The legalization of marijuana has been a hot topic in today's society for a substantial amount of time and covers many aspects. It's important that this harmless substance becomes legalized for a copious amount of reasons. Marijuana is a substance in which it is impossible to overdose on unlike other legal intoxicants such as alcohol. Even in very large quantities THC, the psychoactive substance in marijuana, cannot be lethal.  In large doses THC can lead to paranoia and hallucinations but still is a much safer alternative to alcohol. Understandably, marijuana is not to be viewed as a harmless substance but statistically it is considered to be a safe substance to use. 40000 people a year die from prescription over doses each year. Prescription drugs are completely legal yet, these legal narcotics claim people's lives each year. Not only do prescription narcotics kill, they are also extremely addicting. Addition takes over a person life and ruins the lives of the people who are surrounded by the addict.  Marijuana on the other hand is a proven to be much less addicting than that of prescription medications, alcohol, tobacco, other illegal narcotics, and even caffeine. 25 Percent of people become addicted to cocaine after the first time they use it, 20 percent of people who try heroin become addicted, while marijuana shows that only about 9 percent of people who try this substance become addicted. The addiction isn't a physical dependency either, it more has to relate the habitual aspect of addiction.  The key concept behind this statistic is the fact that it highlights that marijuana isn't dangerous enough to be an illegal narcotic. Not only do the majority of American's believe it should be legalized for recreational use (proven in a 2014 study conducted by Gallop Poll) but it's not logical for the use of this substance to result in legal penalty.  There are so many common misconceptions with the effect so of marijuana on the body and what it can lead to. In the past a major misconception was that marijuana was to be considered a "gateway drug". This was interpreted as that if you smoked marijuana you were much more likely to experiment with more intense drugs in the future. Scientific American provided a study that proved alcohol and cigarettes to be much more common gateway drugs comparatively to that of marijuana. This means that people who use hard drugs more commonly experiment with alcohol and Tabaco before rather than marijuana. There is various other statics that could be referenced when talking about the misconception of marijuana but they are not needed. When it comes down to the argument of whether marijuana should be legalized for recreational purposes, it's a matter of legality that also need to be discussed. The government should have no right to tell the people what they can and cannot put into their own bodies. The government should not be able to legally penalize someone for ingesting a substance, especially when there is research proving that it is not lethal and virtually harmless. The economic benefits form legalization and taxation would be tremendous as well. Instead of tax payer's dollars being spent on law enforcement, judicial fees, and prisons for possession of marijuana, we would be able to cut all of these cause and take in massive revenues off the sales tax. Not only would people's lives stop being destroyed because of the effects prison time has on a person's life, but our country would be making billions and billions of dollars to use on more productive issues. Marijuana became illegal in early 1900's in the united states not because of its effects on one's health but because the hemp industry was putting paper producers out of business and lobbyist made cannabis illegal to be harvested in order to save major paper manufactures. The prohibition of marijuana is extremely outdated and needs to be changed. It's time to let the people choose what they want to put in their own bodies and not have the government tell them what they can and cannot consume. Marijuana effects everyone differently and has major benefits for those with extreme illnesses. It's time to stop the ignorance and make marijuana legal. 

Central claim/ Evidence:  The central claim of this article is that the majority of today's American population believing marijuana should be legalized that it is time for prohibition to come to an end.  "Gallop Poll released that 58 percent of Americans are in favor allowing the plant to be legal". Currently in our democratic society believing that this substance should be legalized it seems idiotic that our democratic government has allowed childish politics to ignore what their audience desirers. The article continues then to list 8 major reasons why the substance is harmless to prove their point on why prohibition must end. 

Major values/ Interest at stake: The major values behind this article focus on the common misconception on the negative aspects of marijuana. The article uses 8 major to prove their claim being, 40% of the population has admitted to smoking marijuana, that marijuana is a safe substance to use as a seep aid, that marijuana is a safe alternative to already legalized substances, marijuana has very low risk of abuse, very successful people in American culture imitadly use marijuana consistently, and the fact that marijuana has been disproven to be a gateway drug.

Credibility and bias of the author/source: This source proves its credibility by quoiting statics form nationally recognized reliable sources. All sources are independent scientific research institutions. The article is clearly bias and supporting legalization but is still to be considered credible because of the very valid and non-bias sources in which are cited.

