Argument style

I think a classical argument style is the best style for my group’s argument. I believe that since drug abuse is a fairly straightforward issue and there is no way to deny it is a problem. In the introduction, I think it would be very beneficial to discuss the history of prescription drugs and how it has changed drastically over the years. Here, I think it would be beneficial to add facts about the average number of prescriptions prescribed to a single patient as well as the average dosage. For here, we could lead into how many people have been negatively affected by the use of prescription drugs.

                This could easily flow into the narration, presenting background. I think here, we should drill home the increased number of people abusing prescription drugs in contrast to those that are available on the street. Also, further statistics to include the number of hospitalizations, deaths, and placement into therapy prescription drugs have caused. I think this will express the importance of the issue and draw the audience’s attention and wonder what solutions we propose.

                The next part is the confirmation, or the instance where we would present our claims and evidence. When talking with my group members on Friday, all of our stakeholders held the same main idea being doctors play a role in prescription drug abuse because many of them are undereducated and thus, should be required to have much more education before being able to prescribe to patients. Also, the doctors and legislators agreed that there should be a system installed that monitored all the prescriptions every patient got from each doctor they visited to ovoid patients being prescribed the same drug multiple time. I did not get a chance to talk with Jessica about pharmacists’ viewpoints, but I am sure she has something to add.

                The next part would be addressing the opposing viewpoints. I think the opposing viewpoints are limited because there are not too many ways to say that prescription drug abuse is not a concerning issue. We could talk about the money side of it and how much it would cost to ensure doctors are properly educated and to install this monitoring system. Here, we would need to back up the opposing views with facts. In my research, I found out that Medicaid pays for prescription drugs for those who cannot afford them, and many of these drugs are not needed for serious help conditions. With the monitoring system, it can save thousands of dollars in tax payer money from paying for prescriptions that are not being used properly or for the right reasons.

                In the conclusion, once again, I think we should present alarming statistics to make people want to take action. As our audience is college students, I am not sure what our call to action will be… Have to think about that!

                Overall I think we need to do more research and gather more statistics in which can go hand in hand with each other. We still have much work to do!!

                Overall I think our group works well together. We each bring new ideas and skills to the table. Part of our contract should include meeting deadlines, creating quality work, and showing up to all meetings the group has on time and ready to work!