The benefits of legalizing Marijuana/History of Marijuana

Overview
The presentation for the final topic will explain the history of marijuana and discuss the benefits of legalizing it. The history will present the view as to the benefits of the plant vis-à-vis the perceived threats it poses.
I have identified peer-reviewed scholarly articles as references for the presentation. The works by Galicia et al. (2018) and Hudak (2016) will be the critical sources for the history of Marijuana and the history of its illegalization. To further solidify the legal regimes concerning marijuana, I shall refer to Dioun & Haveman, (2017). Lachenmeier and Rehm (2015) will inform the risk-benefit comparison of marijuana and other legal substances. I shall refer to Saaty (2015) and Caulkins et al. (2015) to identify the benefits of legalizing marijuana. The visuals I intend to use in the presentation are graphs to present statistics on the use of marijuana and its benefits and colored maps to show the prevalence of the legalization of marijuana. These visuals will not only make the presentation interactive but present bulk information in limited space.
I intend to plug in my computer to television to project the slides better and make the presentation more interactive and visual. I shall use bold and clear fonts to cater for people in the audience with visual impairments, while at the same time ensuring that the fonts are professional. Regarding my strengths and weaknesses when making oral presentations, I can identify my major weakness as speaking too fast.

To address this, I intend to practice on how to speak slower to ensure that my audience understands me and even makes some room for a plenary session. I hope to exploit my biggest strength being the fact that I am a loudspeaker, with excellent diction and eloquence.
Outline
Preamble
Pointing out that the sentiments discussed in the presentation are solely of academic and legal purposes and not in any way to encourage truancy and drug abuse.
Introduction
A brief background of the topic.
Body
The history of marijuana
The legal regimes of marijuana.
Additionally, statistics on legalization and prevalence of legalization amongst states in America.
After that, the risk-benefit analysis of marijuana against legalized substances.
Ultimately, a case for the legalization of the herb through a detail of its medical, social and economic benefits.
Conclusion
Summary of the main points of the paper.
Audience Identification
Finally, the target audience for my presentation is students from my class, the medical and legal field as well as decision makers in the legal profession. This audience is over the age of 21 and, therefore, old enough to make informed decisions regarding the topic. Additionally, most of the audience has at least been through university and thus are capable of understanding complex terms and their nuances. I believe that due to the educational background of my audience, they will mostly be conservative and diverse. Hence, I do not think there is a need to make any religious considerations.
The social and cultural challenge my topic will face is reservations regarding the drug menace in the country, and therefore I intend to tackle this by articulating points that reiterate the fact that my topic is not ethically compromised in that it advocates for a matter that is against the public interest. This topic, while it may seem to go contrary to moral principles, touches to the core of medicine and economy since the herb has been proven to have health and economic benefits. These benefits will significantly improve the country’s economy and that of the world in general, and so as a preamble for the presentation, I intend to make this very clear. To make the audience more at ease with the presentation, I shall alternate between a serious and humorous tone to drive points home. Humor is an important tone during the presentation as it keeps the audience attentive and interactive with the presentation. On the other hand, a sober tone will ensure that pertinent issues such as the economic and medical benefits presented will be driven home.

References
Caulkins, J. P., Kilmer, B., Kleiman, M. A., MacCoun, R. J., Midgette, G., Oglesby, P., & Reuter, P. H. (2015). Options and issues regarding marijuana
Dioun, C., & Haveman, H. (2017). Pricing conflict: Legal regimes, uncertainty, and price in medical marijuana markets. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2017, No. 1, p. 17381). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.
Hudak, J. (2016). Marijuana: A short history. Brookings Institution Press.
Lachenmeier, D. W., & Rehm, J. (2015). Comparative risk assessment of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other illicit drugs using the margin of exposure approach. Scientific Reports, 5, 8126.
Leal-Galicia, P., Betancourt, D., Gonzalez-Gonzalez, A., & Romo-Parra, H. (2018). A brief history of marijuana in the western world. Revista de neurologia, 67(4), 133-140.
Saaty, T. L. (2015). A marijuana legalization model using benefits, opportunities, costs, and risks (BOCR) analysis. International Journal of Strategic Decision Sciences (IJSDS), 6(2), 1-11.