Leon County 2 · Should marijuana be a medical option?

Where to read it

The readings for this task are not on this page. They belong to the people who assembled them, so we link to their packet rather than copy it out.

Open ACE Leon Transitions, Unit 9-A: Evidence-based Writing Practice and find Prompt #5. You are looking for:

For: Joycelyn Elders, MD, former U.S. Surgeon General (2004); Steven R. Patierno, PhD, of the Duke Cancer Institute (2014); and Sanjay Gupta, MD, “Why I Changed My Mind on Weed” (CNN, 2013)
Against: Michael Bloomberg, then mayor of New York (2013); the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2006 and 2014); and Sanjay Gupta, MD, “Why I Would Vote No on Pot” (TIME, 2006)

It is a free PDF from Leon County Schools Adult & Community Education, in Tallahassee, Florida. Nothing to pay, no account, no sign-in.

If that link ever fails, search for the document by name: ACE Leon Transitions, Unit 9-A: Evidence-based Writing Practice.

Notice before you start: Sanjay Gupta appears on both sides, seven years apart, and says so himself in the later piece. That is not a mistake in the packet. A writer who changes his mind in public, and explains why, is the most interesting evidence in this set — and deciding what his reversal proves, if anything, is a real piece of analysis.

The task, in the packet’s words

Should marijuana be a medical option?

Read the arguments for and against marijuana as a medical option. In your response, analyze both positions to determine which one is best supported. Use specific evidence from the article to support your claim. Take approximately 45 minutes to respond.

You are not being asked which side you agree with, and you will not be scored on which one you choose. You are being asked to judge the arguing.

Before you start the clock

Open the packet, find your prompt, and read the passages once through without stopping. Then start the clock here and write. Read there; write in the box below, which saves under your code as you type, so you can move between the two windows without losing anything.

When you are finished, read your draft against the three traits on How the essay is scored.

Your 45 minutes

45:00 The clock keeps counting past zero, so you can see what it cost you.

☞ This packet was made by adult educators, not by the test maker, so read the prompt carefully — it is close to the GED’s wording but not always identical. The nine that use the test’s exact wording are on More practice; our own five, with the teaching folded in, are on the essay page.