eCheat.com RSS Feedhttps://www.echeat.com/ Applications of Hemp Across History I. Introduction to Cannabis Sativa & Cannabis Indica In this paper we will be 2012-08-05T15:44:14.18-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Applications-of-Hemp-Across-History-34613.aspx The War on Drugs The Untied States of America has a rather large drug trafficking problem but compared to Columbia it is fairly small. To help Columbia solve their problem the U.S. senate has decided to send troops over there and take control. This new involvement will have many consequences in and what can you make for instance the cost of a war, the loss and gain of jobs, and physical side effects. Perhaps Americans take what they have for granted and forget that there are other countries with problems. Why does America care about what is happening in other countries like Columbia, when they have their own problems with drugs? Now war is a very serious subject to study for sociologists, this gives them a chance to study people and how they react to certain environment. Sociologists have three main paradigms that they can coincide with people to learn they function under certain circumstances. The paradigms used are the Structural-Functional, Social-Conflict and Symbolic-Interaction. Here is a brief description to help make the sociologist perspective more understandable. The Structural-Functional paradigm has multiple interrelated parts; morally desirable functional consequences and conflict is often destructive. How is society integrated? What consequences are there for these various parts? The Social-Conflict paradigm is what you have when a society is a competitive situation. Some groups have power and others that want it, some win and some lose. Last the Symbolic-Interaction paradigm is that society is like a stage where people define and redefine meaning as they interact with one another. This brief description should help make this writing about the sociologist view of the war on drugs a little easier to understand. In the events of war people usually tend to suffer great losses financially, the reason for this is because prices go up to cover for the loss of other things. Money becomes very scarce in war because there is a cost for machinery such as guns, tanks, shelter for the troops and so on. Unfortunately this war is going to cost 1.7 billion dollars. Patrick Simms a radio announcer for national public radio has decided that he is going to name a magazine series based on this war and that series is going to be called "Putting the war into the war on drugs." This label is pretty precise because Americans are actually paying to fight these drug lords and eliminate drugs all together and what better place to 2012-01-15T21:16:12.27-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-War-on-Drugs-34433.aspx The Causes of Alcoholism How many times have you heard about the consequences of alcoholism? Have you taken them into account? Alcoholism is one of the major problems in society. The effects of this disease are really serious. Many people get used to drink alcohol 2012-01-10T13:32:16.613-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Causes-of-Alcoholism-34416.aspx Legalization of Marijuana Research on the Legalization of Marijuana People of America have been viciously trying to legalize marijuana for many years now. I found out that all of their ideas, opinions, and sides basically divide into three basic groups. Many think that it is not worth legalizing marijuana, many seem to think it should be legalized, and a group of people say it should only be legalized for medicinal purposes. In the following paragraphs I will try to show you reason for all three opinions. My hopes of doing this research project were to determine what effects marijuana has along with different substances in the body. I also decided to determine the differences between marijuana and tobacco, due to people misunderstanding about both of them in society today. First of all I started my research specifically on the subject Is marijuana more dangerous than tobacco, but after searching online there wasnt enough information, I had to not be so specific. I understand which one is more dangerous between tobacco and marijuana as well as the long term affects. Both animal and human testings have been done, they've proven that marijuana impairs lung functions to greater extents than tobacco cigarettes do. But, this does not necessarily mean that marijuana users are putting themselves at more risk nessicarily. A typical marijuana user will smoke maybe two joints a day, where a typical tobacco-user will smoke between forty and sixty cigarettes in the same period. Now the effects vary. Marijuana may have more tar in it, but as a typical smoker in america, the rate that tobacco-users put themselves at is a much larger scale and so they are at higher risk. Also, there is a chemical called benzopyrene that is 70% more abundant in marijuana than tobacco. This chemical is believed to cause cancer. Tobacco has the same dangerous chemicals in it, but doesnt have THC which marijuana has. THC, which is known as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is the chemical that produces the "high" feeling that people get when consuming marijuana. Marijuana usually does not contain more than 1 percent of THC. There are stronger drugs related to THC, such as "hash oil", which can contain up to a 28 percent THC level. There have been some cases where "street" marijuana has been found to contain up to 5 percent THC. That is very potent for normal marijuana, and is probably very hard to come by in the United States.Ususally hydroponic marijuana is found to have potencys of up 2008-06-04T04:59:08-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Legalization-of-Marijuana-33607.aspx Drugs The White Death Drugs-The White Death Drug dependence is psychological and sometimes physical need to use a drug in order to experience psychological or physical effects. Psychological addiction is more difficult to treat than the physical one and often continues after the physical addiction has been dealt with. Each day there are a lot of new drug addicts, but also there are a lot of those who die because of using this evil, white pleasure. Drug addiction has several forms in expressing the dependency. Also there are a lot of different types of drugs which affect the user in many physical and psychological ways. The reasons for taking drugs are different and individual. They depend on everything that surrounds us. There are as many reasons for drug abuse as there are people with different problems. Some of these people see their only way out of the problems, depression, anxiety or stress in using drugs. Even though, in many countries as Holland, Cuba and others, “soft” drugs are legalized, this doesn’t mean that people over there are not drug-dependants. Also, legalization doesn’t make the effects of the drugs smaller. Drug dependence takes several forms: tolerance, habituation and addiction. Tolerance, a form of physical dependence, occurs when the body becomes accustomed to a drug and requires increasing amounts of it to achieve the same effects. This condition gets worse when certain drugs are used in high doses for long periods. When the use of the drug is stopped and starts a period of drug withdrawal, the results are headaches, restlessness, sweating, and difficulty in sleeping. Habituation, a form of psychological dependence, is characterized by the continued desire for a drug, even after physical dependence is gone. A drug often produces feelings of happiness and joy, and a person taking drugs soon believes the drug is needed to function at work or home. Addiction is a desire for the substance and it is involved in a person’s ability to function normally. It may also involve physical dependence. The drugs that are most abused, except alcohol and tobacco, can be grouped into six classes: opioids, sedative-hypnotics, stimulants, hallucinogens, cannabis, and inhalants. OPIOIDS This class includes drugs derived from opium, such as morphine and heroin, and synthetic substitutes such as methadone. Opioids produce different 2007-07-08T10:35:58-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Drugs-The-White-Death-33271.aspx Youth Drug Abuse Youth Drug Abuse Recently, the case of drug abuses reported among youngsters has increased dramatically owing to the growing popularity of rave parties. More surprising, taking ecstasy, a rave drug, has become a habit for party-goers as young as 12. The trend is so serious that it sparks the concerns of our society. Actions should be taken immediately to highlight the dangers of taking drugs. However, are the government’s actions adequate? Personally, I don’ t think so. Simply searching and putting warnings on the entry tickets for rave parties are not enough. Further actions and other measures must be taken to prevent the use of drugs among the youth. Instead of putting warnings on the entry tickets, the government should pose a ban on rave parties. In rave parties, there are many drug couriers. Drugs are flooded in the parties. Teenagers, who are ignorant and immature, are easily misled and transmitted wrong values. They are attracted and depraved to resort to drugs. They then become physically and psychologically dependent on drugs. Nowadays, rave parties even become subcultures and all the craze among the young people. Banning the rave parties can stop young people getting the drugs. Isn’t it the most clear-cut method to prevent the widespread drug abuses? Advocates may argue that rave parties can provide them a valuable mean of entertainment. Nevertheless, indeed there is a great variety of activities, such as, ball games, social services, for them to choose from. Why do the teenagers still desire to take the risk of going to the rave parties where they are easily attracted to drug abuses? Furthermore, regular inspections by the Custom at the cross-border checkpoints are to be made to prevent the flow of rave drugs from the mainland China to the SAR. Besides, mainland authorities and the SAR police should joint hands to curb cross-border drug trafficking. In fact, most of the drugs used in the rave parties come mainly from the mainland China. There is also a trend of young people going to the mainland China for rave parties. Certainly, the SAR government is not doing enough to prevent the spread of rave parties from Hong Kong to China or even turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to this situation. Although not all the rave parties are bad, there are too many bad sheep. Rave parties certainly do more harm than good. 2007-04-25T21:10:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Youth-Drug-Abuse-33161.aspx Essay on the Legalization of Drugs in America Essay on the Legalization of Drugs in America Drug laws help to ensure that all drugs used in Canada are safe, effective and wisely administered. The Food and drugs Act and the Narcotic Control Act govern the manufacture, distribution advertising and sale of drugs in Canada. These two acts evolved from earlier pieces of legislation known respectively as the Inland Revenue Act and the Opium Act. The Inland Revenue Act of 1876, which dealt primarily with the use of alcohol, did not define drugs. This legislation was the forerunner of the more effective Adulteration Act of 1884, which defined the terms drug and adulteration, and the conditions under which adulteration of a drug might take place. This act was repealed and replaced by the Food and Drugs Act of 1920 in which drugs are defined as any substance used in diagnosis, treatment, mitigation, or prevention of a disease, disorder, or abnormal physical state and in restoring, correcting or modifying organic functions in humans or animals. In 1953 this act was amended to control the manufacture, distribution and sale of all drugs except narcotics. The Opium Act of 1908 prohibited the unauthorized importation and possession of gum or smoking opium. In 1911 the act was expanded and became the Opium and Dug Act, which included other problem drugs such as cocaine and morphine. Amendments were made in 1919 to accommodate import and export licenses. As illicit trade in narcotics increased and more control became necessary, the act was changed again in 1920, becoming the Opium and Narcotic Control Act. Controlled drugs and restricted drugs are included under the Food and Drugs Act and narcotic drugs are listed in respect to the Narcotic Control Act. These drugs have habit-forming properties (addictions) and are subject to abuse for various reasons. It is an offence to possess controlled, restricted and narcotic drugs for the purpose of trafficking. Simply possessing these drugs for reasons other than those permitted in the two acts is an offence chargeable by fines, community service and even imprisonment. In addition to controls placed on drugs there are a number of additional controls for manufacturing, distributing and selling controlled, restricted and narcotic drugs. This is to prevent their flow from legal to illegal sources. First the Health protection branch must license dealers and each month the dealers must report the sale of specific narcotic and controlled drugs. A licensed