Professor L.
ENG 101
1 September, 2012
Analysis of a Writing Situation: "Marijuana and Medical Marijuana"
This article, published by The New York Times, is basically a summation of where medical marijuana
stands as of January, 2012. It goes on about how its use has increased substantially in the past couple of
years and how more and more states are actually decriminalizing the drug. This has been the only time
in history that marijuana has been decriminalized and open for research. This article points out that
sixteen states (seventeen as of right now, with Arizona being the most recent addition) have now passed
some sort of law that enables people with some sort of medicinal reason to consume, cultivate, and
possess marijuana. However, state and federal laws do disagree with this touchy subject. The federal
government has yet to ease their reigns about medical marijuana. Technically, the federal government
can step in to any dispensary and shut it down immediately, in which the state government has no say
in what happens from there.
The purpose for this article was to inform the people of what exactly is going on in this, what seems to
be, on-going debate. From what I've experienced (such as classroom discussions, debates, etc.) there is
a lot of confusion about what exactly these laws state and what these laws will/won't allow. The writer
of this article hoped to gain clarification and create awareness of what is actually going on. To the
average american, the word "marijuana" probably brings about negative thoughts because of how we
are exposed to it. We were always taught that it was something to completely stay away from and it
was looked down upon in society. This article is trying to get passed that, state the facts, and have the
audience form their own opinion.
The intended audience and the writers purposes kind of go hand in hand. The intended audience would
have to be people that are not completely up to speed with what is going on in terms of medicinal use of
marijuana. More specifically, I think the intended audience would have to be the voters. A smart voter
would gather information before making a decision. Since propositions about the use of medicinal
marijuana are popping up in ballots all over the country, it is smart to read what exactly the proposition
is stating and figuring out fact from fiction. Again, this article is mainly an overall summary of medical
marijuana and does not give specific details on every single marijuana proposition.
As for the sources used, the author only uses a couple different ones. The author definitely uses stats to
show an average of how many people have actually tried the substance and the percentage of people
who favor the legalization of medical marijuana. Whether the legalization of medical marijuana gets
passed through the federal government or not, it is articles like these that will help change the outcome
and hopefully change it in a way that is best for all of us.
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