Dangerous, a health hazard, stupid, these are only a few words used around the world as to why marijuana should not be legalized in America. The argument on the subject of the legalization of marijuana is a very interesting topic throughout all of the United States and is now a debate when it comes to presidential candidates. Although this personally does not affect me much, I do not see a reasonable explanation as to why marijuana is illegal. People around the country find marijuana to be harmful because they are blinded by the fact that it is considered a drug. They fail to realize that marijuana is not the same as other seriously harmful drugs like cocaine, heroin, and meth. I personally do not use marijuana, so whether or not it is legalized would not affect me in any type of way. What makes me credible to be able to write about the legalization of marijuana is my research on the topic through other very credible authors that also wrote about the same idea.

"Colorado and Marijuana Legalization One Year Later: What ha Changed?", an article from the Huffington Post by Art Way is my first source. The central idea is that marijuana should be legalized based upon the huge positive impact that Colorado has experienced after one year of legalizing it. Also, the article says that Colorado's unemployment rate is the lowest it has been because of the marijuana industry supplying jobs for people. The article points out that drug arrests have fallen 41% and Colorado has brought in more than $40 million in marijuana taxes in the past year. There is also a decline in youth usage of marijuana since its legalization (Way 1). The author is Art Way and he is extremely credible. He is a Senior Director at DPA's National Criminal Justice Reform Strategy. Given this information, it easy to believe that his statistics in his article are very accurate thus building his credibility.

"New Schools, Less Crime: Colorado Sees Benefits of Marijuana Legalization", an article from the MintPress News is my second source. Its central idea is that marijuana should be legalized because of even more positive impacts that has been experienced since the legalization of marijuana. The article points out that the crime rate has dropped and new schools have been developed because of all the money that has been made from the taxes from the marijuana industry. The article says that Colorado has reached $50 million from recreational marijuana usage and Colorado has reached $25 million in medical sales. Also in the article, it says that Colorado schools have received $13.6 million in the first five months of 2015. A Colorado superintendent said that they could build two new elementary school with $40 million dollars. Also in the article, it says that violent crimes have dropped 2.2% and drug crimes have dropped 84% (O'Connell 1). The author of the article is Kit O'Connell who is a journalist for MintPress News. His credibility may be slightly questioned considering he does not have personal experience in the marijuana but based on his research, he is very credible.

"Marijuana Legalization and Regulation", an article from the Drug Policy Alliance is my third source. The main idea of the article is that marijuana should be regulated just like tobacco and alcohol. The points brought up in the article are the creation of jobs, saving money, and reducing harm. The article say that if marijuana was to be legalized then it would be "the nations largest cash crop" and it will create jobs for people. The article also says that it would save money in court for drug charges so that police can be out insuring people's safety (Marijuana 1). Considering this article is written by a major drug agency, the credibility of this article is very strong. Overall, they believe that marijuana should be legalized nation wide.

The reason this research question is arguable is because there are two completely different sides to this issue and people all across America have different opinions regarding this subject. All of my sources agree that marijuana needs to be legalized and they all have similar reasons as to why. The importance of having sources that have the same main focus is that you get stronger evidence as to why you believe something should be a certain way. If you had a source that contradicted everything that you talk about then you might lose your ethos. The perspectives of the sources are very similar to my perspective on the topic. Personally I believe that my research question is very good but there may be a couple of ways in order to make it better.

