Help, cannabis legalization speech

For my public speaking class in college, I have to give a 3-4 minute persuasive speech, and I have decided to do mine on Cannabis Legalization. Most of the stuff I have found on the web does not list their sources very well. I suppose its structured but its not finalized yet and i'm looking for help on the final touches! would love some input from you guys...what do you think?

Thesis: Cannabis legalization

Specific Purpose: To explain people that prohibition does not work

INTRODUCTION I. Gain attention

How many people die from drugs per year? Now how many marijuana deaths can you add to that number? What is it that you know about cannabis or more generally know, marijuana? Did you know that cannabis can also be hemp? There is a reason why cannabis is illegal, a very illogical reason but its illegal because of that reason. Cannabis legalization is a topic that should not be present at this day and age because of the most important fact, the government does not own you, and you should be able to do whatever you want with your own being, whenever you want, as long as you do not hurt anyone else. Because of its history and well documented use cannabis prohibition should have gone away just like the alcohol prohibition did. Yes that is right alcohol use to be illegal and now its on TV commercials, right after those Partnership For A Drug Free America commercials. Why is marijuana illegal in the first place? The government has condemn the use of marijuana and with illegitimate reason. A mass amount of the population has been mislead to believe that the use of marijuana is bad for you and is mostly for economical reasons.

II. Orient audience

There are three major points that Iâ??m going to discuss about cannabis legalization.

A. First main point; same as I in body

The first point is the reason why it's illegal.

B. Second main point; same as II in body freedom;

What is marijuana and why should it be legal.

C. Third main point; same as III in body

My third and final point is to let you know that you own your body and mind.

[Transition: connect the introduction to the body BODY

I. First main point

The first point is the reason why it's illegal. Before I begin I'm going to read a quote by comedian Bill Hicks "Why is marijuana against the law? It grows naturally upon our planet. Doesn't the idea of making nature against the law seem to you a bit . . . unnatural?" - Bill Hicks
A common misconception is that marijuana became illegal because the effects caused by smoking it. Nothing can be further from the truth. Hemp, a different strain of cannabis, was the top crop in agriculture worldwide before it was made illegal. Farmers worldwide have harvested the crop for the past 12,000 years for fiber and food, and Popular Mechanics once boasted that over 25,000 environmentally friendly products could be derived from hemp in their hemp the billion dollar crop edition. With so many uses and a recent invention to be able to use hemp in the paper industry the owners of paper companies joined forces and released propaganda in there papers talking about black people playing devils music, rioting in the streets, Blacks and Mexicans raping white women, all caused by the ill effects of marijuana. The fake news and recent films like Reefer Madness, had convinced the public that marijuana does harm to your body and mind. As you can see marijuana and hemp were criminalized by illogical reasoning. Cannabis is far less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco. Around 50,000 people die each year from alcohol poisoning. Similarly, more than 400,000 deaths each year are attributed to tobacco smoking. By comparison, in ten thousand years of known use of cannabis there has not been a single death attributed to marijuana. That is insane. There has never been a medical reason to keep cannabis illegal.


[Transition: Connect the first main point to the second

II. Second main point


Marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America (behind only alcohol and tobacco), and has been used by nearly 100 million Americans. According to government surveys, some 25 million Americans have smoked marijuana in the past year, and more than 14 million do so regularly despite harsh laws against its use. I believe that claiming 25 million users as criminals is a problem not only that it strengthens criminals but I think prohibition does harm to the mental health of normal users. Of all the negative consequences of marijuana prohibition, none is as tragic as the denial of medicinal cannabis to the tens of thousands of patients who could benefit from its therapeutic use. There are hundreds of different strains, all having a different medicinal qualities. This allows the plant to treat a multitude of conditions. Again you see a resemblance to what happened with hemp and the paper industry, but this time its the pharmaceutical companies that come in direct conflict. Up in till 1997 tobacco and alcohol companies provided donations to Partnership For A Drug Free America campaign, but now the only company giving donations is the pharmaceutical companies. I don't believe they are telling us the truth about drugs, as you can already see there is a anti marijuana industry because of economics. There is an overwhelming amount of medicinal purposes marijuana can be used, I can't discuss them here because of time constraints but currently, more than 60 U.S. and international health organizations support granting patients immediate legal access to medicinal marijuana under a physician's supervision. There is no scientific basis for a casual relationship between the psychoactive effects of marijuana and the progression to harder drug abuse.


[Transition: Connect the second main point to the third

III. Third main point

My third and final point is to let you know that you own your body and mind. The government and anyone else for that matter, has no say in how you think, what you think about, and what you do with your own being. You should be able to do anything you want to your body as long as you are not hurting anybody. In this regard the cannabis legalization movement makes sense. I think that prohibition will never work and has caused more crime and unnecessary damage to mental health among users. As indicated earlier, the belief that marijuana causes or leads to the commission of violent or aggressive acts first emerged during the 1930's and became deeply embedded in the public mind. But quite on the contrary, studies of selected populations of users have shown no substantial evidence of a connection to violent crime. It is your decision to do anything to your own being as long as you are not hurting or interfering with anybody.

[Transition: Connect the third main point (or all main points) to the conclusion

Conclusion I. Summary

Let me summarize my points in a short concise way that is clear. The government isn't telling you the truth about drugs. You own your body and mind and can do anything to your very being as long as you do not hurt anybody. They are keeping marijuana and hemp illegal for pure economical reasons. Marijuana is a drug that has produced 0 deaths in thousands of years of documented use and there is not one, let me repeat, not one medical reason to keep it illegal.

II. Closure

Now that you know the underlying truths about marijuana you can be sure that the next time a conversation of a much misunderstood topic arises you will be well informed of the facts. I would like to finish with a quote by Terence McKenna "If the words "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on." o Terence McKenna

dont legalize it! Decriminalization is the way to go!!!!! If it's not a crime you cant do the time!!!!

I think legalization is the way to go, decriminalization is an illogical position, to say that its legal to own something, to use it, to possess it, but not to produce it or sell it is really a goofy message.
Can you give more info?

if you give me enough time sure I could!

Not going in jail for possesion of mj it's a good start!

Grimskunk (from montreal) is a band based around mj and they are all for decriminalization not for legalizing it! Would have to see why they have that position on the subject! Indica records rule!! Indica Records - indica.mu