Initial Research File

My Topic - Is it time for the UK to legalise marijuana?

Research 

Earlier this year there was speculation on whether the UK government were going to legalise marijuana.  200,000 British people signed the petition to legalise marijuana but the government ignored their pleads and stuck to their decision of banning marijuana.

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States (SAMHSA, 2014). Its use is widespread among young people.
However, the number of young people who believe marijuana use is risky is decreasing. 
Users can mix marijuana in food (edibles), such as brownies, cookies, or candy, or brew it as a tea. A newly popular method of use is smoking or eating different forms of THC-rich resins 
For example, a study showed that people who started smoking marijuana heavily in their teens and had an ongoing cannabis use disorder lost an average of eight IQ points between ages 13 and 38. 
http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana

Medical Use

Dr David Casarett spoke about his experience using medical cannabis in an article on www.npr.org.
Cannabis helped relief his back pain.

www.cancer.org
Studies have shown that marijuana has been helpful treating nausea and vomiting after chemotherapy.

Daily Mail
Mike Cutler who is 63 years old claims to have cured his cancer that was formed in his liver by using homemade cannabis oil inspired by a popular series called 'Breaking Bad'.


Feedback:

I asked an 18 year old female her views and about her personal experience with cannabis.

1) What are your thoughts on marijuana?
   
     Answer: I like it very much.

2) Have you ever tried marijuana before?

Answer: Yes

3) How did make you feel?

Like I had no worries and I was on a cloud.

4) What do you think of young people having easy access to marijuana?

Answer: It's a bad thing because they use it unlawfully.

5)Have you heard of medical marijuana? What are your thoughts on it?

Answer:  idea

6) Do you think that the UK should legalise marijuana? Why?

Answer: Yes, it will reduce the use of illegal growing and people will come off it because they will get turned off.

From her responses, I've gathered that she believes that people will lose the desire to smoke marijuana because the thrill of getting caught will be no more.


I asked a 17 year old girl her opinion on marijuana.

1) What are your thoughts on marijuana?

Answer: I personally don't think it's bad but I don't believe it should ever be made legal.

2) Have you ever tried marijuana before?

Answer: No

3) Why haven't you tried marijuana? 
Answer: It doesn't appeal to me.


4) What do you think of young people having easy access to marijuana?

Answer: It is what it is. 

5)Have you heard of medical marijuana? What are your thoughts on it?

Answer: Yes, I think it should be used to help certain conditions. 

6) Do you think that the UK should legalise marijuana? Why?

Answer: No. 

Interview Questions 
Is Marijuana a gateway drug to other drugs?
Do you know the side effects of taking marijuana?
At what age did you become aware of 'weed'?
Was it a normal topic spoke about in your secondary school amongst your peers?
Is it something that appeals to you?
Why do you think it's become more popular over the years?
How does it feel knowing that young people aged 16 and under are beginning or have been smoking marijuana?
Do you want to legalise weed in the UK? why/why not?
Do you believe that medical marijuana is a good enough reason to legalise it?

I want ask open questions in my documentary so viewers get an open perspective about the topic but also become aware of what people think about the subject.

Why Should We Create this Documentary?

It's a subject that a lot of people know of but not in detail. People need to know statistics and the affect it has on people, good and bad. If is illegal how does it get into the country and how do people get away with smoking it in public? There are a lot questions to be asked and it's a very popular subject. The documentary would consist of interviews, so interviewing the MPS, general public, doctors and users of the drug, but also key information and facts that people many not such as the use of medical marijuana and how it helps a lot people with dealing with chemotherapy. This documentary is not about persuading people to pick one side but making them weigh the pros and cons of marijuana and helping them understand the topic better. An educational programme for youth and adults.


Statistics 

Around 1 in 11 (8.8%) adults aged 16 to 59 had taken an illicit drug in the last year. However, this proportion more than doubled when looking at the age subgroup of 16 to 24 year-olds (18.9%).
Around one-third of adults had taken drugs at some point during their lifetime. Of 16 to 59 year olds, 35.6% had reported ever using drugs.

What time should it be aired and what channel? 

BBC Three is a great platform as this is normally where documentaries are broadcasted but also it reaches a youthful audience. My ideal target audience is 16-24, I want to educate them on the subject as I feel that this particular demographic group are the main users of the drug and they need to know the facts and have an idea about the governments concerns.
The programme should be broadcasted at 9pm as that is the time younger children should be in bed by but also when a lot people tune into TV.

Assignment 2

What is a brief?
A brief is a descriptive a set of instructions and information given to a person or a group of people to follow. There are a number of different briefs that could be given to people such as a contractual brief or informal brief etc.

A contractual brief is a legal document written and created between the employer and client. The layout and format are both simple and easy to read which reduces confusion and uncertainty. A contractual brief is most commonly used in the creative media business as this document is descriptive; the document mentions time frame, pay deadlines and the job requirements. The document is great in the media business because large sums of money are involved in the process and this enables to them to know what they're getting themselves into. A disadvantage of the brief would be if the media company produced the products to their own standards and the client thought it they didn't follow the brief properly and not to their standards they would be able to take legal action and could result in bad feedback and reputation for the company as they are not completing projects accordingly.

Below is an example of a contractual brief.

The example shows that it is formal and descriptive. It's detailed enough for the employee to understand. The introduction allows them to know about the company and what they want to do. The list of requirements are what the client requests, so a set of instructions. The terms below show the legal side of the document, letting them know the terms and agreements. 

Another brief is a negotiated brief. The negotiated brief is when the client is open to ideas given by the employee. It is most commonly used when the client doesn't know what they want or what to improve the brief. An advantage of this is that certain points in the brief are up to discussion and can be negotiated it is not liked by multiple people leading to a more successful product. But a disadvantage could also be that the time gets wasted negotiating issues that don't need changing and the production time is then delayed. 

Below is an example of a negotiated brief.

The Informal Brief. This a brief that is not also documented but verbally expressed. It can be also written in a text or email. It usually a short discussion between the client and the company talking about the requirements and needs of the product and make an agreement. This is an advantage because if is talked about verbally there is more of understanding on what the client wants meeting the standards easily. But the disadvantage weighs out the advantage because there is not written documentation there is no proof to say that the client hired the company which means that they could fail to pay.  

The Formal Brief. This brief is well set out and structured and have great grammar and punctuation. The document is well detailed but should also be thoroughly explained. To make it look professional it may have the clients logo. It is a very open brief and contains information to be able to produce the product. An advantage of a formal brief is that could be a creative platform for the media company as the brief is open to negotiation because the client is open to ideas. A disadvantage would be that the media company could have issues with the brief as they may not believe that the client has given them enough information to complete the project to their standards.

The Commission Brief. This brief allows a large media company to hire a smaller media company to do the majority of the work and then the larger company pass down to the client after the product has been made. The brief isn't usually negotiated between the client and the media company but instead between the two media companies involved. This partnership works out because both media companies get paid for their work and the smaller media company could also get the royalties.  A big disadvantage would be that conflict may occur as there are two media companies involved they may have different ideas and contributions.

The Competition Brief. This brief is when the client puts out a brief publicly so it can be accessed by all media companies and it's up to them to follow the brief and it's requirements to produce a product. It is seen as a competition because all the media companies that create a product are against each other to get the client. The client has a major advantage because they only have to pay the winning company and have a lot choices to pick from. But a disadvantage of this is that none of the products submitted by the media companies meet the requirements meaning that they don't have an end product.