dealer may 2007-04-18T00:34:26-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Essay-on-the-Legalization-of-Drugs-in-America-32935.aspx The Dangers of Heroin Abuse The Dangers of Heroin Abuse Heroin, the narcotic derivative of the opium poppy plant, poses grave threat to our society. It is a highly addictive drug, and its presence and use is a serious problem in America. Heroin addiction causes crime as its result as well as danger to users, families, and others. As evidenced by crime and health reports, heroin is a clear and present danger to society due to its devastating health consequences, increasing abuse, and continuing expanded availability. The by-product of this opiate drug is derived naturally and extracted from the seedpod of the Asian poppy plant. It usually appears as a white or dark brown powder. Pure heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste. Most heroin is distributed in powder form and may vary in color because of impurities left from the manufacturing process or the presence of additives. It is packaged for distribution in small, postage stamp sized plastic bags. They are sold individually for 10 dollars or 180 dollars for a "bundle" of 20. Street names include smack, H, junk, horse, and tar. Most users dissolve it in water, and then use a needle to inject it directly into a vein. The effect of the powerful narcotic properties of heroin appears soon after a single dose and disappears in a few hours. After injecting heroin, the user reports feeling a surge of euphoria or "rush" accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin and heavy extremities. Following this initial euphoria, the user goes "on the nod", an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Mental functioning becomes clouded due to its effects on the central nervous system. Resulting long-term effects of heroin appear after repeated use. Chronic users develop collapsed veins, abscesses, bacterial infections, heart complications, including various types of blood and airborne infectious diseases. It follows that many heroin addicts are HIV positive or have AIDS. In addition, heroin may have additives that do not readily dissolve and result in clogging the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. This can cause infection or even death of small patches of cells in these vital organs. Heroin is very addictive. Consider as an illustration that with regular use, tolerance develops. This means the abuser must use more, to achieve the same intensity or effect. As higher doses are used over time, physical dependence and addiction develop. With physical dependence, the 2007-03-04T17:13:50-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Dangers-of-Heroin-Abuse-32701.aspx Teen Smoking Teens and Smoking Tobacco The differences between subjective feelings of those who smoke and those who don’t are shown in behavioral changes that are more apparent in teens than adults. Teens seem to be more abrasive when smoking or they feel like they are older and wiser when they smoke. Why do they smoke when we have seen billions of dollars spent on antismoking campaigns? The American Lung Association estimates that every minute four thousand eight hundred teens will take their first drag off a cigarette. Of those four thousand eight hundred, about two thousand will go on to be chain smokers. The fact that teen smoking rates are steadily increasing is disturbing. We are finding out that about 80% of adult smokers started smoking as teenagers. We now see a lot of smokers giving each other rewards in social aspects such as conversations, companionships, and other common social contacts. Research has proven the fact that nicotine has the ability to suppress feelings, suppress appetite for food, is used as stimulation after sex, and is a good way to relax from troubles and feelings of insecurities. People that smoke go to designated areas and congregate around the one that has the light, even when the weather is sub-zero. There they are huddled up against each other in an area, taking in the last drag before the break is over, or they find some kind of shelter to smoke their cigarettes. Teens like to act as if they are someone special or dangerous. By smoking they can act on those feelings. Because it is so forbidden it becomes more alluring to teens. The problem is that when they take that first puff, they can become addicted. The idea that they are breaking the law or going against their parents and schools is an addiction within itself. Kids like to get attention; it does not matter if it’s good attention or bad attention. They crave attention and by smoking they get big attention. The other teens look at them in all kinds of ways and the adults get upset and don’t know what to do. Nicotine is considered the number one entrance drug into other substance abuse problems. Research shows that teens between 13 and 17 years of age who smoke daily are more likely 2007-02-17T05:40:41-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Teen-Smoking--32632.aspx On Legalizing Marijuana On Legalizing Marijuana Many have experienced the negatives of marijuana in their lives and witnessed the problems of others. Marijuana is a harmful drug and should not be legalized! It is a gateway drug or also known as a stepping stone drug. “Theory, suggest that the progression to more dangerous substances is inevitable.”(Hanson) Many reasons have surfaced about why it should be legalized, government regulation, taxing purposes, and long and harsh sentences given to marijuana offenders. In addition, of all the reasons why they should legalize it, only one is credible, medical. Now, would any loving parent want their children having that much more of a fight with saying no to drugs? Has there not been enough proof that drugs should not be legalized. Legalized drugs in the form of alcohol have proven to be a harmful drug, both to the user and to society. The similarities between both marijuana and alcohol are endless, so the realizations of possible problems that can arise are also endless. In America we do not need to compound are huge problems with drugs, especially since nearly all crime committed in America is drug related. A major problem with marijuana being legalized and is its misuse. Since marijuana has a major effect on the minds ability to react fast or as fast as it normally should, people that have been using marijuana can pose a danger to themselves and to many others. Common sense would lead a person who can identify a drunk driver to beware that driver. Now, who would want the added danger of now having to share the road with both drinkers and marijuana users? Obviously, no one wants to be run down by an intoxicated driver. Another problem in American society is the one of crime and its relation to drugs. Nearly all crime committed in America is in some way connected to drugs. So is the need really there to legalize marijuana, and by doing so flood, the streets with legalized drugs? This accessibility will then most likely make marijuana more readily available and draw more people to trying marijuana especially the young and under aged. Will it be as simple as finding the right of age person to purchase it for them? Legal or not marijuana has proven to 2007-02-02T16:54:44-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/On-Legalizing-Marijuana--32517.aspx Beneficial Uses of Marijuana Beneficial Uses of Marijuana Marijuana has been used for many things in the past, including medicine, hemp rope, crude cloth and enjoyment. Now it is mainly used as a narcotic. Marijuana is an illegal weed that grows up to eighteen feet tall with little or no cultivation. The plant has many branches that extend with large, hairy, pointed leaves with saw tooth edges. Marijuana grows wild all over the world and in some states and countries it's legal. Cloth and rope are made from the stem which contains a tough fiber called "hence." The mind-altering drug in marijuana is called "Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannibinol," or THC. The mildest form of marijuana contains between zero to three percent of THC. Most of the THC is contained in the resign, which is secreted around the flowers, seeds, and topmast leaves. Until recently it was thought that only the female plant contained the drug. But it is now known that both the female and the male plants contain THC. THC stays in the body for about 28 days. Marijuana can be prepared many different ways therefore it has many different ways of entering the body. When smoked the THC goes into the lungs, directly into the bloodstream and to every cell in your body. The effects depend upon the level of potency and how much is consumed. The main effects of smoking are: the heart rate may increase from 80 beats to 150 beats a minute, the bronchial tubes enlarge and become relaxed allowing extra oxygen to enter the body, giving a "High" like feeling. There are no immediate physiological effects. The feeling usually lasts from one to three hours. Marijuana can also be ingested as a drink, cakes, brownies or many other foods. When consumed in foods the effects start after one half-hour and last from three to four hours. The potency of Marijuana has increased at least ten times or 275% since the 1960's. Marijuana can be measured by it's "therapeutic ratio," (the difference between the size of the dose needed for the desired effect and the! size that produces poisoning). The therapeutic ratio in marijuana has yet to be found. The negative long term effects of heavy marijuana use are, possible lung cancer, heart attacks in juveniles, strokes in people under forty, and it depletes the brain of serotonin and the user may lose his sense of well being or may become depressed. The user 2007-01-29T05:17:50-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Beneficial-Uses-of-Marijuana-32479.aspx Reasons to Legalize Marijuana Reasons to Legalize Marijuana What Is Marijuana Marijuana, a drug obtained from dried and crumpled parts of the ubiquitous hemp plant Canabis sativa (or Cannabis indica). Smoked by rolling in tobacco paper or placing in a pipe. It is also otherwise consumed worldwide by an estimated 200,000,000 persons for pleasure, an escape from reality, or relaxation. Marijuana is known by a variety of names such as kif (Morocco), dagga (South Africa), and bhang (India). Common in the United States, marijuana is called pot, grass, weed, Mary Jane, bones, etc. The main active principle of cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol. The potency of its various forms ranges from a weak drink consumed in India to the highly potent hashish. The following consists of pure cannabis resin. Marijuana is not a narcotic and is not mentally or physically addicting drug. One can use mild cannabis preparations such as marijuana in small amounts for years without physical or mental deterioration. Marijuana serves to diminish inhibitions and acts as an euphoriant. Only once in a while will it produce actual hallucinations. More potent preparations of cannabis such as hashish can induce psychedelic experiences identical to those observed after ingestion of potent hallucinogens such as LSD. Some who smoke marijuana feel no effects; others feel relaxed and sociable, tend to laugh a great deal, and have a profound loss of the sense of time. Characteristically, those under the influence of marijuana show incoordination and impaired ability to perform skilled acts. Still others experience a wide range of emotions including feelings of perception, fear, insanity, happiness, love and anger. Although marijuana is not addicting, it may be habituating. The individual may become psychologically rather than physically dependent on the drug. Legalization Of Marijuana Those who urge the legalization of marijuana maintain the drug is entirely safe. The available data suggested, this is not so, Marijuana occasionally produces acute panic reactions or even transient psychoses. Furthermore, a person driving under the influence of marijuana is a danger to themselves and others. If smoked heavily and a great deal of consistency, its use has been clearly associated with mental breakdown. In many persons who smoke chronically, the drug reinforces passivity and reduces goal-directed, constructive activity. The chronic use of pure resin (hashish) has been associated both with mental deterioration and criminality. One of the major complications of marijuana use is the tendency on the part of some users to progress to 2007-01-08T21:29:16-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Reasons-to-Legalize-Marijuana-32290.aspx In Support of Legalizing Marijuana In Support of Legalizing Marijuana For many years the use of marijuana for medical purposes has been an issue of controversial discussion. Many claim that marijuana is a drug that has proven itself to be of no medical value in the treatment of terminal illnesses. Those who feel this way, usually ignore the long history of marijuana’s medical uses; a history that goes back thousands of years ago. The drug has aided many people with the coping of terminal diseases. The use of marijuana as a medicinal herb has allowed many with no hope, to enjoy life more fully and lead rather decent life-styles. Marijuana has been erroneously classified as an addictive drug that causes unfixable psychological side effects. This may be true if marijuana is taken in heavy doses and for recreational purposes. The real fact however, is that this condition could occur with the abuse of any drug, whether it is legalized by the Medical Board or not. If marijuana is abused, it is being used in an abnormal manner, therefore possibly leading to severe emotional reactions and personality changes. Marijuana should be classified as a non-addictive drug thereby being legalized for medical purposes. The use of marijuana, under medical observation and through proper doses, in fact will not create a drug-addict, but rather it will enhance and increase the chances of a better life style. All throughout the different epochs of this world’s history, cannibis sativa and cannibis indica, more commonly known as marijuana, has verified to its users its medicinal powers. Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the most active ingredient out of the already known 460 compounds found in cannibis. It is present in large amounts and is extremely psychoactive (Grinspoon and Bakalar). The first known record of marijuana use for medical purposes was in 2737 B.C. by a Chinese emperor by the name of Chen-nung. He recommended it for the treatment of malaria, constipation, rheumatic pains, absent-mindedness, and female disorders. After Chen-nung discoveries, many cultures acquired the emperor’s knowledge and accepted the the therapeutic benefits of the medicinal plant. For example, in India, "Cannabis has been recommended to quicken the mind, lower fevers, induce sleep, cure dysentery, stimulate appetite, improve digestion, relive headaches, and cure veneral disesases" (Grinspoon and Bakalar). Other places where marijuana began to make a big impact was Persia, Assayria, Greece, Africa, South America, Turkey, and Egypt. Within the realms of Western medicine, 2006-12-18T18:22:12-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/In-Support-of-Legalizing-Marijuana-32016.aspx Argument in Favor of Marijuana Legalization Argument in Favor of Marijuana Legalization The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 started the prohibition of marijuana in America. At the time many tabloids ran untrue stories of Immigrants committing violent crimes while intoxicated with marijuana, so Congress decided to start prohibition of marijuana . This was a huge blow to many Americans since marijuana was and still is the third most popular recreational drug behind nicotine and alcohol. Also marijuana was a huge cash crop, so many farmers lost a lot of money by the prohibition. However the most dire consequence has been the massive amount of marijuana users arrested, which causes prison overcrowding. According to government surveys over 70 million people in America have smoked marijuana, and a marijuana user gets arrested every 45 seconds . With numbers like theses its no surprise the prison systems can’t handle the huge influx of non violent marijuana smokers die to the war on drugs. There has been a 60% increase in marijuana arrests since Clinton started the war on drugs and over 10,000,000 Americans have been incarcerated for marijuana usage since 1972. The war on drugs also targets minorities unfairly, Blacks and Hispanics make up only 20% of marijuana users, but they are 58% of the arrested users . This has caused a lot of criticism and accusations of racism which tarnish the reputation of law enforcement officers everywhere. Marijuana users receive ridiculously long sentences, for example in Oregon a person who sold one half gram of marijuana would receive up to 20 years in prison and a $300,000 fine , that is a lot more then many violent criminals would receive. Prisons can only hold a certain amount of prisoners at once, and are now severely overcrowded. To make room for the rapid increase in marijuana users incarcerated many prisons are releasing violent criminals early. People often approve of sending drug users to prison, to get them off the streets but they don’t realize that violent criminals are put out on the streets instead. Fighting marijuana use costs the government $7.5 billion a year, that is money that could be spent on education or public housing. Prohibition of marijuana like with alcohol has only led to more crime, and excessive government spending with no results. The government should take the same approach they do with 2006-12-05T15:46:33-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Argument-in-Favor-of-Marijuana-Legalization-31889.aspx The War on Drugs The War on Drugs Drug prohibition is expensive, does not work, and causes more harms than the behavior it is intended to suppress, therefore the war on drugs should end and the legalization should begin. In 1999 alone, the government issued a whopping $17.1 billion towards the war on drugs. That’s roughly $600 per second. According to the United Nations, profits in illegal drugs are so inflated, that three-quarters of all drug shipments would have to be intercepted to seriously reduce the profitability of the business. Current efforts only intercept 13% of heroin shipments and 28%-40% of cocaine shipments. Obviously international drug businesses aren’t getting very hurt by our $17.1 billion war on drugs project, so why even waste the money? That money must have been obtained from our tax dollars considering that 60 percent of all U.S. inmates are drug offenders. Obviously the $17.1 billion didn’t help very much, because the percent of imprisoned drug offenders still remains steady. In federal court today, low-level crack dealers and first-time offenders sentenced for trafficking of crack cocaine receive an average sentence of 10 years and six months. This is only 18% less than the average prison sentence received by those who committed murder or manslaughter, 59% longer than the average prison sentence received by rapists, 38% longer than the average prison sentence received by those guilty of weapons offenses. A person is arrested every 20 seconds for drug violations in America. The number of female inmates has tripled since last year, and the majority of them are low-level drug offenders. 80 percent of all female prisoners are mothers, and 70 percent are single parents and drug offender. I wonder why so many children are neglected? All this can change if we are willing to experiment and break away from an orthodox style of thinking and governing. Obviously the war on drugs isn’t working, so it’s now time for a new solution, but first we must be willing to agree as a society to accept the fact that drugs do exist, and that they will continue to exist until the end of time. Drugs that are currently legal and socially accepted in our society such as tobacco and alcohol are the leading causes of all deaths in America. Annually tobacco kills 430,700, alcohol 110,640, adverse reactions to prescription drugs 2006-12-05T15:33:47-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-War-on-Drugs-31882.aspx Facts that Most People Don't Know About Marijuana Facts that Most People Don't Know About Marijuana Marijuana is the most popular and used illegal drug in the United States today. It is used from the ages as early as 13 to as late as unknown. Marijuana is ranked number two in terms of the most popular drugs legal and illegal next to alcohol. There are a lot of things that people don’t know about marijuana and it’s effects, and here is the truth. What is Marijuana? Half of the people smoking it don’t even know where it came from in general. When you buy it from someone else however you will never really know where it came from or what is in it. Marijuana is a mixture of leaves, stems and flowering tops of the Indian hemp plant Cannabis Sativa. The psychoactive ingredient of marijuana is THC (or tetrahydrocannabinol), and is concentrated in the flowering tops of the plant. Hashish is a drug prepared from the plant resin, and has about eight times more THC then the average marijuana. Marijuana has been around for hundreds of years. In Central Asia and China as early as 3000 B.C., Marijuana was used as a folk medicine. It was not until about the 1900’s that it was used as a pleasure-inducing drug, and by the 1960’s and 1970’s it was used wide spread. Now in the year 2001 the use of marijuana is so wide spread that it is a really uncommon drug. Studies show that marijuana is about five times stronger then it was in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Marijuana grows throughout temperate regions, with more potent varieties produced in dry, hot, upland climates. With green houses marijuana can be grown just about anywhere. There are a numerous amounts names for marijuana. They are: Weed, Pot, Mary Jane, Greens, Grass, Dank, Ganja, Blunts, and Trees. The most common names though are weed, greens, trees, and blunts. The regular use of marijuana is illegal in all parts of the United States. However in 1996 voters in both California and Arizona approved ballot measures exempting physicians and patients from criminal prosecution when marijuana is prescribed for medical purposes in the relief of pain or other symptoms caused by cancer, Aids, glaucoma, arthritis, and other illnesses and chronic conditions. The Massachusetts and Ohio legislatures enacted similar medical necessity laws in 1996 also. As an alternative to smoking marijuana in these cases the 2006-11-15T02:58:43-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Facts-that-Most-People-Don-t-Know-About-Marijuana-31738.aspx The Importance of Medicinal Marijuana The Importance of Medicinal Marijuana He was my colleague and friend. He was also creative, sensitive, caring and an inspiring teacher of medicine. He was admired, respected and loved by his family, friends, students and patients. In addition to this, he was dying of a cancer which was slowly growing and expanding in his chest despite aggressive chemotherapy treatment. My colleague and friend knew he was dying and accepted his fate with his usual grace and dignity. What he was not accepting or tolerating well was the terrible side effects his chemotherapy was creating within his body. Unable to tolerate foods because of unrelenting and severe nausea and vomiting, my friend was slowly losing weight and wasting away, his strength taken from him by the very medication he was taking to fight for his life. Nothing seemed to work. Every possible treatment for nausea and vomiting failed to bring him some relief and comfort or his appetite back. If something did not happen soon, we all knew the chemotherapy would have to be stopped and any chance for an extended period of remission or comfort would end. But something did happen and my friend told me about it one beautiful fall day while I sat with him on his porch overlooking the green hills of Tennessee. He told me how a month earlier, someone had brought him marijuana. Having never smoked and certainly never having used illegal substances, my friend was at first reluctant to try the carefully rolled cigarette handed to him. However, he was desperate and sick of being sick, and so he agreed to give it a try. What he found out amazed him. Marijuana curbed his nausea, stimulated his appetite and generally elevated his mood. In addition, some of the dull pain in his chest was diminished. That afternoon he told he was hoping to be able to continue his new found illegal treatment. He knew it would not be easy. Today, the controversy of whether to legalize marijuana for certain medical conditions continues to be debated by the medical community and society. While the debate rages on, many sufferers of AIDS and cancer are going to “clubs” where they can buy marijuana in the form of banana bread, magic brownies and “merry pills”. In order to buy these products, an individual must have a note from his or her 2006-10-28T19:51:51-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Importance-of-Medicinal-Marijuana-31597.aspx Pros and Cons to Legalizing Illegal Drugs Pros and Cons to Legalizing Illegal Drugs In today’s world, illegal drugs seem to be everywhere. Illegal drugs are prominent among adults, youth, the poor, and the rich. The United States spends billions of dollars each year trying to keep drugs from entering the country, but with limited success. Several politicians and other individuals question the way in which our country handles the problem of illegal drugs. Some believe that we should keep fighting the drug war by keeping drugs illegal which includes sending people to prison for buying, selling, transporting and being in possession of drugs. Others believe that we should legalize drugs, or decriminalize the charges brought about by drugs in some way. The legalization of drugs will only create new problems, and create more chaos among the criminals who buy, sell, transport, and use drugs. Cases such as this come up often in our country, and it is important to look at all of the effects of each opinion before making the correct decision or law. Yes to legalization What have we done about the increasing drug problem? The government has enlarged its funding and resources and has tried to declare war, but it has not helped much. Many people ignore the law that says drugs are illegal. In the previous year, about thirty million people in America have had something to do with illegal drugs and have violated drug laws. I have seen the effects personally, in which drugs have torn relationships apart between my friends and their families. Many have fought their own war with drugs, and others continue to use drugs. Few are able to afford the expense of treatment centers. Today places that used to treat people for drug problems with open arms are now over crowded and are sending people elsewhere, or just simply giving them no service at all. The same problem of over crowding is happening in our prisons. Drug law violators make up about 1/3 of the population in federal prisons. Drug violators rather than more serious offenders such as robbers and sex offenders are using more of our prison space. The number of drug law violators in prisons is going to continue to increase. The cost of maintaining and building as many prisons as needed for the enormous increase in population can amount to large sums of money for taxpayers, and this idea is not very appealing to 2006-08-27T23:51:38-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Pros-and-Cons-to-Legalizing-Illegal-Drugs-31349.aspx Drug Use and Abuse of Ecstacy Drug Use and Abuse of Ecstacy Drugs are a ridiculous way to handle all kinds of things. A recent Teen Magazine survey noted that: 86% of respondents had tried drugs before, 77% of whom are under 16. 