The author’s main claim of the argument is that marijuana should be at least legalized since the war on drugs is a major failure, which undermines the public’s safety, security, and freedom.
Carden includes a qualifier in his claim, which is “immediately.” It is used as a single-word sentence in order to convey how strongly he believes in marijuana legalization.
The first reason for marijuana legalization provided by the author is a historical one, which is prohibition and how the given legislation failed. Prohibition was a law, which banned all forms of alcohol consumption and distribution, but it failed to change the public’s need for it, where only sources of alcohol were revolved around criminal activities. The second reason for Carden’s claim is that the war on drugs undermines one’s freedom, safety, and security by disregarding the key principles of justice and making drug criminals more powerful through increased revenue.
The author uses the economics textbook as a prime source of evidence, where he included Cowen and Tabarrok’s quote on the ineffectiveness of prohibition as a legislative measure (Carden, 2012). In addition, Carden refers to ethos as the main appeal for argumentation by referring to Albert Einstein’s sayings (Carden, 2012). In addition, the author hyperlinked several articles in regards to his statements, which include sources, such as CNN, as well as his previous writings.
An opposing party might respond to the argument by claiming that the legalization of marijuana will make other drugs also more widely used since there will be no taboo or stigma against drugs. In addition, children and adolescents can become the prime victims of legalization since marijuana will become more accessible, which possibly increase addiction and other developmental problems among minors.
Reference
Carden, A. (2012). Let’s be blunt: It’s time to end the drug war. Forbes.