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Alicia Stoddard
Irene Peterson
English 1010-25
11 May 2016
Marijuana
Introduction: Marijuana legalization has been a hot topic for the past
few years. The advancement in medical marijuana has helped many
people cope with chronic pain, long-term diseases and terminal
illnesses. I care about this topic because I have a brother with the
autoimmune disease ulcerative colitis, which causes the lining of the
large intestine to become inflamed and develop tiny open sores, or
ulcers. The only treatment that helps his symptoms and pain is
marijuana. There is more to consider than the positive effects of
medical marijuana when questioning the legalization; 21 states have
already legalized medical marijuana, and four states, Washington,
Oregon, Colorado and Alaska, have even legalized its recreational use,
but what implications will come from this legalization? More
importantly, how does the legalization affect our youth?

Anderson, D. Mark, Daniel I. Rees, and Joseph J. Sabia. "Medical

Marijuana Laws And
Suicides By Gender And Age." American Journal Of Public
Health 104.12 (2014): 2369-2376 8p. CINAHL Complete. Web. 1
May 2016.

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Summary: The article, "Medical Marijuana Laws And Suicides By

Gender And Age," compares the legalization of marijuana with suicides.
Depression and suicidal ideation has already been linked to the use of
marijuana. The study breaks down the method of suicide as well as age
and gender of the suicidal victims. The authors share the results of the
study, which showed that suicide rates had fallen in the medical
legalized states verses the control states.
Analysis: The article was published in the American Journal of Public
Health, which is a reliable and credible source. It was published in
2014, so it has relevance to the issue of the legalization of marijuana
today. All three authors have PhDs and are currently in the Economics
Departments at three major universities. They used statistics and
graphs to share their research findings and also cited sources for the
research.
Assessment: This article has relevance to the issue of the legalization
of marijuana with studies of causes of depression and suicidal ideation.
Marijuana supporters have long expressed that marijuana helps with
depression, but this study showed that excessive use actually
promotes depression. This article ties into the negative effects of
marijuana and its impact on our youth.

Denning, Brannon P. "Vertical Federalism, Horizontal Federalism, And

Legal

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Obstacles To State Marijuana Legalization Efforts." Case Western

Reserve Law Review65.3 (2015): 567. MasterFILE Complete.
Web. 1 May 2016.
Summary: Brannon Dennings article, "Vertical Federalism, Horizontal
Federalism, And Legal Obstacles To State Marijuana Legalization
Efforts," explores the tension between state law and federal law when
it comes to the legalization of marijuana. He uses an example of the
Controlled Substance Act (CSA) and how employers are able to use this
in marijuana-legal states to enforce drug-free workplaces. Denning
claims:
At the risk of seeming obtuse, I find it self-evident that state
legalization regimes permitting marijuana use for medical or
recreational
purposes present a substantial obstacle to the implementation of
a federal law that (1) recognizes no medical use for marijuana
and (2)
seeks to eliminate the national market in marijuana by banning
all
production, possession, and transfer.
The author concludes with the importance of a change in federal law
for marijuana legalization to be successful. He also argued that polling
numbers did not support a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress,
let alone receive the three-quarters vote from state legislatures
necessary to approve.
Analysis: The author of the article is Brannon Denning. It was
published in an academic journal, which proves that it has been factchecked and is a credible source. It was published in Case Western
Reserve Law Review with the intended audience a scholarly one.

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Denning references a lot of specific laws throughout his article to

support his claims. The article was published in 2015, so it is
information that is still relevant today.
Assessment: This article helped me gain a better perspective on laws
that are currently placed on marijuana on the federal level as well as
within states. When it comes to the legalization of marijuana, its
important to think about the big picture and how it will affect users in
employment or on a legal level. The topic also ties into my other
research about how the legalization of marijuana in Colorado has
proven to be successful, the article for which was published in the
same academic journal.
Hudak, John. "Colorado's Rollout Of Legal Marijuana Is Succeeding: A
Report On The
State's Implementation Of Legalization." Case Western Reserve
Law Review65.3 (2015): 649. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 1 May
2016.
Summary: John Hudacks article, "Colorado's Rollout Of Legal
Marijuana Is Succeeding: A Report On The State's Implementation Of
Legalization," reviews the overall success that the state of Colorado
has had in implementing Amendment 64, which legalized marijuana for
medicinal as well as recreational use. The legalization didnt come
without hardships; Colorado did not have a true model to guide
lawmakers on how to structure the legalization of marijuana. The
author covers the challenges that Colorado has had to overcome in
legalizing marijuana.

