Practicing Summary & Paraphrase

In this post I will include a quote from my chosen text. Then I will practice my paraphrasing and summary skills of that same quote.

César.Gutiérrez, "-." 11/26/2010 via Flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic

Original Source:

"For a country obsessed with free market capitalism and government spending, the United States has been slow to act on repealing marijuana prohibition, thanks to the tangled associations between marijuana and morality. In a nation where substances like tobacco and alcohol remain legal, highly regulated, and highly profitable, it's surprising to see marijuana still tarred in stigma — especially when Clinton, Bush, and Obama have all admitted to having a toke (whether they inhaled or not)" (Smith, 2014).

My Paraphrase of Original Source:

• S.E. Smith, author of the article "How pot could save America's economy" asserts her opinion that America, a country that values monetary profitability so greatly, must no longer view marijuana in such a negative way. Furthermore, she states that marijuana should be legalized like other substances, including alcohol and tobacco, in order for the U.S. to benefit from its vast economic potential. Smith also humorously points out the fact that our current and two prior presidents have confessed to using marijuana in the past, which illustrates how it seems overly critical of Americans to have such a poor perception on cannabis (Smith, 2014).

My Summary of the Original Source:

• S.E. Smith, author of the article "How pot could save America's economy" asserts her feelings that America must overcome its moral resistance to legalizing marijuana, and reap the many economic benefits from its sale, just like other legalized substances (Smith, 2014).