Discuss the economic pro’s and con’s of de-criminalizing/legalizing various street drugs.
OBJECTIVE: The assignment is to write a five (5) page issues paper that explores the economic pros and cons of a present (preferably recently enacted) or proposed government (federal, state or local) intervention (law or ordinance) into the economy.
You must choose one of the following topics:
De-criminalizing/legalizing various street drugs
While the primary focus of the paper assignment is to provide students with an in-depth introduction to explaining the economic pros and cons of a specific public policy, a secondary goal is to introduce students to readily available research tools. Your paper must show evidence of scholarly research (not Wikipedia and other blogs that have dubious authenticity). If you want a decent grade on your paper, you must do some decent research on you topic.
HELPFUL REFERENCES FOR INFORMATION:
The Wall Street Journal
The Economist
Business Week
The Journal of Economic Perspectives
Challenge: The Magazine of Economic Affairs, ISBN: 0577-5132
The New York Times
ISSUES PAPER INSTRUCTIONS
Format:
First, your paper should consist of a title page (one page). Secondly, the title page should be followed
by a description/analysis of the arguments both in favor of and against the policy. What arguments do
supporters make to justify the existence of this policy? What economic or social benefits do supporters
claim? What are the arguments against the policy? What economic or social pitfalls do opponents find in
the policy? This is the very heart of your paper. Laying out the arguments surrounding the policy
debate is the most important piece of your research and writing project. (Length: 4 pages,
preferably 2 pages each of pro and con arguments.)
Lastly, you must have a bibliography page (one page) citing all the works you consulted for your paper.
Grammar, punctuation, spelling and word usage are all critical. Use a good dictionary and thesaurus, and use them often. A simple but effective (and free) dictionary and thesaurus are available at the website
http://dictionary.reference.com/
Mechanics:
The target length of your paper is five (5) pages, double-spaced, with one-inch margins, all around the 12 point font size. The paper must be at least give (5) pages and may not exceed six (6). The
bibliography page can be counted toward the five (5) pages, but the title page does NOT count toward
the required five (5) pages.
All ideas and words that are not your own should be properly cited. Use footnotes or end notes to
indicate words or ideas that you have borrowed from others (also see the section on Academic Integrity
to follow). A word of caution here: Do not make your paper merely an endless series of quotes.
Integrate your own knowledge and ideas as well.
Preferably use the Turabian Style Guide (Chicago Style Manual) when formatting your
footnotes/end notes. An abbreviated Guide can be found at:
http://www.lib/usm.edu/research/guides/turabian.html
The first time a source is cited, the full citation per Turabian should be used. Subsequent uses of the
source in the body of the paper can be referenced with the name of the author and page number. Your
bibliography must contain the full citation for all references.
You may also use the MLA Style Guide or the APA Style Guide. Just use it consistently throughout
your paper. Do not jump from one style guide to another.
You should retain paper or electronic copies of the articles you use as sources until after grades have
been posted. Graders reserve the right to ask you for copies of any document you cite as a reference.
Needless to say, keep a backup copy of your actual paper in case it should get lost or misplaces by
my graders.
Academic Integrity:
Academic honesty is the cornerstone of intellectual pursuit. All students are expected to
write their own papers. However, I do not want you to submit a paper you wrote or are
writing for another course. Nor do I want a paper you wrote in high school. (Turnitin.com
will flag all such papers, so be warned). Instances of plagiarism will be dealt with harshly.
The minimum punishment will be failure in the course with a note attached to your transcript
identifying the grade the result of a Code of Academic Integrity violation. The maximum
punishment is expulsion from the university.
Grade:
Your grade on the paper will be based on the research effort put into learning the relevant arguments, the eloquence of your presentation, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Your grade will not depend on your conclusion about the public policy. You should feel free to come down on either side of the debate, but your conclusions should stem from the tone of your presentation and research.
