PHL 111 FInal Project
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Southern New Hampshire University *
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111
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Arts Humanities
Date
Jan 9, 2024
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docx
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1
Final Project
Leha Hislop
Southern New Hampshire University
PHL- 111: Introduction to Critical Thinking
Instructor: Dr. Skye
December 10, 2023
2
Final Project
I.
Introduction
:
The topic I chose is Marijuana: Beneficial or Harmful? This is a debate that goes on daily
with scientists trying to figure out which one marijuana could be for individuals. Many
individuals use marijuana to medicate for their symptoms of cancer or epilepsy among
other issues. Others use recreational and some overuse recreational marijuana. Due to
marijuana being only legal in 33 states and the District of Columbia it is difficult to test
the actual use and effects of marijuana on a person's mind. They are unable to get a clear
picture of how THC and CBD can differ and affect the thinking process. Some tests come
back that marijuana has a negative impact on thinking and others come back that it can
enhance the thinking process. I have a personal connection to this topic due to the father
of my children having epilepsy and using marijuana to help treat his condition. We
currently reside in the state of Pennsylvania, and we have a bill passed for medical
marijuana use. The use of medical marijuana does help to control his seizures and give
him an appetite after he has a seizure.
II.
Primary Argument:
The primary argument in the article ‘Cannabis in the Clinic’ is how they are unable to test
cannabis and its effects on the human brain due to the limitations of marijuana being
labeled as a Schedule 1 drug classification. They are unable to get the proper data they
need because they don’t know a person's use of marijuana. Data on how marijuana works
in people over time are sparse (Walter, 2020). The first premise I see is “But a 2018
3
clinical study on medical marijuana users showed very different effects on the brain”
(Walter, 2020). Each time a study was conducted they came to different conclusions. The
second premise I see in this article is “Marijuana use is skyrocketing among the elderly
— reports have suggested it has increased as much as tenfold among seniors over the past
decade” (Walter, 2020). The fact that they use it to treat many different illnesses and
diagnoses for all ages of people. The conclusion “The bottom line is this: Research on
marijuana remains inconclusive. Results differ from person to person, depending on why
and how they use the drug.” (Walter, 2020). Everyone is different so results may vary
between tests.
The logic and reasoning behind the testing of marijuana is simple to explain. It is an
inductive argument because they are trying to test and figure out how marijuana affects a
person’s ability to think while high. The tests all have factors that come into play as to
whether the person is using marijuana for medical purposes or recreationally using
marijuana. I believe the argument is valid that there is no way to prove if marijuana has a
negative or positive effect on people. Until they can legalize it everywhere they cannot
test the drugs supplied on the streets and are limited to the medically used marijuana for
testing.
The article I chose does contain some biased statements in it, but it also has some factual
information. The article states that “the drug might be an effective measure to treating
chronic pain and chemotherapy side effects like nausea, which could explain the climbing
usage rates” (Walter, 2020). It seems as if she leans more towards it, being good for
medical purposes but not recreational use.
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While using the CRAAP test to find out if my article was sufficiently credible, I was able
to obtain information to support my paper. The resources used to produce this article are
credible because it was written by a trustworthy organization called Gale Business. This
article was written to inform people of the use of marijuana by doing research that
supports its claims. I do believe this article is credible. The resources support the article
due to them being actual studies of the effects of marijuana use on a person's mental
health.
C.R.A.A.P Test
Currency: The currency of this article is March 2020, and the information
is up to date.
Relevance: This article is very relevant to my topic of how marijuana is
beneficial or harmful for a person to use. It talks about how marijuana
cannot be tested properly to find out the effects on one’s mental health.
Authority: The author is Jennifer Walter from Discover Media, and she has
written a few other articles for this same company.
Accuracy: The article has a tad bit of bias in it but not much. It states facts
from the references she inquired about for her information before
publishing her article.
III.
Counterargument:
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The article I chose is Anti-legalization advocate opens window into harms of commercial
marijuana. This article speaks about how they published a book in 2018 called
Smokescreen which published stories from people who experienced the commercial use
of marijuana. It made some quit their jobs because they ran out of business or the
mismanagement of the licensing process. The claim being made is marijuana is harmful
for consumption of use.
The first premise is “Smokescreen, Sabet says, gives voice to those who have
witnessed the toll commercialization has taken on drug users who are not
protected from high‐potency marijuana and on low-income communities that are
disproportionately targeted by commercial marijuana enterprises” (Enos, 2021).
The second premise is “A state regulator who ended up quitting her job, frustrated
that she was constantly receiving commercial license applications from
individuals who had ties to criminal organizations (Enos, 2021). The conclusion is
“Sabet hopes the book will help policymakers avoid some of the missteps
government officials have made in states that have legalized recreational
marijuana (Enos, 2021). Marijuana is not safe for human consumption.
The logic and reasoning behind choosing this counterargument is because it is the
opposite of what I am arguing. I am arguing that marijuana is beneficial for use
for medical purposes if used properly. The only logical counterargument would be
that marijuana is harmful for consumption of use. When someone uses marijuana
for commercial use it can affect all different types of people individually. I would
say this argument is deductive because it refers to specific scenarios from people
who experienced loss from marijuana in some type of way. I would say this
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argument is valid because it gives real-life experiences from another person’s
perspective. I would say the weakness of this article is that because it comes from
another person’s perspective it contains some biases.
The counterargument does contain some biased statements because it is an article
about a book. It’s about people’s personal experiences behind the commercial use
of marijuana. “Testimony from individuals whose loved ones suffered severe
consequences from use of a product that was sold as a relatively harmless
substance” (Enos, 2021). Otherwise, the article is informative about the book
written about marijuana.
IV.
Application:
It was a process that took me week by week to write this argument and understand how
to properly do it. I had to consider how accurate my argument would be against my
counterargument. How valid is my argument and are there any biases presented in the
article, I had to ask myself. I read through the article and did a little research on the
author of the article to see how credible the article is. Being that I deal with someone who
has a medical condition and uses marijuana to treat his epilepsy it was easy to analyze the
strength of the argument.
I will apply the process of critical thinking to my everyday life more often now. It helps
to look at the bigger picture and see the two sides to each story instead of just seeing one
dimension. I will look more for the reasoning behind the argument and easy ways to
solve it to make everyone happy, if possible. I will try to make sure I do not form any
biases or judgments against anything or anyone. We first look at the facts and then make
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sure to do our own research on the evidence provided to us. After taking these steps I
expect to be a good critical thinker.
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References
Enos, G. (2021). Anti‐legalization advocate opens window into harms of commercial
marijuana.
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
,
33
(13), 1–8.
https://doi-
org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1002/adaw.33017
Walter, J. (2020, March 1). Cannabis in the Clinic.
Discover
,
41
(2).
https://eds-s-ebscohost-
com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=592b231b-bd7a-49f0-bc60-
ebfbd880d222%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d
%3d#db=edsbig&AN=edsbig.A636283460