63% have tried marijuana, 16% have taken a trip, and 32% have no worries about drugs. That is pretty heavy. The top 3 reasons for taking drugs were: Enjoyment, Dealing with pressure, and Peer Pressure. Do you want to end up in hospital, severely injured or DEAD? Anna Wood was a happy 15-year-old girl who was popular, on top of the world, nearly perfect…until one Saturday night, when her friends decided to take her out to a rave party. She told her parents she was going go-kart racing and left to an Ultimo nightclub, where she snuck in with a 19-year-old friend, and bought a full ecstasy tablet for $60. She took the entire pill and started to party. After about 2 hours Anna was “rolling” under the effects of ecstasy. She was sitting on a boys' lap, constantly repeating to her friends "I'm having the best night of my life." Soon she smiled and said, "I think I'm going to throw up." She spewed and ran to the restroom. Her friends took her home, saying her drink had been spiked, too scared to tell the truth. One friend went to get Anna's mother, who phoned an ambulance. Anna was feeling awful, continuing to throw up. She eventually passed out. The paramedics arrived, and took her to hospital. Three days later she was declared brain dead, after on ecstasy tablet. If just one drug can KILL you, imagine the effects of a whole lot. The purpose of this speech is to help inform naive people about the dangers of a new drug sweeping the country: a compound called MDMA, also known as Ecstasy. Law enforcement officials say the drug worries them more than any other. It may also be spreading more quickly than any other illegal drug in America. Despite a reputation among many users for being "safe," it is also dangerous: in Florida alone, one of the few states tracking the phenomenon, there have been at least 40 deaths involving Ecstasy in the last three years. MDMA was outlawed 15 years ago, but since then its use has been skyrocketing. According to one government study, one out of 12 high school seniors has 2006-08-07T08:21:14-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Drug-Use-and-Abuse-of-Ecstacy-31109.aspx The Purpose of Drug Policy The Purpose of Drug Policy Drugs are anything chemically based which alter your perceptions in life and give you a high that sometimes you would like to have forever. Sometimes people don’t need this high in their life all the time but for others they always want that ultimate feeling. The feeling of no worries, pain, or sorrow. Some people take drugs for the fun of it, while others seriously have a problem and are addicted to the drugs. For some it is easy to just take drugs such as LSD, snort a line of coke, or smoke a joint once but for others it may be difficult. Some people become dependent upon drugs for reasons that are their own. Some are depressed and need to get away from the “Real” reality in which they live so they continuously take a drug to escape and enter a world they like. They in turn become dependent on these drugs. Other people just want nothing to do with reality I feel that these people may have developed an idea that they need the drug just to face reality. This is a psychological dependency to me. Whether or not, to me if a person needs to take drugs to cope with reality or they feel they can only function if they take drugs are dependent upon them. This is what I feel is addiction. During this section of the course we have discussed drug policies such as the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Harrison Narcotics Act. These two policies stuck out at me and made me wonder about a few things. About what would have happened if they never got passed or even thought of. Although these were harsh laws when they were passed I don’t agree with both of them. The one decreased the use of narcotics while the other contradicted itself and made people worse because they couldn’t get the drugs they needed. Since the Pure food and drug Act was passed people stopped purchasing products that were made with certain things so they could become addicted to drugs, The Harrison Narcotics Act stated that all doctors had to buy a license to prescribe medications. This was not good for the addicts that the doctors provided the drugs for because the addicts couldn’t 2006-08-01T19:58:57-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Purpose-of-Drug-Policy--30978.aspx Essay on Legalizing Marijuana Essay on Legalizing Marijuana In society today, many people look for a feeling of freedom. Many people go on vacation and spend money. The most common gateway for people is drugs. Our American society is facing a tremendous drug problem. It has become a highly controversial issue whether drugs such as marijuana should be legalized or not. Some people advocate this issue and believe that legalization is the only solution left for the nation while others oppose because it will increase the number of drug users and drug related crimes. Marijuana is a drug that is illegal in the United States. This drug as you know is bad and causes severe side effects to your brain and body. Marijuana has both short term and long term effects. However, according to scientific experiments, marijuana is known to be beneficial in medicine. The question is should marijuana be legalized? One of the consequences of legalization will be a tremendous increase in drug users. Right now, drug users have fear of law enforcement agents, but if drugs were to be legalized, they no longer will have fear and will feel that it will be okay to use drugs. Over twenty years ago, estimates of drug use among Americans went as high as 24 million, but we now estimate that the number of Americans who use illegal drugs is down to about 11 million. And a recent study done by my office shows that Americans are spending less on illegal drugs, not more. In 1993, Americans spent $49 billion on illegal drugs, down from $64 billion in 1988 (Brown 629). This decline is due to more officers on the streets and drug awareness programs. An increase in drug use will result in an increase in drug related crimes if drugs are legalized. Supporters of drug legalization believe that crime and violence would decrease if drug use was legal. Statistics tell us that almost half of those arrested for committing a crime test positive for the use of drugs at the time of their arrest. Making drugs more readily available could only propel more individuals into a life of crime and violence (Brown 629). Also drug users turn to crime to pay for their habits because they are stimulated by drugs and therefore act violently. If drug is sold legally, it will become easy for users to buy it around the 2006-07-30T20:47:39-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Essay-on-Legalizing-Marijuana-30833.aspx In Support of the Legalization of Marijuana In Support of the Legalization of Marijuana I think that marijuana should be legal because it is no more harmful to you than cigarettes, alcohol, and caffeine, which are legal right now. Marijuana, also known as pot, reefer, weed, bud, herb, ganja, grass, wacky tabacci, funky bhudda, green, indo, Mary Jane, hemp, kif, bones, etc. is a substance obtained from the dried leaves and flowering tops of the pistillate hemp plant. It is technically known as cannabis sativa and is a tall, widely cultivated Asian herb of the mulberry family. Here are some statistics for you to ponder over: ANNUAL AMERICAN DEATHS CAUSED BY DRUGS TOBACCO 400,000 ALCOHOL 100,000 ALL LEGAL DRUGS 20,000 ALL ILLEGAL DRUGS 15,000 CAFFEINE 2,000 ASPIRIN 500 MARIJUANA 0 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: United States government National Institute on Drug Abuse Bureau of Mortality Statistics I really find it funny that over 400,000 people have died from the use of tobacco products (be it smoking, or chewing), and over 100,000 people have died from drinking alcoholic beverages. Yet in 10,000 years of usage, no one has ever died from marijuana directly. Like any substance, marijuana can be abused. The most widespread problem attributed to marijuana is frequent overuse, which can induce lethargic behavior, but does not cause serious health problems. Marijuana can cause short-term memory loss, but only while under the influence. Marijuana does not impair long-term memory. Marijuana does not lead to harder drugs, if you get addicted; you have an addictive personality, so it’s your fault. Marijuana does not cause brain damage, genetic damage, or damage the immune system. Unlike alcohol, marijuana does not kill brain cells or induce violent behavior. Incessant long-term smoking of marijuana can cause bronchitis, but the chance of contracting bronchitis from casual marijuana smoking is small. Respiratory health hazards can be totally eliminated by consuming marijuana via non-smoking methods, such as: ingesting marijuana via baked foods, tincture, or through a vaporizer. Marijuana was first harvested around 4000 B.C., George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp, 5 years after the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act of 1937 was passed The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the film “Hemp for Victory” to encourage farmers to grow it for World War II. How about this: One acre of Hemp can make as much paper as 4 acres of tree. The hemp plant can be used to make clothing and rope. Sterilized hemp seeds are found in birdseed. Marijuana can 2006-07-27T08:38:12-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/In-Support-of-the-Legalization-of-Marijuana-30715.aspx Essay on Whether or Not Marijuana Should be Legalized Essay on Whether or Not Marijuana Should be Legalized Should Marijuana Be Legalized? In society today, many people look for a feeling of freedom. Many people go on vacation and spend money. The most common gateway for people is drugs. Our American society is facing a tremendous drug problem. It has become a highly controversial issue whether drugs such as marijuana should be legalized or not. Some people advocate this issue and believe that legalization is the only solution left for the nation while others oppose because it will increase the number of drug users and drug related crimes. Marijuana is a drug that is illegal in the United States. This drug as you know is bad and causes severe side effects to your brain and body. Marijuana has both short term and long term effects. However, according to scientific experiments, marijuana is known to be beneficial in medicine. The question is should marijuana be legalized? One of the consequences of legalization will be a tremendous increase in drug users. Right now, drug users have fear of law enforcement agents, but if drugs were to be legalized, they no longer will have fear and will feel that it will be okay to use drugs. Over twenty years ago, estimates of drug use among Americans went as high as 24 million, but we now estimate that the number of Americans who use illegal drugs is down to about 11 million. And a recent study done by my office shows that Americans are spending less on illegal drugs, not more. In 1993, Americans spent $49 billion on illegal drugs, down from $64 billion in 1988 (Brown 629). This decline is due to more officers on the streets and drug awareness programs. An increase in drug use will result in an increase in drug related crimes if drugs are legalized. Supporters of drug legalization believe that crime and violence would decrease if drug use was legal. Statistics tell us that almost half of those arrested for committing a crime test positive for the use of drugs at the time of their arrest. Making drugs more readily available could only propel more individuals into a life of crime and violence (Brown 629). Also drug users turn to crime to pay for their habits because they are stimulated by drugs and therefore act violently. If drug is sold legally, it will 