Preliminary Outline

I am going to post the outline I have written up on my blog so that Professor Natt can see it as well. This way my ideas can be shared and comments can be made on any other ideas anyone else may have concerning my topic.

Marijuana: Police Officer Perspective

1. The story I want to share is from the perspective of police officers. Marijuana laws affect those who enjoy marijuana/benefit from marijuana, but there is another side who is affected by these laws; and these are law enforcers. Police officers are obviously affected everywhere by marijuana laws, but especially where the surrounding states have legalized marijuana, such as Indiana. How are policemen dealing with all surrounding states legalizing marijuana? I want to explore how the work of these officers are affected, especially being on a college campus where diversity is such a strong presence. Through interviews with local officers, I can find some perspective on this question and also get opinions on how they think legalizing marijuana in Indiana would affect Purdue. 
2. Questions I want answered: 
   1. How much time is spent on the reprimanding of civilians with concerns to marijuana?
   2. How has the legalization of marijuana in the surrounding states of Indiana affected marijuana use on Purdue’s campus/in the West Lafayette area?
   3. Would the legalization of marijuana benefit or harm the work of policemen? What good could come from it? What are the concerns?
   4. Is taking care of marijuana cases distracting them on focusing on larger crimes? Or is it beneficial to take care of these cases? Does legal weed make police officers more effective?
   5. What are police thoughts about legalizing marijuana in Indiana?
3. Who I will interview: 
   1. Purdue Police Chief John Cox
      1. I can find his contact information from Purdue Police Dept. website with more research. I have not found it yet, but if I cannot find it then I can contact the Senior Director, Carol Shelby.
   2. Lt. Stason Wiete
      1. He was a guest speaker at one of my classes last year. I can get his contact information from the professor I had for that class. I have already emailed him asking for it. 
   3. One other police officer, which I can hopefully obtain from these previous interviews. 
   4. Dr. Bert Useem (Professor of Sociology at Purdue)
      1. He taught one of my classes about Sociology and Prisons. I think he would have good insight on how marijuana interacts with society based on his area of study.
4. Story angle:
   1. My story angle will be primarily focused on the interviews and the questions that I have. It will be informational, which will not be biased or political. I will take a neutral tone on the matter and ask questions from a neutral perspective.
5. Numbers and statistics
   1. How many arrests/altercations were handled since the start of 2020 concerning marijuana. 
      1. I will get these statistics hopefully from the policemen I interview. 
      2. Need to obtain the difference in arrest and citation when handling a marijuana case. How to determine to go on with an arrest?
   2. An overall statistic of marijuana cases over the past 5 years.
   3. The percentage of students who admit to use of marijuana.
   4. How many students are fined for marijuana use, especially when they are caught in the dorms
   5. Overall statistic of the general opinion on marijuana of policemen (if possible)
6. Background information
   1. I already know that some of the major concerns with the surrounding states legalizing marijuana is that people are driving across state borders with possession of marijuana. More drivers with possession means more arrests for police to make.
   2. There is no testable way of proving someone is under the influence of marijuana which can cause more accidents since more people would be driving under the influence if marijuana was legalized. This can cause danger to the roads. 
   3. More research I need to perform is on: 
      1. Arrest records
      2. How many students are fined with marijuana
         1. What happens to them when they are fined? Caught by an RA? 
      3. More articles already written on this topic. 
         1. I have found some from Colorado/West Coast…is there any about Indiana?