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Analysis: The article was published in the academic journal, Case

Western Reserve Law Review. Since the article was published in an
academic journal, it is a credible source and fact-checked. Since it was
published in 2015, it has relevance to what is going on currently with
the legalization of marijuana. The author reviews the details of the
implementation of the amendment legalizing marijuana in the state
and the marijuana enforcement division created to enforce the new
laws. Other states that could potentially legalize marijuana can learn
from Colorados mistakes and already be ahead of the game.
Assessment: This article helped me understand what goes into
legalizing marijuana and the hardships that come with it. The research
in this article ties in with the potential effect that legalization has on
our youth and how states that have legalized marijuana are trying to
prevent youth from using the drug.
Joffe, A, and WS Yancy. "Technical Report. Legalization Of Marijuana:
Potential
Impact On Youth." Pediatrics 113.(2004): e632-8 1p. CINAHL
Complete. Web.
Summary: The article, "Technical Report. Legalization Of Marijuana:
Potential
Impact On Youth," by Alain Joffe and W. Samuel Yancy sheds light on
what kind of impact the legalization of marijuana has on todays youth.
The authors also include a background on the issue of the legalization
of marijuana as well as historical context of drug policies in the United

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States. Joffe and Yancy also review the comparison of alcohol and
tobacco with marijuana.
Analysis: Alain Joffe and W. Samuel Yancy are both medical doctors
and co-wrote the article, which was published in the academic journal
American Academy of Pediatrics. Since the article was published in an
academic journal, it has been proven a credible source. It was
published in June 2004, but the effects that marijuana has on youth
would still be the same today. The article uses statistics and graphs to
display the data that was collected in the authors research.
Assessment: This article is relevant to my topic because it brings the
perspective of the potential effects that the legalization of marijuana
will have on our youth. This article also relates to the rest of my
research because it gives the background of issue of marijuana and the
historical context of drug policies. It is important to keep in mind the
effects that the legalization of marijuana will have on our youth.
Lusk, Stephanie L., Teresia M. Paul, and Raylon Wilson. "The Potential
Impact Of The
Legalization And Decriminalization Of Marijuana On The
Vocational Rehabilitation Process. Why The Buzz?." Journal Of
Applied Rehabilitation Counseling 46.2 (2015): 3-12. PsycINFO.
Web. 1 May 2016.
Summary: The authors Stephanie L. Lusk, Teresia M. Paul and Raylon
Wilson co-wrote the article, "The Potential Impact Of The Legalization
And Decriminalization Of Marijuana On The Vocational Rehabilitation
Process. Why The Buzz?" The writers review the potential impact that

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the legalization of marijuana has on professional counselors. The paper

gives advice on how to address the use of marijuana for medical
treatment and also covers marijuanas pharmacological properties. The
article also includes some of the negative effects of marijuana use.
Analysis: The article was published in the Journal of Applied
Rehabilitation Counseling, proving that it is a credible source that has
been fact-checked. It was also published in the summer of 2015, so it
has relevance to todays issues on the topic. The writers present their
evidence using a lot of research and statistics that are also cited to
their sources.
Assessment: This article is important to my research because it does
address the negative effects of the use of marijuana and also covers
the pharmacological properties. The authors dont have one argument
toward the topic of the legalization of marijuana; they present their
findings and want their readers to decide.
Ross, Winston. "CANNABIS CRUSADER. (Cover Story)." Newsweek
Global 165.20
(2015): 24. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 1 May 2016.
Summary: Winston Ross wrote the article, Cannabis Crusader, to
shed some light on the legalization of marijuana through a person who
has made progress with it in the state of Oregon. That person is Travis
Maurer, and the author follows Traviss criminal history involving the
sale and growing of marijuana as well as how he helped support the
legalization and decriminalization of marijuana in Oregon. Maurer is
currently trying to legalize marijuana in his home state of Missouri,

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which is primarily conservative. The article describes what Maurer had

to go through in Oregon to get the bill passed to legalize marijuana and
how hes activity trying to do the same thing in Missouri.
Analysis: This article was published in a periodical, Newsweek Global,
in 2015, showing that it is relevant to todays issue with the
legalization of marijuana. The article follows the experiences of Travis
Maurer, who has first-hand experience with the criminalization of
marijuana as well as the fight for legalization. The article also reviews
many marijuana legalization groups and supporters in the political
world.
Assessment: This article is relevant to my issue because it brings the
perspective of a supporter of the legalization of marijuana who
impacted the legalization in Oregon. There is a lot that goes into
getting the legalization on the ballot as well as campaigning for it.
There are a lot of activist groups and forums that educate and promote
the legalization of marijuana.
Conclusion: The legalization of marijuana continues to be a hot topic.
Some states have had a lot of success with the legalization of
marijuana, but it didnt come without hardships. Overall, if marijuana
were to be legalized, it would involve federal support and strictly
enforced regulations to maintain the safety of the people involved.

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