2006-07-25T15:34:33-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Essay-on-Whether-or-Not-Marijuana-Should-be-Legalized-30638.aspx Fighting the Drug War in America Fighting the Drug War in America Why do these three statements sound contradictory? There is no reason all drugs have to be legalized to end the Drug War. The Drug War is destroying our cities and our Constitutional rights and must be ended. But across-the-board legalization is just as extreme as the Drug War and besides, it will never happen in America. Keeping drugs illegal is fundamental to solving the drug problem. Legalizing drugs would lead to a substantial increase in drug use and, even worse, an increase in drug abuse and addiction. Eighty percent of the drug problem's cost to society stems from drug use itself, the adverse health effects, loss of productivity and need for eventual treatment. When compared to the remaining twenty percent of the cost from law enforcement and drug-related crime, it is obvious that legalization makes as little sense financially for society as it does morally. Most Americans do not realize how extreme the Drug War actually is. Last year there were over 400,000 arrests for marijuana. The average time served in prison for selling marijuana is four years, compared with just one year for rape or manslaughter. The Government can search through garbage without probable cause, confiscate property without a trial and force you to prove your innocence to get it back, drug test your children and jeopardize their future, all in the name of the Drug War. The Drug War treats drug crime as more important than violent crime. It treats drug crime as more important than our God-given Constitutionally protected rights. Ending the Drug War is not about legalization. It is about ending extremism while maintaining a real commitment to solving America's drug problem. Maintaining this commitment provides an important argument that appeals to exactly the group that has the most to fear from marijuana legalization, parents. The fact is that legalizing marijuana will help protect America's children from LSD, ecstasy, mushrooms, cocaine, heroin and other hard drugs. Conservatives are absolutely correct in identifying marijuana as a steppingstone drug. Marijuana is a soft, illegal drug that bridges the gap between soft, legal drugs and hard, illegal drugs. Government propaganda and zero-tolerance policies cannot change the reality that marijuana is a soft drug. The only way to remove marijuana as a steppingstone is to legalize it. An increase in juvenile marijuana use is inevitable; the real 2006-07-22T10:42:44-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Fighting-the-Drug-War-in-America-30417.aspx Reasons why Marijuana Should be Legalized in the US Reasons why Marijuana Should be Legalized in the US Every year without fail, millions of people in North America light up and smoke marijuana. Correspondingly, every year, billions of tax dollars are wasted on fighting a futile war against an inevitable activity that is much less detrimental to our society than the war itself. The legalization and careful government regulation of marijuana would be beneficial to our society, saving taxpayers money and eliminating the few risks that accompany marijuana use. This is because the health and social dangers to society are very minimal, and the economic advantages of legalization would reach into the billions of dollars given proper government regulation. Marijuana is very different from harder drugs. That is, marijuana use comes largely without the ill effects of such drugs as cocaine, heroin, and to an extent, tobacco. Unlike tobacco, heroin, and cocaine, marijuana is not physically addictive, and there is no possibility of an overdose. The primary effects of marijuana are an increased sense of well being, relaxation and euphoria. Contrary to common belief, marijuana does not kill brain cells, and the study that originally indicated this has since been discredited by numerous and more wide-ranging studies. British, Canadian, and American commissions have all concluded that the individual and social risks associated with marijuana use are small. It is true, however, that marijuana smoke inhaled through a 'joint' or marijuana cigarette contains as much as four times more 'tar' than smoke from a regular cigarette. Some may argue that this fact alone should be enough to sustain the laws as they are. On the contrary, the vast majority of the estimated twenty million Americans who smoke marijuana every year smoke less than once a week. (According to www.norml.org) In addition to this, all of the 'tar' in marijuana smoke can be removed if it is smoked in a hookah or vaporized as it is in many of the coffee shops or hash bars in Amsterdam. The research of S. Szara author of The Pharmacology of Marijuana concludes, "[occasional use] does not lead to detectable physical or mental health consequences." Those opposed to legalization may also argue that allowing what they deem as a 'step up drug' will only cause the numbers of heavy drug users to skyrocket. However, research has failed to show that marijuana is any more of a 'step 2006-07-09T14:46:03-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Reasons-why-Marijuana-Should-be-Legalized-in-the-US-30136.aspx Reasons Why Marijuana Should not be Legalized Reasons Why Marijuana Should not be Legalized There currently exists controversy concerning smoking marijuana as a medicine. Many well-intentioned leaders and members of the public have been misled, by the well financed and organized pro-drug legalization lobby, into believing there is merit to their argument that smoking marijuana is a safe and effective medicine. A review of the scientific research, expert medical testimony and government agency findings shows this to be erroneous. There is no justification for using marijuana as medicine. The California Narcotics Officers' Association consists of over 7,000 criminal justice professionals who are dedicated to protecting the public from the devastating effects of substance abuse, whether cocaine, methamphetamine or marijuana. We have seen firsthand the debilitating and often tragic results, both psychologically aand physically, for those who choose intoxication as part of their lifestyles. We have studied the medicinal use of marijuana issue, compiling information from medical experts to present to those we are sworn to protect. It is our firm belief that any movement that liberalizes or legalizes substance abuse laws would set us back to the days of the '70s, when we experienced this country's worst drug problem and the subsequent consequences. In the '80s, through the combined and concerted efforts of law enforcement and prevention and treatment professionals, illicit drug use was reduced by 50 percent. Teenagers graduating from the class of 1992 had a 50 percent lesser chance of using drugs than did those who graduated in the class of 1979. Substance abuse rises whenever public attitude is more tolerant towards drugs, such as when people say that they are safe and harmless. Other factors that contribute to a rise in use include increased availability, reduced risk with using or selling and lower prices. In 1993, for the first time in 12 years of steady decline, illicit drug use rose and continues to climb. A major contributing factor is a message that drugs "aren't so bad." To counter this "just say yes" campaign, some feel compelled to provide the facts on the use of marijuana as medicine. These well-documented facts will prove beyond a doubt that marijuana is not a medicine. The movement to legitimize marijuana as medicine is not encouraged by the pharmaceutical companies, Federal Food and Drug Administration, health and medical associations of medical experts; but instead by groups such as the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and the Drug Policy 2006-06-21T16:38:47-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Reasons-Why-Marijuana-Should-not-be-Legalized-29777.aspx Decrease of Marijuana Use with Legalization Decrease of Marijuana Use with Legalization Teenagers use drugs like marihuana because it’s illegal which makes them think that their cool when they smoke marihuana. Fewer teenagers would smoke marihuana when it was legal, therefore the government should make smoking of marihuana legal. Not only less teenager would smoke marihuana but also the government could control the use of marihuana, and making marihuana legal could decrease the amount of crime, which has to do with drugs gangs. A lot of teenagers smoke marihuana because they think that they’re cool because you’re not allowed to smoke marihuana. Doing something what is not allowed gives teenager some kind of a kick, and makes them feel tough. Legalization of marihuana would increase the use of marihuana by teenager, because when marihuana is legal, teenager who are smoking marihuana are doing something that is bad for their own health, which is legal. Which doesn’t make sense, teenager only do bad stuff because it’s illegal, which makes them feel cool and tough. Smoking legal marihuana would make a teenager look stupid because it’s legal and bad for their own health. Legalization of marihuana would give the government the control over the use of marihuana; the government could make laws for places were addicted people can buy marihuana or what age teenager have to be, to be allowed to buy marihuana. Also the government could translate areas with high drug use and help addicted people to get of drugs and make the world a better place to be. Decrease of crimes which have to do with drugs gangs would be a result of legalization of marihuana because marihuana is the drugs that is most sold of all drugs. Not only an decrease of crimes would be the result of legalization of marihuana but also drugs gangs would make any more money out of marihuana. The most money drugs gangs make goes to terrorists which by weapons from the money. This would give terrorist less money to spent on weapons which make them less powerful. The government should make the use of marihuana legal because fewer teenager would smoke marihuana, the government could control the use of drugs and help addicted people. The legalization of marihuana will cause less crimes that have to do with drugs gangs, and terrorist won’t get any more “drugs” money, this 2006-06-20T15:48:59-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Decrease-of-Marijuana-Use-with-Legalization-29697.aspx The Power of Drugs and their Influence on a Weak Country The Power of Drugs and their Influence on a Weak Country “ The international drug trade poisons people, breeds violence, tears at the moral fabric or our society. We must intensify action against the cartels and the destruction of drug crops. And we, in consumer nations like the United States must decrease demand for drugs”. (Bill Clinton address to the United Nations general assembly on the occasion of the UN’s 50th anniversary/ Oct 1995) The traffic of drugs is a very complex subject which some of us do not understand. In order for us to understand this business and why and how Colombia became the world’s most famous country known for the empire created around the drug trading industry; we must look back at the origins of drug trafficking to understand how it grew in a poor country and a corrupt society in which money controlled almost everything and everyone. Those on whom money had no effect were probably killed. It was the socio-economic conditions of the country, the poverty and the desire for easy-money which turned Colombia into an excellent location for the narco industry to develop and rule. The purpose of this report is no other than to analyze how? and specially why? Colombia was drowned into the narco world and how the drug lords almost ruled the country. We must look at Colombian history to understand what the country was going through and how the illegal business evolved in a country in which money became the most important thing. This report will try to prove that it was the conditions- both social and economic- of Colombia such as poverty due to unemployment and inflation and social inequalities; which led to the appearance and flourishing of drug traffic. I’ve used as sources two books about the subject, a review by a university professor, articles from magazines and information found on the internet. Throughout the report quotations from a recent interview with Jorge Ochoa, who is a former member of the Medellin cartel, who quit the business after 5 years in jail, will be used. Despite the fact that since ancient times cocaine and marijuana had been grown on Colombian soil, its use was limited to Indian communities, small marginal groups and certain hand-crafting jobs such as wood-work. When peace organizations entered the nation with clear ideological orientations with the objective of deviating the youth from the ideas of the 2006-06-12T18:54:37-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Power-of-Drugs-and-their-Influence-on-a-Weak-Country-29350.aspx Keeping Drugs Illegal until the Costs are Lowered Keeping Drugs Illegal until the Costs are Lowered It’s all about usage of illegal drugs and how many are dying because of these drugs the author is focusing