Raymond, Nicolas "Colorado Grunge Flag" 04/15/2012 via Flickr
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Author Analysis
I was born and raised in Colorado and I still live there when I'm not attending school at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Because I've lived there my whole life I have watched every change that Colorado has been through and how it has affected the state, my community, and even how it has affected myself. Also, because I was around 16 when Colorado chose to legalize marijuana, I was old enough to understand the bill and talk to my parents about it when it was time to vote. When my parents voted, we sat down with their mail in ballots and we went over everything together so I could see what it was like and so we could talk about what they were voting for and why. Legalizing marijuana for recreational use was a very interesting amendment because we would be the first state to do so and the money it would bring in to the state just made it seem like a no-brainer. After the amendment passed, I kept up with all the advancements and I watched as pot shops popped up like dandelions all over colorado. I watched the money it brought in, the jobs it created, the business it brought in, and the people it brought in. I also watched how it started to affect my community and how more and more people started to smoke weed because it was now legal to grow and purchase it. I feel like I am the best person to write about Amendment 64 passing because of how I personally saw it affect everything I knew and because I am in the prime age frame to focus on weed. Oh yeah, and if I got a dollar for every time I've been asked, "oh, you're from colorado?!? Do you just smoke weed all the time????" I'd be filthy rich.
Audience Analysis
I think the people that would be interested in my topic would primarily be at a younger age frame, from teenagers to around mid thirties, because these are the people who still see smoking pot as a 'newer' thing and these are the people who could potentially start recreational use pot shops. I also think that the people who would be interested in my topic are politicians and leaders of other states because they would look to see if they would want to legalize marijuana in their own state. Because smoking pot is probably against most religions, I think that people who are non-affiliated with religion would be more interested because they would be the people who would smoke weed and want it legalized. I don't think that race or gender would matter here and age is harder to pinpoint, because younger people would probably want it legalized while older people wouldn't (no new changes!!). My audience would ideally be people in the state of Colorado who wanted to understand how legalizing pot has changed their state, as well as people around the world who would like to know more about the possibilities and liabilities this brought with it. I feel like these people would focus on all kinds of media and want to be more informed on topics that they are passionate about. These people will most likely value the power of change and they will value both sides of the story so they are well informed to make a decision or an opinion on how legalizing marijuana has affected Colorado. I don't think that these people would value one-sidedness or bias because they will be reading a piece that presents both sides of the story.
Purpose Analysis
My purpose for writing on this topic is to show people exactly how legalizing marijuana has changed the state of Colorado. I want people to understand not just how it changed the economy, but how it changed communities and how Colorado is now seen. I want my readers to feel informed on how legalizing a once illegal drug to bring in tax revenue will change a state and it's people. I want people to understand that it doesn't only bring in money, but it brings in people, and by bringing in so many people, it changes things like traffic, and the housing market, and it even changes the homeless problem of urban ares. I want my audience to understand what it is like being know as "the pot state" and having everyone know that you have skiing and weed. I want to really clear up the fact that it brings in money, which is great, but it has caused a huge homeless problem and it has given our state such an embarrassing appearance. I really want to focus on how it has affected our schools and our businesses but also our people because of how many more people have started smoking again or how if you are driving over state lines, with a Colorado license plate, you are much more likely to get pulled over and have your car searched to make sure you're not trying to take weed out of the state. I also really want to focus on how the state of Colorado changed after the passing of Amendment 64, in 2012, and how it has changed in 2014 when recreational sales actually became legal, and how there is a pot shop on almost every block in downtown Denver. I want my audience to really understand the pros and cons to legalizing marijuana, and how the legalization will change your state's appearance.
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