I've watched an episode of American Weed and was very disappointed to observe the owners, managers, and staff at dispensaries have not received (or read up) training in effective debate and argumentation skills. I'm currently an undergraduate student majoring in Logistics & Supply Management. Argument and debate skills is part of my study requirements to handle the scrutiny of government regulators and the news media. In business management & administration, the ability to present a strong argument is part of DAMAGE CONTROL principles. When you operate a marijuana dispensary, you MUST anticipate the mind (psychology) of conservatives. People who cling to conservative ideals include religious people. Currently, the argument of "wrath of God" or "walking the evil (or devil's) path" is losing credibility because advances in science had put doubt in people's mind on the Bible and Christian beliefs. One example is DNA technology; we have scientific evidence sexual orientation is decided at birth, yet Christians insist science is wrong because "the Bible says so." Take a moment to analyze who benefits from criminalizing medicinal marijuana. The obvious is organized crime. Prohibition yielded million$ in untaxed sales of alcohol. Prior to Prohibition, organized crime relied on gambling, prostitution, and racketeering to generate revenue. The passage of Prohibition was essentially "handing the goose that laid the golden eggs" to organized crime. What happened in the Prohibition Era is recurring again, but alcohol had now been replaced by marijuana. The fallacy of Prohibition is, government failed to recognize alcohol consumption from a cultural perspective. Americans have always consumed alcohol since the Colonial era. Telling an entire society "alcohol consumption is wrong and evil; we'll outlaw it because we know what's good for you" is comparable to telling people sex is bad for you unless you're a married couple. The opponents of medicinal marijuana are going through DENIAL; they're ignoring the medical data to prove marijuana is superior to prescription pain killers. They've adopted the same psyche as the supporters of Prohibition, "we know what's good for you." What's exacerbating the problem is the way news media is reporting this issue. They've given plenty of coverage on the arguments by opponents, which is pushing public opinion towards the side of conservatives. You need to WIN PUBLIC OPINION towards your camp by pointing out the harmful side effects of prescription pain killers. People who need marijuana to control pain have tried prescription pain killers, and they're forced to choose between living with pain versus living with the side effects. The government argues Marinol is just as good as smoking marijuana, but just like their Prohibition counterparts, they disregard the harmful side effects (denial). People who tried Marinol went back to marijuana after experiencing the side effects. Besides organized crime, there's another entity who benefits from criminalizing medical marijuana. This entity stays in the shadows, yet the news media dares not to mention them because the media relies on advertisement revenue. This same entity is paying billion$ annually in lobbying city, state, and federal government to crack down on marijuana dispensaries. So long as dispensaries exist, they are losing billion$ in loss revenue; it's the pharmaceutical industry. This hidden foe is a greater threat than law enforcement officers or government regulators combined. They're the puppet master who are pulling the strings, hoping to eventually force people suffering from pain to buy prescription pain killers, the products they manufacture and distribute to pharmacies. When arguing the loss revenue the pharmaceutical industry suffers because of legalized marijuana, point out the multi-million $$ salaries of these CEOs, their private lear jets, their yachts, their lavish mansion. Their life of luxury is threatened so long as marijuana dispensaries stay in business. Do you see all the ads for aspirin, cold relief medicine, male enhancement pills, all these multi-million $$$ advertisement campaigns to promote their products? The pharmaceutical industry will yank their ads if news media exposes their lobbying influence to criminalize marijuana and shut down dispensaries PERMANENTLY. To summarize, your five strong arguments are: Organized crime (drug cartels), which today replicates the Prohibition Era. Violent street gangs are the distribution network of organized crime. When marijuana is legalized, street gangs are left with rock cocaine and meth to fund their drug operations. Harmful side effects of prescription pain killers, including Marinol. Loss revenue by the pharmaceutical industry. Tax revenue from medicinal marijuana. Criminalizing marijuana can lead to higher taxes because the loss tax revenue will have to be replaced by taxpayers. News media distorting the facts and manipulating public opinion to appease the pharmaceutical companies, their source for advertisement revenue.