on legal usage of alcohol and illegal usage of drugs. What he’s trying to say is if we make all the illegal drugs legal and just put some restriction just like we have on our alcohol usage maybe that would lower the percentage of using illegal drugs such as marijana, coke etc. and if drugs ever are legalized they will be dispensed as alcohol So it seems 2006-06-12T02:00:10-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Keeping-Drugs-Illegal-until-the-Costs-are-Lowered-29263.aspx Societal Benefits of Legalizing the Use of Drugs Societal Benefits of Legalizing the Use of Drugs I have always been told to fight the fight that I can win. I was taught to pray for the strength to change the things I can and for the strength to live with the things I cannot. As I look at the United States today, I see America fighting a fight it cannot win and not attempting to gain the strength needed to live with the things it cannot change. In 1981, America declared war on drugs. Since then, billions of dollars have been spent in an unsuccessful attempt to banish drugs from its borders. Illegal drugs are more available now than they have ever been. Common sense would make one believe that if you are continually eaten by the sharks in the moat while trying to get into the castle, then perhaps one should look for an alternative route into the castle or make friends with the sharks. I do not deny that the use of illegal drugs has an adverse affect on the user nor do I condone the use of them, but many of the wide range of negative results thought to be occurring from drug use can in all actuality be attributed to the current legal treatment of drugs brought on by prohibition. John Lawn, former director of the US Drug Enforcement Administration upon addressing a Senate Committee investigating drug legalization said, “drugs are not bad because they are illegal, they are illegal because they are bad”. If this is a sound argument, then the question is why aren’t cigarettes and alcohol that are medically proven to be harmful, illegal? The answer of course is because prohibition doesn’t work. America is not learning from her mistakes. On January 16, 1920 prohibition of alcohol was put into effect. Though it seemed like a good idea at the time, nothing could have been more detrimental to control the use of alcohol. The chief beneficiary of prohibition was not that of the welfare of the American people, rather it was organized crime. Organized crime was producing and distributing the black market alcohol and because of the low volume and high demand, they made a fortune off of it. Because the alcohol business was so lucrative, there 2006-06-01T19:57:45-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Societal-Benefits-of-Legalizing-the-Use-of-Drugs-29003.aspx Drug Abuses in America Growing at Alarming Rates Drug Abuses in America Growing at Alarming Rates Drug abuse in America used to be a very bad thing, but now its pretty common. Drug users inhabit almost every city or town in America. Drug abuse or use doesn’t necessarily mean using illegal drugs. It can mean abusing the use of prescription medicines or using household chemicals to get high. There are different types of drugs and different street names. For instance, if I want to buy a hit of ecstasy I would ask for ‘E’ or ‘X’. Heroin would be ‘smack’, ‘H’, or ‘junk’. Methamphetamine would be ‘crystal’ or ‘speed’. LSD is called ‘acid’ for its scientific name lysergic acid. The different types of drugs are stimulants or ‘uppers’ and depressants or ‘downers’. Two examples of ‘uppers’ are crystal methamphetamine and MDMA or ecstasy. Two examples of ‘downers’ are alcohol and marijuana. ‘Uppers’ are called ‘uppers’ because they stimulate you and can keep you awake a few days if you are a frequent user. They also speed up your heart rate, make you hallucinate, and can lead to death if mixed with other drugs. The high they produce gives you a euphoric feeling or lead to violence depending on what type of mood you are in before using them. The high lasts for anywhere from 2 hours to days at a time depending on how much of the drug you use. It starts to hit you from around 5 minutes to around 30 minutes after you use. Some people take a hit then when the high starts to wear off take 2 hits to keep high because the body tends to build a quick tolerance to ‘uppers’. There are effects called ‘bad trips’ that cause scary hallucinations, blackouts, dehydration, and death from your heart rate getting so fast that you sweat your liquids all off and start withdrawing. It affects you main organs, especially your liver. Some people prefer to ‘speed ball’ which means mixing crystal methamphetamine and another ‘upper’ heroin. It speeds your heart rate up faster than any drug can and can kill you easily. ‘Downers’ are called ‘downers’ because they slow you down and calm your nerves. They also slow your heart rate down. Tobacco is the most used downer. It can calm your nerves. It is also the leading cause of lung and mouth cancer in the world. It can be smoked in cigarettes 2006-06-01T19:12:32-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Drug-Abuses-in-America-Growing-at-Alarming-Rates-28988.aspx Marijuana's Effects on Human Physiology and the Brain Marijuana's Effects on Human Physiology and the Brain Marijuana is a mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. There are many street names for marijuana including weed, hashish, pot, reefer, boo, ace, grass, Mary-Jane, MJ, bud, the happy plant, as well as many local slang terms. All forms of marijuana have hallucinogenic properties, which come from the leaves and stems, and more importantly, from the buds or flowers of the plant. The most potent form of marijuana, hashish, comes from the resin found on the surface of the female plant. The hallucinogenic substance in Cannabis is the chemical known as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Marijuana has many different effects on the human body. Areas effected include the brain, heart, lungs, stomach, reproductive system, immune system, and the circulatory system. Each part of the body affected has multiple ways of reacting. Cannabis use effects the user in some ways not noticeable to himself. These effects include denial, immaturity, memory loss, and delay of adolescent brain development. Marijuana effects the brain in many different ways. Marijuana inhibits short-term memory by disrupting the nerve cells the hippocampus, the area of the brain where memories are formed. THC binding to receptors in the cerebellum slows reactions and visual tracking, impairing ability to drive or operate machinery. Long term use brings on the inability to extract and understand concepts. Deeper in the brain the psychological effects come into play. Frequent usage changes one’s perceptions, resulting in more intense physical feelings and less intense emotional feelings. Continued stimulation of THC receptors creates the need for more, resulting in addiction. Depending on individual physiological reactions, the use of marijuana can lead to the use of harder drugs such as heroin and methamphetamines. A delay in adolescent brain development is common when marijuana usage begins at a young age. Basically, the teenage brain stops developing. “Some frequent users feel a lack of initiative and concern about the future, find it hard to become or stay motivated, and think things will take care of them selves.” (Wapner, Roger, 1995) As a result, the normal maturation process is interrupted. Development of coping skills, a code of ethics, acceptance of responsibility, and other signs of maturity frequently cease or regress. As a result, many milestones of life, such as graduation, may be 2006-06-01T02:20:37-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Marijuana-s-Effects-on-Human-Physiology-and-the-Brain-28967.aspx Crack Addiction Why it Must be Banned Where I come from a low SES community, phrases like “your mom is a crack head,” or “shut up crack baby” are said jokingly to make fun of someone during what we call a “rip session.” Although said as a joke, some are very offended by the comments. Why? Because for some, crack addiction hits too close to home for comfort. Seeing as how it is easily obtainable in low SES areas, many find themselves falling victim to the powerful substance, crack cocaine. Low SES is just one of the many factors that can lead to the use, and addiction of crack cocaine, others include movies, music, peer pressure, and alcohol and cigarette ads. In this report I will discuss the effects, consequences, and possible treatment for crack cocaine addiction. “The first time cocaine is used it may make the heart beat faster leading to a feeling of excitement and fear” (qtd. in Carroll, 1994, p.24). Followed by euphoria, these feelings can peak within five seconds. The user then begins to feel more energetic and becomes more sociable (Carroll, 1994). “Psychological effects include feelings of well-being and a grandiose sense of power and ability mixed with anxiety and restlessness” (qtd. in Narconon, 2001). One inhalation will produce a high usually lasting 10-15 minutes. After this zenith of intense sensation, “…the drug wears off, these temporary sensations of mastery are replaced by an intense depression, and the drug abuser will then "crash", becoming lethargic and typically sleeping for several days” (qtd. in Narconon, 2001). There are several different ways to use crack. It can be snorted, smoked, or taken intravenously. It can also be taken orally (chewed), but this method is not preferred because of the low intensity of the high. The two most popular ways of using crack are smoking and IV usage. These two methods are most favored because they give the most intense sensations. There are three different stages to addiction, the first being the adaptive stage. In this stage, the user is on top of his/her game. They feel as if they can function better while on the drug and are able to handle larger amounts. This is the person that can smoke crack before they go to work and will probably be more productive then most. “Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug. Once having tried cocaine, an individual may have difficulty predicting or controlling the extent 2006-04-26T05:37:36-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Crack-Addiction-Why-it-Must-be-Banned-28753.aspx Ecstasy a Street Drug Ecstasy is one of the street names for MDMA (the chemical name is N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine). MDMA is an amphetaminelike drug with hallucinogenic properties. People taking the drug get a sense of increased energy, euphoria and a curious feeling of empathy. While we know something about the short-term effects of ecstasy use, we do not have a very good understanding of the long-term effects. The short-term effects of the drug are related to the amount taken. If the dose used is relatively high, there is a danger in the short-term of seizures and heart-rhythm abnormalities. Ecstasy also can cause an increase in body temperature (called hyperthermia). This can cause difficulties if the drug is taken during strenuous exercise (such as dancing). The common practice of drinking large amounts of bottled water can lead to a reduced amount of sodium in the blood. This is called hyponatremia and, if severe, can cause neurological problems. There have been a number of deaths reported in people taking the drug. The long-term effects of ecstasy are less clear. Ecstasy alters the parts of the brain that are governed by a neurotransmitter called serotonin. Serotonin is a very important "messenger" in the brain and is involved in learning, emotion and memory. The results of studies done in animals given multiple doses of ecstasy show damage to specific parts of the brain related to memory, learning and emotion. We don't really have a good understanding of the long-term effects in people because much of the "ecstasy" sold isn't really ecstasy. So when side effects are seen in users, we don't know if it is from ecstasy or another drug. The studies in animals, however, suggest that long-term use has the potential for causing learning and memory problems and psychiatric illnesses later in life. Ecstasy also appears to have an effect on the immune system. No drug is free of unwanted side effects. No drug is completely safe. This is true of ecstasy, alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, over-the-counter and prescription drugs. We have learned a great deal about the long-term effects of cigarettes and alcohol by doing animal experiments and looking to see what happens to people taking the drugs over a long period. We will learn more about the ecstasy and its long-term effects from the experiences of the users. What is ecstasy? MDMA or ecstasy is a Schedule I synthetic, psychoactive drug possessing stimulant and hallucinogenic properties. MDMA possesses 2006-03-19T10:06:08-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Ecstasy-a-Street-Drug-28587.aspx Possible Legalization of Marijuana Possible Legalization of Marijuana Marijuana is a psychoactive drug made from the dried leaves and flowering parts of the hemp plant. It is one of the most strictly classified illegal drugs in the United