stand in the process. The map also illustrates where marijuana is illegal, where is is about to be legal, and where it is legal. The author is credible because he just wrote about actual events that are happening so that means there is not much to be wrong about, it is just a relay of information. The same thing would be for the article as well. The bias is non existent because this article is just a report on what is happening, there was no opinions when writing the article. 

The main point of this article was to provide background information on marijuana in the United States and to explain main arguments for and against the legalization of marijuana. This articles arguments appeal to both the emotions of people and through logical thinking. The major value of this article is to inform the readers about marijuana. They give the history of marijuana and the war on drugs to inform the readers how marijuana was originally outlawed and how now there is a push for less strict laws surrounding marijuana. Then they inform the readers about arguments for and against marijuana. The main interest of this article is to inform the readers with correct information and for that to inspire the reader to support the legalization of marijuana. The author and the article are bias because it was published on the website http://legalizationofmarijuana.com. This shows right away their position on the issue but the article still goes into opposing arguments for the legalization of marijuana. The article has no proof of its credibility but from outside research done I can confirm that their claims are correct.  

Marijuana is a hot topic today and has been a very debated topic for years. This is an arguable research question because there are two sides to the issue. Some people support the decriminalization of marijuana in South Carolina and then there are some people who believe marijuana should stay illegal. Agreements consistent throughout the sources is that marijuana use has no harmful effects to the health of the user and that marijuana should be decriminalized, and the articles are even pushing for it to become legalized. Although there are no disagreements between the three sources only one went into the possible economic benefits that marijuana could bring to the state. Decriminalizing marijuana is a feasible task because it depends on the state legislature; they have to create a bill and then vote yes, which is what is happening right now in South Carolina, but with medical marijuana. Once people see the benefits of medical marijuana and how it does not harm society, there will be a big push for the decriminalization of marijuana. The different perspectives of the sources have affected my perspective to just supporting the cause even more. There are so many possible positive effects that marijuana can cause and the arguments against it are false and very weak. There is a lack of articles that specifically explain why marijuana should be decriminalized specifically in South Carolina, however, I can use those articles and relate it to South Carolina myself. By doing this, it will make my article stronger because I am discussing something new. 

