Cannabis Legalization Helped Us Out Of The Great Depression By Henry Krane

Reading an one sided article often leaves readers thinking and feeling persuaded to the side of the article. “By rhetoric one often understands nothing more than the art of well-formulated speech, occasionally even a mere technique of persuasion, which uses irrelevant arguments or a cynical manipulation of emotions.” (Höffe, 2003) In other words, rhetoric uses persuasion, emotions, and well thought vocabulary in order to make someone understand or agree with the writer more. Krane uses this to its extent in his article to persuade his readers. In the article, “ Cannabis Legalization is Key to Economic Recovery, Much Like Ending Alcohol Prohibition Helped Us Out Of The Great Depression”, Krane uses slippery slope, comparison, and logos effectively,

As well as he uses hyperbole to exaggerate the effects cannabis charges have on the judicial system. The author uses “alcohol prohibition famously clogged our criminal justice system”(Krane), as a hyperbole to exaggerate the amount of alcohol related court cases there were during the great depression. The author compares not legalizing cannabis to the alcohol prohibition in which case the alcohol prohibition led to the great depression. Krane is trying to insinuate that is what will happen if we do not legalize cannabis. “The situation is reminiscent of what the country faced during the Great Depression nearly 100 years ago.” (Krane) When Krane is comparing the great depression to legalizing marijuana he uses the fallacy of slippery slope. He begins to make assumptions like saying if we do not legalize cannabis we will fall into another great depression. This is a little dramatic but that is exactly what rhetoric is designed for, to stretch ideas and persuade readers. “Rhetoric gives you a framework to think critically about your writing and reading choices.” (What is Rhetoric?, n.d.) Rhetoric is designed to make people think. The way Krane uses comparison and hyperboles makes everyone think if we will actually fall into another era similar to the Great Depression. The way he uses these rhetorical devices is also used as a

“The situation is reminiscent of what the country faced during the Great Depression nearly 100 years ago.” (Krane) This shows how he compares the two situations. No one wants to live through a great depression so this will immediately strike fearfulness in readers. Krane uses countless terms to strike fear in a reader such as, “death”, “terror”, and “depression”. The whole reason for this article is to persuade and there is no better way to persuade readers than to scare them. Krane plays into the fear factor of repeating history in hopes people will see the similarities of alcohol prohibition and keeping cannabis illegal. It may seem a little weird but language and rhetoric can be extremely