States. Under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is listed as a Schedule I drug, which defines it as having “a high potential for abuse” and “no currently accepted medical use. Marijuana is thus classified more severely than morphine and cocaine, which as Schedule II drugs are also banned for general use but can be prescribed by doctors. It is illegal to buy, sell, grow, or possess marijuana in the United States. Marijuana probation comprises a large part of the federal government’s War on Drugs. Police made 600,000 marijuana-related arrests in 1995. Four out of five arrests being for possession alone. Under federal and state laws, many of which were strengthened in the 1980’s, people convicted of marijuana offenses face penalties ranging from probation to life imprisonment, plus fines and forfeiture of property. Also, criminal justice efforts, the federal government, state governments, and local communities spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually on preventative programs. Programs such as, Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), in which local police officers visit schools to teach young people to abstain from trying marijuana and other drugs. Public controversy has been growing over the two assumptions, high abuse potential and no legitimate medical use, that underline marijuana’s status as a Schedule I drug. In turn, disputes over the abuse and medical potential of marijuana have shaped differences of opinion over public policy. Many of those who question one or both of these assumptions about marijuana have advocated a full or partial relaxation of the government’s blanket prohibition of the drug, while those who accept these assumption generally are opposed to any full or partial legalization of marijuana. Supporters of marijuana’s continued prohibition argue that the drug is easily abused and can lead to numerous physical and psychological harms. Short-term health effects of the drug listed in Marijuana: Facts for Teens, a publication of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), include memory loss, distorted perception, problems with learning and coordination, an increased heart rate, and anxiety attacks. Long term effects, according to NIDA, include increased risk of lung cancer for chronic marijuana smokers and possible damage to the 2006-01-03T05:00:36-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Possible-Legalization-of-Marijuana-28383.aspx Causes of Second Hand Smoke Causes of Second Hand Smoke Second-hand smoke is made up of exhaled smoke from smokers. It also comes from cigarettes, cigars or pipes. There are many effects of second-hand smoke. One is since the organic material in tobacco doesn't burn completely, cigarette smoke contains chemical compounds, including carbon monoxide, ammonia, formaldehyde, benzene and arsenic. Most of these, are known to cause cancer. Nonsmokers who live with smokers have a greater risk of dying from heart disease than do other nonsmokers. Another effect is 2005-12-26T03:17:50-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Causes-of-Second-Hand-Smoke-28257.aspx Complete Debate on the Possible Outcomes of Legal Weed Legalization Of Weed The concept of marijuana legalization has gone in and out of vogue over the past 20 years, as several states, either de jure or de facto, have decriminalized its possession and use. Some describe the cause of decriminalization in the 1970s as a wave of permissive liberalism. This is hardly the case, however. In the early 1970s, a presidential commission chaired by the former Republican governor of Pennsylvania, Raymond P. Schafer, called for federal decriminalization and eventual legalization, regulation, and control of marijuana (National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, 1972). The commission concluded that marijuana should be decriminalized. This was not interpreted as a license to abuse substances. In fact, the Shafer Commission's overriding concern was reducing substance abuse. According to the report, "On the basis of our findings, discussed in previous Chapters, we have concluded that society should seek to discourage use, while concentrating its attention on the prevention and treatment of heavy and very heavy use. The Commission feels that the criminalization of possession of marihuana for personal use is socially self-defeating as a means of achieving this objective" (National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, 1972). In 1977, Senator Jacob Javits and Representative Edward Koch introduced a bill to federally decriminalize marijuana. Although both congressmen were Democrats, their motivation for this bill had as much to do with the economics of pursuing marijuana users, then estimated at 13 million, as the undesirability of seeking to imprison such a large portion of the national population (Koch, 1977). Today, government surveys estimate the number of regular marijuana users at about 11.8 million (NIDA, 1988). The cost of pursuing and punishing 11.8 million marijuana users, if that is all there are, would be enormous, both financially and societally. NORML and others are skeptical of the government's ability to take an accurate survey of any criminal behavior. Such estimates inevitably underreport the actual number of users for several reasons, including agency bias and respondents' fear of disclosure. This will present problems when marijuana is legalized. The number of reported users will appear to skyrocket. The number of users may in fact increase slightly; however, the biggest increase will come from those who failed to report their use while it was illegal. The difference between truly new users and users 2005-12-24T18:59:24-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Complete-Debate-on-the-Possible-Outcomes-of-Legal-Weed-28225.aspx Benefits of Marijuana Benefits of Marijuana “According to a 1988 government survey, marijuana is the third most widely used drug used in the United States, after alcohol and cigarettes. An estimated 66 million people - or one-third of all Americans - have tried marijuana; and roughly 12 million of them are current users.”# Marijuana is an illegal drug that is grown throughout the world. It is used for medical treatments, pleasure, and things we use and see today. It also has many side effects, health hazards, and health issues. Marijuana is the term generally used to describe the flowering tops and leaves of the Indian hemp plant. “Richard Shultes, a Harvard-based botanist has identified three distinct varieties of the plant. The first of the three is cannabis sativa which is loosely branched that can reach a height of 18 feet. The second one is Cannabis indica which is smaller, more densely branched plant, often cone-shaped, and usually no more than four feet in height. The last kind is cannabis ruderalis which is a small dense plant with few or no branches that grows to between one and three feet in height and is indigenous in part of Asia.”# These three types are crossbred freely, allowing hemp growers over the years to develop certain characteristics in their crop. There are two types of hemp, a female and a male. The female usually produces more potent marijuana then the male. The higher the potency, the higher the price. Marijuana grows all over the world naturally and by farmers. Many doctors use marijuana as a drug for patients. “It is used for cancer chemotherapy , AIDS wasting , multiply sclerosis, epilepsy, glaucoma, and many more. In cancer chemotherapy the THC in marijuana reduces vomiting and nausea and alleviates pretreatment anxiety. If you have AIDS-related wasting marijuana improves your appetite and forestalls the loss of lean muscle mass. Some of the advantages marijuana has on multiple sclerosis is it reduces muscle pain and plasticity cause by the disease, and may also help some patients with bladder control and relieve tremor. It can also prevent epileptic seizures for epilepsy patients. When marijuana is smoked it reduces pressure within the eye, but may also reduce blood flow to the optic nerve, exacerbating the loss of vision for people with glaucoma.”# Marijuana is also a help to people with chronic pains.# medical marijuana is taken 2005-09-04T20:09:29-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Benefits-of-Marijuana-27882.aspx Drug Use And Abuse Drug Use And Abuse Mtf otherwise known as monitoring the future, is a survey where professional researchers got the classroom of High School students, college aged people to take surveys on drug use. The State of Michigan University, under a contract with the federal government, instituted this survey. Dawn is a drug abuse-warning network. It operates differently from MTF and the other organizations because it focuses 2005-08-31T21:58:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Drug-Use-And-Abuse--27849.aspx Legalization for America’s Future Legalization for America’s Future When you think of someone who drinks alcohol once in a while, do you think of a criminal? Probably not. What about someone who smokes marijuana? It’s probably more likely, even though most marijuana user’s only crime is solely the use of marijuana. This is because current U.S. laws make possession of marijuana illegal and I believe these laws are in great need of reform. Let me start off with a brief history of the cannabis plant from which marijuana is derived. Marijuana (then known only as hemp) has been grown in America since 1611. Farmers have been using the fibers to make clothing, paper, rope, lamp oil, and canvas. The first American flag was made from hemp, as well as the first Gutenberg bible. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp and advocated a hemp-based economy. It was not until the 1920s that the practice of smoking marijuana became widespread, primarily among Mexican immigrants and African-Americans. It was common belief that they were inhumane and violent, and that marijuana was the cause of this behavior. This provoked “Reefer Madness” which was a political campaign designed to scare potential marijuana users with grossly exaggerated stories and public hysteria. The American Journal of Medicine went along with it and wrote, “Marijuana users will suddenly turn with a murderous violence upon whoever is nearest to them. They will run amuck with a knife, axe, gun, or anything else that is close at hand, and will kill or maim without reason.” Though not as exaggerated today, people are still misinformed about marijuana. First of all, most marijuana users are not criminals. They are otherwise law-abiding citizens who work hard and contribute to their communities. They are not dangerous people who need to be locked up. Incarcerating these people actually builds to the problem instead of helping it. Federal anti-marijuana efforts cost taxpayers $30 billion with no change in usage patterns. $2 billion worth of cannabis is being seized and destroyed, 4 million people being arrested and 250,000 being jailed for more than a year. What is this all for? People with no other criminal record are going to jail; money is being wasted for nothing. Marijuana is still readily available and used by a large number of Americans. If the purpose 2005-08-29T02:38:21-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Legalization-for-America’s-Future-27817.aspx Should Illicit Drugs Be Legalized? Should Illicit Drugs Be Legalized? When many people hear this question, they think that it means to make them available to everyone. That is not the case. I believe that through limited legalizations of illegal drugs, medicinal marijuana can be used to its potential, money can be saved, and the crime rate will decrease. . These are just a few things that will happen if legalization occurs. The costs for research and setting up bills for legalization may be costly but the rewards would be great. The use of these now illegal drugs goes way back in history. Marijuana’s first recorded medical use was in 2737 B.C. by a Chinese emperor by the name of Shen Nung. This emperor was the one of the first to use the drug to kill pain in his body. Marijuana was also used in A.D. 200 when a Chinese physician mixed cannabis resin with white wine to make a surgical anesthetic. Reports in the 1860s suggest that the use of opium was successful in numbing amputee patients. These drugs were early painkillers that work just as good and sometimes better than modern drugs. Only a few illicit drugs have medical benefits when used. For instance, the drug, Marijuana, has been known to be an excellent painkiller. As stated in the June 1994 edition of The World and I, Lester Grinspoon argues that “18 months of scientific evidence on medical marijuana and hearing testimony from doctors and patients has revealed that the active components of marijuana appear to be helpful in treating pain, nausea, AIDS related weight loss, muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis and other problems.” But these reports aren’t decent enough evidence for legalization. Further steps need to be taken. Everyone needs to be aware of the effects of drugs and the feelings that happen when used. When smoked, marijuana causes the user to feel less pain and have a higher appetite. Feeling less pain is useful when it comes to victims of