purpose: My Persuading my audience to look beyond your own thoughts about marijuana and listen to the facts Central Idea: The ancient hot conflict is often more normal than not Intro 1) It dates back to when the earth was created 2) It is famous world wide as the absolute peacemaker for the people 3) It serves as food for mankind, and as a therapeutic cure for diverse diseases a) It is known as the wild flower of wisdom, angel's food, and the tree of life b) Because of the oppression placed on people, it is lifted as a type liberator for the people 4) Today, I dont want to persuade, you, my audience to legalize marijuana, but I want to persuade you to reason logically, to think critically, and to make a responsible conclusion based on truth before choosing sides. I want to show the historical religious mentionings and the positive facts of marijuana because too often only the negative is established in peoples minds. If only false myths and false rumors are known about any subject, for that matter, the decision one makes can be biased and inaccurate. My audience should make this decision based on truthful information. (First off the historical religious findings will be discussed. I am assuming the majority of my audience believes in God; this is why I chose the bible as a source.) Body 1) In the Bible a) God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth. To you it will be for meat." And God saw everything that he made was good. (Genesis 1:29-31) b) Marijuana is a type of herb bearing seed c) The Bible also predicts the healing plants conflicts. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall speak lies in hypocrisy commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. (Paul: 1 Timothy 4:1-3) i) This means that in the future some people will tell lies that command others to hold back from meats AKA herbs even though God has given them to us with thanks.
d) Jesus said to keep church and state separate i) "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's and unto God the things which be God's." (Luke 20:25) ii) As I have shown you, it was God, not the government, who gave us the herbs to use, and it was the government that murdered Jesus. e) God told Moses in Ex. 30:23 in the original Hebrew bible to take 250 shekels qaneh-bosm, translated as cannabis, but King James mistranslated it as sweet calamus, to the to tabernacle anoint. i) One shekel equals approximately 16.37 grams. This means that the THC from over 9 pounds of flowering cannabis tops were extracted into about 6.5 liters of oil. (Now I want to talk about plausible positive outcomes of marijuana) 2) Positive economic affects of marijuana a) If marijuana is legalized, this amendment will reduce the black market, thus the violence associated with the sales of marijuana will be reduce b) The government can tax the sale of marijuana, and they can use this income to lower the national dept or to help other depts. i) A 2002 study by researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas estimated taxing and regulating marijuana would generate $28.6 million in revenue. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15305579/from/RS.5/) c) In Colorado it is legal to have up to an ounce of marijuana for personal use if you are over the age of 21. i) This will decrease the probability of younger children buying it. (The medical uses for Marijuana are extremely vast) 3) Medical uses for marijuana a) Pain, muscle spasms and tremors, seizures, nausea, vomiting, appetite stimulation, insomnia, migraine headaches, depression, and glaucoma (http://www.ardpark.org/reference/mjmeduse.htm) b) A woman in Maine described the last days of her sister-in-law who was dying of cancer. "The medications prescribed for the nausea do not work, but marijuana does. After watching her throw up more than 30 times, I felt it was time for her to try it, and it worked. For the moralists out there, I suggest you see what an end-
stage cancer patient has to endure." (http://www.ardpark.org/reference/mjmeduse.htm) c) Medical Marijuana is "...one of the safest therapeutically- active substances known to man." (http://www.ardpark.org/reference/mjmeduse.htm) Conclusion (In conclusion I want to make sure you understand my purpose) 4) In no way shape or form is this speech justifying drug abuse. a) This is simply a speech urging you to change my audiences defined opinions about marijuana to perhaps maybe understand the benefits of it. b) Marijuana is in fact a used substance in the bible, can be an economic booster if legalized, can be a crime prevention method if legalized, and currently is a natural medical phenomenon. c) After all is said its only a wild flower
Works Cited http://www.ardpark.org/reference/mjmeduse.htm a reference the bible a book http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15305579/from/RS.5/ news article http://www.equalrights4all.org/religious/bible.htm a web site