Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Causal Stories

There are several different stories that can be told when discussing changing the current marijuana laws.  One argument is that people should not use marijuana because it is against the law, its been like this a long time, there is obviously a reason the government decides to regulate it, and nothing can be done to change the frame politicians put around marijuana usage.  This is a great example of an "accidental" causal story, in which people believe that marijuana is illegal because that is just the way it is, and there is nothing that can be done about it.  I strongly disagrees with this view, because it should be an individuals choice.  Despite the fact it has been illegal since 1937, it doesn't have to stay that way, and there is lots that can be done to change the laws.  The best causal story that describes the current laws making marijuana illegal is the "intentional" causal story.  The government intended to make marijuana illegal, knowing that it would infringe on peoples civil rights, and people would be opposed to it.  The 1936 Propaganda film "Reefer Madness"was created in attempt to drive youth away from using marijuana.  People generally see marijuana through the first causal story mentioned (accidental), however I see the issue through the intentional causal view because the government has attempted to convince the polis that marijuana is not good for the collective in our society.  Regardless of the fact that they have placed a law on individual morality.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Marijuana Progression


The following piece of data is the result of a survey conducted by The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).  The people surveyed were from various regions of the United States and of different age, gender, political and ideological groups.  The question asked was, should the use of marijuana be legal?  The overall result was that 44% of U.S. adults believed marijuana indeed should be legal for use.  This tells a very different story from polls taken from the late 1970s to the mid-1900s in which only about 25% of the adult population was in favor of legalization of marijuana use.  Thus showing that peoples opinion on the issue has drastically changed over the years.  This ties to my policy because it is now apparent that the public views on the reform of marijuana laws is increasing.  If the current statistics continue on the same path it is very apparent that the public's support for reform will continue to grow.  With more public support for the reform only means one thing, which is marijuana laws are on the verge of change in the United States.  That is because the only way the government will support the cause is if its people back the policy issue and show growing support and favor for the laws to be changed.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Annual American Deaths From...


The image above is very controversial for many Americans. The picture shows annual American citizens deaths from various different categories of substances. The reason this would image would bring a debate among the public is because marijuana is listed as causing no deaths to citizens, yet it is illegal. Tobacco and alcohol on the other hand, according to the image, account for 500,000 annual deaths, despite the fact that they are legal. The main debate here is why is marijuana illegal? If various other legal substances cause an enormous amount of deaths but are permitted by law, then why does the government deem marijuana "harmful" to citizens and to our society?

Monday, October 5, 2009

Symbols

Marijuana stands for many things that depends on how the individual "sees" the "drug". Peoples perception of marijuana may depend on many different things, from personal use or, experimentation, to a synecdoche view. Synecdoches are figures of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole. Some of our society and our government as whole see marijuana as a "bad drug", that is both bad for individuals and and for the entire U.S. population (with the exceptions of certain states allowing medicinal use). The media helps to frame marijuana as a negative substance towards society, for example, that is a gateway drug that leads to the addiction to "hard drugs". However people are basing their opinions on facts that may very well be true in some cases, but as a whole are inaccurate. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2007, 14.4 million Americans aged 12 or older used marijuana at least once in the month. However not ever individual of those 14.4 million people are addicted to other drugs. The government and media tend to take extreme examples of cases with marijuana users and blow them out of proportion to make the public bias towards marijuana. Yet when some state governments began to sink into debt, they were quick to turn towards the idea of marijuana as revenue, not as a "bad drug".

Free



By definition, all everyday U.S. citizens are "free" to use marijuana as they please, in the sense that they are no physical constraints stopping someone from using marijuana. However in reality people do not have the "freedom" to use marijuana, because of the negative repercussions by the government. “Freedom” would be citizens having the legal ability to use marijuana for recreational use, without fear of persecution, as long as they are “of age”. The polis model would best help to achieve “freedom “, because using marijuana is simply people perusing their own interests, and not harming anyone else in the process.