Why shouldn't we legalize Cannabis

Why we shouldn't legalize Cannabis

Imagine a future where cannabis, once an illicit drug, suddenly cunningly infiltrates our society , where a dense haze of smoke fills up our neighbourhoods obscuring the clarity of collective judgement. But behind the veil of "freedom" lies a disturbing reality of the harrowing consequences that threatens the future of Australian society. Hi I am CT, a doctor from Royal Melbourne hospital. I would like to thank all concerned Australians such as you to the annual 2023 online medical conference. In case you didn't realise, the Greens have proposed their plan of nationwide legalisation of recreational use of cannabis. While legalising cannabis can have a positive impact on the medical and agricultural industry, underneath that there are social and health consequences for recreational cannabis. It is therefore essential that we refrain from opening the pandora box of legalising cannabis.

According to Samhsa.gov, a governmental website run by the Department of Health in the USA publishes an article titled "Know the Risks of Marijuana" citing that approximately 1 in 10 people that used Marijuana will become addicted and the rate rises to 1 in 6 if the user is a minor. This demonstrates the eerie and chilling dangers of the excessive use of that drug especially on the younger users, as they are vulnerable to being chained in a lifetime of addiction hindering them from living a normal life that they deserved. These statistics are reflected by my personal experience during a time when I was treating a teenage patient who had nearly overdosed due to his excessive consumption of marijuana. Unsurprisingly he exhibited symptoms seen by elderly individuals with severe lung diseases. When I conducted an X-ray of his lung, I saw markings which indicate that there is a build up of tar which is a thick black substance that covers his lung. You may blame him for smoking, please remember that this kid was pressured into doing it. Imagine if that was you, you were compelled into smoking a joint by your friend and next thing you discover that your lung resembles a 70 years old pneumonia patient. This would seriously be horrifying and it still sends chills on my spine even now.

Although there certainly are concerns that the legalisation of Marijuana poses a threat to Australians and Australian society. Those who endorse the legalisation of Marijuana suggest that it may alleviate some economical and judicial problems of this society. According to the Greens ministers legalising cannabis could generate 28 billion dollars in taxes that can be used to fund 88,000 additional public housing units, keeping people off the streets means that they are less likely to do drugs and hence less likely to end up in jail. However those public houses may potentially become a marijuana den which may cause the public housing unit to smell, decreasing the quality of life of the other low income individuals that don't smoke. It's hard enough being a low income earner, now you have to deal with the smell that will disrupt your sleep and leisure time at home.

Furthermore the recreational usage of Cannabis can have a detrimental effect on the wider society. A research report that's written by the National Institute of Health titled "Cannabis (Marijuana) Research Report", underlines the danger of recreational marijuana use in the workforce. The study cites that those who tested positive for marijuana use in the pre-employment drug test are 85% more likely to be injured and in the industrial sector those who had employees that tested positive, caused 55% more accidents. These figures serve as a stark reminder on the dangerous impairment that's caused by Marijuana use on overall work safety. This malicious drug is also the cause of a wider social issue that has been plaguing the world, domestic violence itself. In the article "Marijuana is more dangerous than you think" written by a Noted expert on Cannabis usage and author Alex Berenson claims that the excessive use of marijuana leads to the increase in domestic violence. He states that increased consumption of Marijuana leads to a 100% increase in domestic violence in the USA and five fold in Britain and China. He goes on to point out that the link between marijuana and violence is not limited to psychosis. Do you want our loved ones to be poisoned by the drug that will make them prone to assaulting us? Ultimately it's time to call our government to stop this madness. It is our duty to prevent these insidious drugs from plaguing our loved ones, our youth and our society. That's all for today. Thank you all for listening to my Ted Talk.

Written explanation:

Recently the Greens announced their plans to legalise marijuana nationwide by 2023. The development sparked an intense debate on the consequences that the legalisation of marijuana will have on Australian society. In light of this issue, this particular oral persuasive presentation seeks to shed some light on the negative impact of the legalisation of marijuana use on the health of Australians and Australian society. Throughout the presentation the persona of a concerned doctor speaking on a Ted Talk will be adopted allowing for a credible authoritative perspective, emphasising the importance of opposing the legalisation of marijuana establishing the qualification to effectively address the issue.

Seeing as this piece is written for Australians that are concerned about the far-reaching consequences of legalising marijuana, the argument revolves around the growing sense of unease and apprehension towards the legalisation of marijuana. The speech begins by using imagery and presenting a scenario of a disturbing future, portraying marijuana as an insidious drug that creeps its way into and slowly destroys society. In doing this I will evoke the audience to think about the scary effect on marijuana. After that I present statistics showing that "1 in 6" minors that uses marijuana falling victim to that drug, which intends to shock the audience making them susceptible to the emotional anecdote of my time "treating a teenage patient who had nearly overdosed" exposes the impact of smoking marijuana at a young age, that potentially evoke fear on the audience persuading them to go against the legalisation of marijuana.

In the middle, a rebuttal is embedded presenting that although there can be used to build "88000 public housing units" however other hard working low income earners with marijuana smokers living are potential benefits "generate 28 billion dollars in taxes" which near them and may possibly establish a "drug den" where they have to "deal with the smell", highlighting that there are other decent hard working low income earner that don't want to live near a smelly drug den. This manoeuvres the readers into thinking about their horrible memory of dealing with their neighbour thinking which prompts them to feel angry and not support marijuana usage.

Progressing on to a factual tone, the paragraph highlights the social issues arises from marijuana citing National Institute of Health revealing that workers are "85% more likely to injured" when tested positive for marijuana use and citing information for a noted expert on cannabis use Alex Berenson highlight the "100% increase in domestic violence" which positions the reader into imagining the dark future of cannabis legalisation. As this piece draws to a close it ends with an emotional tone using rhetorical questions questioning "Do you want our loved ones to be poisoned by the drug that will make them prone to assaulting us? " and combined with the repetition of the usage of "our" will ultimately make the user question the consequences of legalising marijuana and make it feel more personal, encouraging them to oppose the legalisation of marijuana.