Let a Thousand Licensed Poppies Bloom

This argument is well-crafted, from the title to the last sentence. The title is reminiscent of a beautiful piece of prose but becomes a support of the argument with the addition of the word licensed. The author appeals to logos and ethos by citing many reliable statistics. The author appeals to pathos when discussing the suffering of the countless people dying of AIDS or cancer without pain medication derived from opiates. Showing the failure of the war on drugs to combat the trade in opiates also convinces readers that the status quo is failing to have any effect, combating the natural state of inertia that many people feel when they rely on their inherent conservatism, as the chapter we just read described it. By showing first that what is happening now is not working, the author makes readers more open to seeing new solutions to the problem. The author presents a logical argument that we are spending millions on eradicating drugs when we could spend less to buy those drugs legally, both eliminating the illegal drug problem and supplying opiates to those individuals who need them the most. This argument is well structured and extremely logical.