RHETORICAL ANAYLSIS OF DRUGPOLICY.

ORG

Rhetorical Analysis of Drugpolicy.org

Maximiliano Lopez
University of Texas at El Paso

RHETORICAL ANAYLSIS OF DRUGPOLICY.ORG

Abstract

This paper explores the rhetorical analysis of the website drugpolicy.org. A website that argues
for better drug policies for the betterment of the nation. I will be analyzing this using ethos
pathos and logos. In the logos paragraph I will be analyzing how the history tab shows ethos to
increase the credibility of the founders of the website. In the pathos paragraph I will show how
the author uses the effect of drug possession arrests to make the audience feel bad for those who
have been convicted, and to ultimately convince that reform is needed for drug possession
charges. In the logos paragraph I analyzed the facts of the number of drug possessions so the
audience can know how big of a problem this is.

RHETORICAL ANAYLSIS OF DRUGPOLICY.ORG

Rhetorical Analysis of Drugpolicy.org

Drugpolicy.org is a website that offers opinion and facts about drug policies that are
affecting the nation at the moment. One of its main focuses is to try to fix the drug policies that
affect the users of the drug marijuana. The policies that are in effect right now affect many
Americans negatively right now because about 700,000 Americans get incarcerated because of
marijuana. DrugPolicy.org supports restructuring of drug policies in America, which is
reinforced through ethos which is shown through the history tab, pathos which is shown through
the issues tab and logos which is shown through the facts tab.
Drugpolicy.org uses a lot of ethos in order to try to convince the public to reform drug
policies by increasing their credibility, the specific ethos that I chose to write about is its history
section. At first glance of the history section on drugpolicies.org you can tell much effort was put
in to make sure the section looks very official. After reading through it I concluded it was ethos
because throughout the section drugpolicy.org they continue to show why they started and what
kind of people started, which is very educated people. An example of this would be when
drugpolicy.org begins to talk about its founders founded in 1987 by Arnold S. Trebach, JD,
PhD, a professor at American University, and Kevin B. Zeese, an attorney who had directed the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in the early 1980s.(N.D.) This shows
the audience that people who founded this website know that theyre very educated people and
that they know what they are doing. Drugpolicy.org uses a lot of ethos in order to try to

RHETORICAL ANAYLSIS OF DRUGPOLICY.ORG

Convince the public to reform drug policies by increasing their credibility.

Drugpolicy.org shows its Pathos through the entire issues tab, which tries to show the
audience that drug reform is much needed, the specific section I will be analyzing is the
convictions and punishments section. In this section drugpolicy.org tries to appeal to the
audiences pathos by showing what happens if one is convicted of drug possession. One example
of this is when drugpolicy.org says incarcerating people for nonviolent drug offenses destroys
lives, because with a criminal conviction under your belt, it isnt easy to get a job, and youre not
eligible for student loans, which doesnt leave a lot of legal options open for a productive life
(N.D.). This specific quotation shows a lot of pathos because its saying how much a drug
conviction ruins your whole life by not just jail time, but also but making it hard for those with
drug convictions to lead a productive life. This is pathos because the fact that there are
consequences beyond the jail time is harsh, it shows the audience that this is truly a life ruining
conviction. It makes those who read this feel bad for those who were convicted of this crime.
Drugpolicy.org shows its Pathos through the entire issues tab, which tries to show the audience
that drug reform is much needed by making feel bad for those convicted of drug possession.
Drugpolicy.org has a lot of logos on its website as well which is used to show how the
drug policies are creating a huge problem, most of the logos is found throughout the facts tab, the
specific logos that I will be analyzing will be the war on drugs section. In this section it shows
the statistics that are a result of the war on drugs. At first glance of this section you can see all
the statistics. An example of this is the statistic when drugpolicy.org says Number of these

RHETORICAL ANAYLSIS OF DRUGPOLICY.ORG

Arrests that were for possession only: 1,297,384. (2014). this show that there is a huge number
of arrests on the American public. Its shows to the audience that this is a truly a huge problem to
the American people, because a large number off lives are being ruined because of the policies
that are in place right now. The whole section is an attempt to show the audience that the
numbers dont lie. Drugpolicy.org has a lot of logos on its website as well which is used to show
how the drug policies are creating a huge problem.
Drugpolicy.org is a website that effectively shows the audience the true problems that
come with the current drug policies in this nation. They use ethos, pathos, and logos to try to
persuade the audience to side with them. They clearly state the problem and an answer to the
problems at hand. DrugPolicy.org supports restructuring of drug policies in America, which is
reinforced through ethos which is shown through the history tab, pathos which is shown through
the issues tab and logos which is shown through the facts tab.

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Reference
Drug Policy Alliance | Guiding Drug Law Reform & Advocacy. (n.d.). Retrieved October 09,
2016, from http://www.drugpolicy.org/