in need of a thesis statement

The course our country, and in effect the world, has taken in regards to marijuana is not light folly but a grave injustice. By denying sick citizens access to one of the few proven natural medicinal plants the government does nothing more than continuing the myth that only regulated pharmaceuticals can have medicinal value. In addition we as a country are wasting resources prosecuting marijuana crimes and jailing citizens over nothing more than possession of a plant which has had no recorded overdoses or deaths caused by it. Furthered by the medical evidence that marijuana is much less harmful, if at all, than ever before, we can see the current stance of the US government, and in effect the entire world, is taking on marijuana to be dangerous and not in the best interest of the citizens that they govern.

... I could see taking an approach like that, or at least that's how I'd start a paper. of course I'm stoned, so take it with a pinch of salt over the shoulder or whatever the saying is.

Bring it all back around to the english classes I used to thrive in: You want to basically bring up your arguments and dedicate 1-2 sentences per argument in your opening paragraph. If you are writing something like a ten page paper than you're actually looking to dedicate an entire paragraph to each argument which you then expand out in the further pages.

Just look at each issue and come up with a single sentence for each one. Then look at how you can weave them together. So let's look at some of the issues:

MJ as medicine? Usually this is pretty easy because in essence you'll be likely stating something along the lines of how MJ is known to treat or alleviate symptoms of xx number of disorders / diseases.

Prison industry? A quick one liner about prison expansion and maybe a good stat about marijuana arrests, like how many arrests percentage wise are just drug possession based.

Unrecognized income? Perhaps a blurb about how much taxable income could be generated for schools, etc from legalizing. it's in the hundreds of millions, if not billions, I understand.

There is a lot to go on. I'd also bring up how insane it is for a "free" nation to be so controlling over what we put in our bodies as to make a natural plant illegal.

One then can always go for the alcohol and tobacco comparisons in terms of the damage they do compare to MJ...

Hell, I'd just go watch a copy of The Union and start jotting down notes. Invest an hour and a half and you're sure to have at least half a page of good solid ideas to build off of.

If it's due in march, perhaps look into getting a copy of .. "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" by Jack Herrar (sp?). I haven't read it but understand it is a pretty thorough book advocating strongly for marijuana and discusses some of the propaganda the gov has used again us.

Good to see you're already thinking about it now when it's due in march though, that's some forward thinking I wish I had when I was in school.

 

Decide exactly what it is you're going to argue first, then condense it all down into a few sentences. That's how you write a thesis statement.

For example, I would argue that the current reasons for keeping mj illegal are wrong (basic reasons revolve around health these days, common claims are brain damage, lung damage, and addictivity, all of which are wrong or wildly exaggerated), the drug war is failing at its basic policy goal of reducing either supply or demand while exacerbating problems of organized crime, and, therefore, it does not make sense to continue it when this largely benign drug (I like to liken its effects to three legal drugs in that it's less addictive than caffeine, less carcinogenic than tobacco, and doesn't kill brain-cells like alcohol) could be taxed and regulated for the benefit of society instead of attacked in a war which has never worked.

 

better delete these posts. If your teacher or whoever runs it through a plagarism finding program it might find these and fuck you.

 

I just finished writing a paper on the exact same issue. I threw in a thesis that read;
"Since the U.S. government deems it acceptable for one to enjoy a man made beverage (in moderation), it seems hypocritical to ban the indefinite free use of a plant that grows from the ground, so long as individual rights are not inderfered with."

or

"If one was to believe that marijuana regulation could not help stimulate our deficit, how much would that deficit plummit, if cigarettes and booze were taken off the shelves?"

 

Never pose a question as your thesis.

Are you doing a high school paper or a college paper? Assuming high school you're probably doing the 3 points, 5 paragraph essay. In which case you can probably form your entire essay around this thesis
The anti-marijuana pro-prohibition agenda that our United States has been clinging to is a disgrace and burden upon our country. Legalization and regulation is the best solution to this incredible problem, and will not only lower our prison admission rates, but studies show it will lower drug use overall, and will also increase the US economy.

Now from this you write your essay, paragraph one showing the prison admission rates for marijuana and show that having marijuana legal would reduce (lol) these rates, your second paragraph will be showing how not having prohibition will lower the use of drugs (no longer a glamorous sort of thing), and your third paragraph will probably be about the US economy, using California as a prime example due to their recent budget estimations around marijuana.

and now that I've done a good deed for today while sober, time to blaze