Central claim/ Evidence: The central claim of this article is that if marijuana would be to come legal and replace the commonly use intoxicant of alcohol that this would improve the overall health of American adults. One statistical piece of evidence the article uses to prove their claim is the fact that alcohol abuse has a larger fiscal penalty on society than that of marijuana. "Cost of alcohol abuse to society is, by some estimates, greater than the cost of all illegal drug abuse". The article uses detailed graphs to prove this statistic with a sited credible source.

Major values/interest at stake: The major value and interest at stake expressed in this article is the fact that marijuana being viewed as harmful substance compared to alcohol is a detrimental idea. The article points out that marijuana being illegal and challenging to obtain is prompting people to believe alcohol is a better intoxicant to choose. If prohibition were to end the price of the product would be decreased and people could be better educated on the effects of marijuana and more like to understand how dangerous alcohol can be.

Credibility and bias of the author/source: The credibility of this article is to be found true based on the statistic provided and how their statics are prove by credible sources. For example when displaying the data on how legalization has decreased price on marijuana the source for the evidence was cited by "Dale H. Gieringer, norml; LSE (bar 1: California, bar 2: Washington, bar 3: author's projection based on LSE data)"; a very legitimate and accurate source. 

Central claim/evidence: The central claim of this article is the war on the drugs has been a massive failure and it is time to legalize marijuana. "Federal, state and local governments can regulate the cannabis trade as they do with alcohol and tobacco -- monitoring the production process for safety and purity, controlling where it is sold, taxing all aspects of marijuana production and consumption, and redirecting resources from punishment to prevention." The provides the solution regulation and taxation of marijuana to end the wrongful prosecution and to help prevent abuse of this substance

Major values/Interests: This author has a different point of view because of the fact that he is a father himself. The author does not believe marijuana should be used by those considered to be minors or anyone under the age of 21.  The author does not believe marijuana is a harmless substance or should be allowed to be consumed by young people but he does believe that consumption by a person's 21 years of age needs to be acceptable by a legal stand point

Credibility and bias of the author/source: The author of this article has credibility because he himself is a United States citizen who is effected by the laws of our government. His bias is very clear when discussing whether or not it is acceptable for young people to consume marijuana because he is a father with young children himself. 

Personally I am interested in this topic because of the major benefits it would have to our nation fiscally. I do not consider marijuana to be a harmful substance and the fact that it is illegal is completely illogical to be considering the amount of money that could be stimulated with legalization and regulation. If marijuana were too legalized, tax paying dollars would no longer be spent on prisons, court, and polices expenses associated with marijuana being illegal. On top of this, if marijuana were to be regulated and taxed, our nation would create billions in tax revenue across the nation and open a completely new market sector for new American entrepreneurs to capitalize on. I personally don't have a moral stand point on marijuana because I believe no one should ever be able to tell a person what is legal or illegal for them to ingest into their bodies. I personally have indulged in marijuana and don't believe it has zero negative effect on a person but regardless I should not be legally penalized for my personal decision to smoke the substance. I believe I am qualified to write a paper on the legalization of marijuana because I am very educated on the topic. I have watched countless documentaries on marijuana on the legal battle against the plant, the medical aspects of the plant, the chemistry behind THC and CBD, and the finical benefits states that have begun regulation has to offer. I hope to one day be a part of the marijuana industry and capitalize on the legalization. 

After reviewing Michael Malina on how humane is animal experimentation can be in the long run I admittedly found this topic interesting. First, regarding his writing it found it to be very well organized, but could use work in strengthening where he stands on the topic. The first paragraph develops the point of "why" currently we do animal testing in today's society. He continues to point the specific benefits animal testing has on things such as consumer produce, medical field, and anatomical knowledge. I found this paragraph to be well formed but missing legitimate statics with site sources in order to further back his argument. His second paragraph the issues behind animal testing and attempts to stop it. He mentions a specific bill passed in Brazil was pointless but uses this paragraph to back his idea when he mentions how there is no better alternative. I think the issue is still the same, his statics for his argument are very vague and would be more powerful if very specific. His final paragraph is the one I had the biggest issue with. I had a very hard time decipher his point on animal testing until the end of the last paragraph. This essay need to be more opiated in order for his audience to agree with him. With specific sources for statics and specifics names as well as with more opinion on his beliefs I believe this essay would be perfect. Personally I agree with his stance on the matter being that until we find a better alternative it is a necessary evil we must incur. Personally his essay had absolutely no relation to mine.
