An Example of A Complex Map

§2.6

An example of a more complex map than we’ve looked at so far. Here’s a brief passage, followed by a map of all the arguments it contains.

The laws prohibiting cannabis use should be repealed. They’re illegitimate in the first place, because the only proper basis for outlawing an activity is that it violates someone else’s rights, and you’re not violating anyone’s rights if you smoke a joint. Anyway, cannabis is way less dangerous than substances that it’s legal to buy and use. Tobacco causes cancer, whereas cannabis is being researched as a potential cancer cure! No one’s heard of a “cannabis overdose,” but it’s easy to kill yourself by overdosing on ibuprofen, which you can buy over the counter, and people die every year of alcohol poisoning. Some studies show that there are risks to driving under the influence of cannabis, but a stoned driver is way safer than a drunk driver. Yet people are allowed to go into any super market and buy a bottle of wine without being harassed by the cops, and our government is spending untold sums arresting people who buy or sell pot. Even people opposed to cannabis use should be able to see that this is money is wasted, since it’s not stopping anyone from smoking up. And, by the way, white people smoke up every but as much as anyone else, but somehow the majority of people arrested for cannabis-related offenses are black or Latino, which shows how racist the law is in practice. Instead of throwing away money on half-assed, racist enforcement of these illegitimate laws, the government could be making money on weed, by legalizing it and taxing it. That’s what Colorado did, and their tax revenues are way up, so we know it works. Crime and poverty rates also went down in Colorado, so if we want to make the rest of the country safe and rich, we might try following their example.

Map 14 (click for expanded view):