Assignment:

An Analysis of Marijuana Policy Proposals

This is an assignment that gives you an opportunity to synthesize the evidence, arguments, and concepts you've encountered throughout this course into an analysis of marijuana policies you select. This assignment is designed to encourage you to think critically about the potential costs and benefits of your own preferences, values, and principles. It also provides you with an opportunity to compare and contrast your policy preferences with the preferences of the authors of your assigned readings.

Students can earn up to 5 percentage points which will be added onto the average of your three exam scores.

In order to be evaluated, your paper must be single-spaced and use 12-point Times New Roman font with 1" margins all around.

Your paper must be at least 3 complete pages but no more than 4 complete pages.

If your paper does not conform to the formatting and length requirements, it will not be accepted for grading.

Your paper should accomplish each of the following objectives:

1. Clearly and specifically describe a marijuana policy (or a related set of marijuana policies) you prefer.

2. Citing the evidence and arguments presented throughout this course, make predictions about the outcomes of your preferred policy if it were implemented. If your preferred policy reflects current policies or the status quo, then describe actual outcomes produced by the current system.

3. Discuss the potential costs and benefits of your preferred policy. Be sure to identify who bears the costs and who reaps the benefits. Explain how your personal values and principles influence what you classify as a cost or benefit and how you assign different importance or weight to them.

4. Briefly explain how your preferred policy would affect you personally. Demonstrate insight and critical thinking.

5. Compare and contrast your preferred policy with the positions of any two of the following five authors: Mitch Earleywine (see his Chapter 12: Final Thoughts), Angela Hawken, Jon Caulkins, Mark Kleiman, or Beau Kilmer (see their Chapter 16: What Do the Authors Think about Marijuana Legalization?).