In Huffington Post’s article, “Marijuana May Alleviate America’s Opioid Crisis,” the author Chris D’Angelo’s solution to the current war against opioids is legalizing marijuana. Chris D’Angelo is an associate editor for the Huffington Post located in Hawaii, he covers a wide range of topics and in this article he provides research to why marijuana can aid in the opioid epidemic. D’Angelo presents the results of a research study from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where they examined U.S. crash data from 18 states beginning in 1999 to 2013. “They found that most states that passed medical marijuana laws saw an overall reduction in fatal crashes involving drivers who tested positive for opioids.” (D’Angelo) This backs up his argument, states that have legalized marijuana have seen a decrease in opioid related deaths than those which haven’t legalized marijuana. D’Angelo uses this data as the start in his argument and then provides further entail into his argument by bringing in more …show more content…
He does this by bringing in the research studies and stating specific statistics that aid in providing evidence which makes his claims stronger. After each claim D’Angelo poses, a statistic is usually followed that directly correlates and makes the reader know that there is evidence to back it up. The article has the scientific research, facts, data, and reasoning behind it. Although D’Angelo provides a vast amount of statistics he fails to provide a counterargument. He lightly brushes on the subject; he says, “the Drug Enforcement Administration has stopped short of embracing alternative painkillers, recently declining to loosen restrictions on marijuana…” However, he doesn’t provide further explanation he goes to talking about herbal supplements and other unrelated topics. In conclusion, Chris D’Angelo does an excellent job in providing information on his claim throughout the entire article. His claims are thoughtfully presented in an informative formal manner and he doesn’t stray from the main idea often. Although, he presents his claim well, he doesn 't offer the opposing view which then takes away from his article. Having a counter argument provides a different perspective on the issue and then his rebuttal will bring the attention back to his claim and solidifies his view to the reader. This article, “Marijuana May Alleviate America’s Opioid Crisis,” by Chris D’Angelo is a