Category: Unit 2

Research Question: Why was cannabis made illegal despite objections from the American Medical Association?

Why: The purchase, sale, consumption, and possession of cannabis was made illegal in the 1930s despite objections from the American Medical Association. The AMA was advocating for the drug’s benefits on and its medicinal use so why did it ever become illegal? Like many of our country’s laws at the time was making cannabis illegal rooted in racism, sexism, or classism? This is a topic that I’m genuinely interested in because there are far more harmful things like alcohol or cigarettes that aren’t illegal so what prompted our government to ban it?

Source 1:
Burnnet, Malik, and Amanda Reiman. “How Did Marijuana Become Illegal in the First Place?” Drug Policy Alliance, 8 Oct. 2014, drugpolicy.org/blog/how-did-marijuana-become-illegal-first-place.

Source 2:
Little, Becky. “Why the US Made Marijuana Illegal.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 Aug. 2017, www.history.com/news/why-the-u-s-made-marijuana-illegal.

Source 3:
Tikkanen, Amy. “Why Is Marijuana Illegal in the U.S.?” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/story/why-is-marijuana-illegal-in-the-us.

In “Liking Is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts.” Jonathan Franzen is exploring his thoughts on the concept of like vs love. He talks about it specifically with technology although the subject is definitely more broad and can apply to multiple aspects of one’s life. In the article, Franzen talks about how he got a new phone and how infatuated he is with. He then shifts the topic and relates it to how simple it is to “like” or “love” something and even questions the validity of it. Now and days people post everything online for the world to see. However, we also seem to forget that it’s essentially all a facade. We post the moments we’re doing or looking our best and it makes it difficult to know whether or not we truly like or love something. This was Franzen’s whole point. He believes to be liked or loved one has to essentially manipulate others, and while I do agree I also disagree. You can still be liked when you be yourself and to say that no one will ever be liked without having to change who they are is just silly. Franzen talks about liking things as if it has no value simply because we like things on the internet or because some people do change themselves to appeal to others. However, this is not the case. Yes, both of these things are true however if we’re being honest none of this is real. What you see people post on social media is a facade, yes but most people don’t really believe that it’s reality and so a “like” on social media is just that, a like. Nothing more profound than that, you just found the content appealing. At least that’s how it is for me. My relationship with technology and social media is not a concern because the truth is that I don’t care about any of that stuff. While some people do make it an important aspect of their lives, I don’t and the people I know and surround myself with don’t either.