arthritis. Patients that are infected with HIV also can turn to marijuana for help. When a person is infected with HIV, they lose appetite and therefore lose weight. This is called “wasting” and can be eliminated by the smoking of marijuana. Smoking this drug can be harmful in its natural illicit state. It contains three times more tars and five times more carbon monoxide than tobacco. These chemicals are what hold back the 2005-08-18T07:41:13-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Should-Illicit-Drugs-Be-Legalized-27717.aspx Marijuana Drug Profile Research Paper Marijuana Drug Profile Research Paper Cannabis Sativa (marijuana) has been thought to be an illegal and very harmful drug for many years. But as you read this report you will learn that marijuana has been around for many years (most years legal) and isn't as harmful as some people may think. Marijuana has been used for many things in the past, including medicine, hemp rope, crude cloth and enjoyment. Now it is mainly used as a narcotic. Marijuana is an illegal weed that grows up to eighteen feet tall with little or no cultivation. The plant has many branches that extend with large, hairy, pointed leaves with saw tooth edges. Marijuana grows wild all over the world and in some states and countries it's legal. Cloth and rope are made from the stem which contains a tough fiber called "hence." The mind-altering drug in marijuana is called "Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannibinol," or THC. The mildest form of marijuana contains between zero to three percent of THC. Most of the THC is contained in the resign, which is secreted around the flowers, seeds, and topmast leaves. Until recently it was thought that only the female plant contained the drug. But it is now known that both the female and the male plants contain THC. THC stays in the body for about 28 days. Marijuana can be prepared many different ways therefore it has many different ways of entering the body. When smoked the THC goes into the lungs, directly into the bloodstream and to every cell in your body. The effects depend upon the level of potency and how much is consumed. The main effects of smoking are: the heart rate may increase from 80 beats to 150 beats a minute, the bronchial tubes enlarge and become relaxed allowing extra oxygen to enter the body, giving a "High" like feeling. There are no immediate physiological effects. The feeling usually lasts from one to three hours. Marijuana can also be ingested as a drink, cakes, brownies or many other foods. When consumed in foods the effects start after one half-hour and last from three to four hours. The potency of Marijuana has increased at least ten times or 275% since the 1960's. Marijuana can be measured by it's "therapeutic ratio," (the difference between the size of the dose needed for the desired effect and the size that produces poisoning). The therapeutic ratio in marijuana has yet to be 2005-08-15T01:21:33-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Marijuana-Drug-Profile-Research-Paper-27655.aspx LA Times Essay on Vicodin Pain Pills by Greg Critser Just when really serious things like war, disease and a bummer economy threaten to make the media business a rather dreary realm, enter the downfall by drugs of Rush Limbaugh. The drama has spawned comparisons (he's the "new Elmer Gantry"), compassion (he's an addict and we should show mercy even if he didn't show it to others) and vengeful rebuke (talk about hypocrisy!). Yet the truth about Limbaugh's fall may be more mundane than anyone wants to admit, Limbaugh included. Beyond the cultural politics swirling outside his detox room door, one truth is clear: What you don't know can hurt you, especially when it comes to a little pill called Vicodin, one of the painkillers Limbaugh is said to have used. Anyone who's had a tennis injury, root canal or — at least on the Westside — a bad hangnail knows Vicodin is good stuff. Not only does it kill pain but it also, as "Permanent Midnight" author Jerry Stahl said about heroin, "makes you feel so good, you feel like calling the phone company and telling them what a good job they're doing." Between 1988 and 1998, the number of prescriptions written per year for first-time users — most of them middle- and upper-middle-class — of Vicodin and similar powerful painkillers grew from 500,000 to 1.6 million. Some of the people who got those prescriptions have undoubtedly become addicted to the euphoria they produce. And yet this aspect of Vicodin is little appreciated by the prescription-writing medical community. That is because critical, objective information about the drug — the kind we are accustomed to in these days of long FDA reviews and dramatic advisory committee meetings — is thin at best. Hydrocodone (the chemical name of Vicodin's primary ingredient along with acetaminophen) is one of hundreds of older drugs that were introduced before 1962, when Congress passed a landmark amendment to the Food and Drug Act that gave the FDA much more power to oversee safety and efficacy testing. But buried in a series of tests done in the 1930s are a number of troubling facts. First, a primer: Hydrocodone was first manufactured in the early 1920s by the German pharmaceutical company Knoll. As its name denotes, hydrocodone is the codeine molecule with a hydrogen atom attached. At the time, Knoll believed hydrogenizing codeine might make it less toxic and easier on the stomach. At about the same time, the U.S. 2005-07-30T09:31:38-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/LA-Times-Essay-on-Vicodin-Pain-Pills-by-Greg-Critser-27448.aspx What's the deal with Drugs and Nightclubs Drugs and Nightclubs Drugs are illegal in most countries and the extermination of drugs has always been one of our most important worldwide issues. Ending the existence of drugs is one of the toughest and most complicated goal we face. With all the effort we put into the issue, why is there little success? Lack of effort is not a major reason the attempts are failing. It is the lack of understanding that leads to the misdirection and failure of the attempts. As long as a strong desire to use drugs exists, drugs wonft exterminate. Why people take drugs? Drugs symbolize power, states, freedom, and the ultimate ‘high’ in our world. Drugs can help people achieve higher states, more power and their success. We are not easily deterred from using drugs because we refuse to give up our dreams and goals, and often are willing to do whatever it takes along the path to success. The desire for the drugs is worth the risk of being caught. In reality, the risk of getting caught is extremely few. Therefore, many people are willing to risk getting caught because the benefits of drugs outweigh the risks. ‘Drugs are always been closely linked to the entertainment industry. Nightclubs have become the ideal place to administer drugs. In this essay I would discuss ‘Club drugs’ which are used popular in nightclubs. GHB (gemma hydroxybutyrate) is surfacing on the street, in private nightclub and on the body builder scene. A central nerveous system depressant, GHB has been leagally used as and anesthetic, and for treatment of majour. The main date rape drug is Rohypnol, it is also known as ‘Roofies’. It is similar to Valium, but then times more powerful. Rohypnnol is illegal in the United States, but it is used in other countries prescribed for sleeping disorders. It is usually found in a small odorless, tasteless white pill that can be crushed up and easily dropped into a drink. it dissolves fast making hard to detect. It can also be found in a liquid form, which are rare, but can make it harder to detect. Effects of Rohypnol usually occur within twenty to thirty minutes. The effects include drowsiness, dizziness, and being disoriented. It also affects motor skills such as walking, talking and balance. It makes one feel like very drunk. This is why it is becoming known as a club drug. 2005-06-21T22:19:46-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/What-s-the-deal-with-Drugs-and-Nightclubs-27108.aspx LSD The Hallucinating Drug Lysergic acid diethlyamide (LSD) more commonly known in our culture as “acid,” belongs to a group of illicit drugs classified as hallucinogens. Hallucinogens, when ingested, can cause severe hallucinations that may last anywhere from six to twelve hours depending on purity. Hallucinations are by definition “profound distortions in a person’s perceptions of reality.” The use of hallucinogens is not a new phenomenon. Psilocybin, peyote, and mescaline (derived from the peyote cactus) have been dated back thousands of years to ancient Indian religious ceremonies. An archeological dig in Mexico uncovered ancient writings, preserved by lava, that indicate the use of hallucinogens as long as four thousand years ago. Hallucinogens, especially LSD, were prominent in the hippie culture of the 1960s and 1970s, but their popularity declined during the 1980s, giving rise to harder substances such as cocaine. In 1972 it was reported that five percent of the nation, primarily under the age of eighteen, had experimented at least once with LSD. In 1974 that number had leapt to seventeen percent, and by 1979 the numbers were up to twenty-five percent. These numbers dropped steadily as heroine and cocaine gained popularity in the 1980’s, but with the 1990’s came another rise in the mainstream use of LSD. In 1992 nine percent of high school seniors had tried LSD. By 1996 that number had risen to thirteen percent and in 2000 declined to eleven percent. Acceptance of the drug has clearly risen as well. In 1991 ninety percent of high school students disapproved of even a single experimentation. By 1996 that number had dropped to eighty percent. As was the case in the sixties and seventies, the primary users were young white men and women, upper to middle class, who typically chose psychotropic substances as opposed to harder drugs. Although use of LSD was primarily white, young adults, use was also found in a small percentage of young Blacks and Hispanics. Albert Hofmann, a chemist working at the Sandoz Corporation pharmaceutical laboratory in Switzerland, first synthesized LSD in 1938. Hofmann was researching medical uses of lysergic acid, a derivative or ergot (fungus that develops on rye grass). Hofmann developed many lysergic acid compounds, the one that made him famous though was the 25th called, in German, Lyserg-Säure-Diäthylamid 25, or LSD-25. Five years after creating LSD-25 Hofmann ingested a small amount, unaware of it’s psychotropic effects, and opened up a new world. In his book LSD- 2005-06-19T16:53:31-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/LSD-The-Hallucinating-Drug-26986.aspx Pro Essay for Legalization of Drugs Drugs Should Be Legalized Our societies are decaying due to an incessant war against drugs. Effects of this war like assault, property crime, racial and economic decriminalization, murder, corruption, and many other undesirable things are developing and burning through societies fueled by the lack of determination between whether or not drugs should be legalized. This polemic is allowing war’s effects to keep growing to the point where societies’ harmony, peace, and stability are being lost. The time has gotten to make a decision, to find a solution. Legalization is an option that should be heavily considered. It would be way to control use and abuse of drugs. Legalization of drugs will stop an enormous number of deaths and crimes. In addition, it will reduce the great amounts of money spent on enforcement and it will increase our country’s revenue. On their web page the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) states, “the costs of crime attributed to illicit drug abuse were estimated at 59.1 billion. These costs include reduced earnings due to incarceration, crime careers, and criminal victimization; and the costs of criminal justice and drug interdiction”. It also estimates that the drug-related visits to the hospital emergency rooms have increased. “In 2000, 531,800 drug-related visits occurred, up slightly from 1999. More of these visits were due to drug overdoses”. Based on this information it is not hard to realize that prohibition costs money, and lives. Far from decreasing, quantities are going up throughout the years. Legalizing Drugs would increase our economy's revenue. During Prohibition alcohol, use was continuing sold and used, but people were doing it illegally. The 21st amendment repealed prohibition and alcohol taxes were increased. The same thing should happen with drugs. Drugs can be taxed heavily to increase our revenue. The same people who make aspirin so the quality would be assured, containing no poisons or adulterants, which often are causes of many deaths, would make drugs. Sterile hypodermic needles will be readily available at corner drug stores. These could be taxed heavily because the users will be assured of "clean drugs." Meanwhile, the black market would disappear overnight. Some arrangement can be made to license the production of drugs. Thousands of dealers would be put out of business, and a secret part of the economy would come into the open. This would have an impact on the amount of money flowing through criminal channels, and this 2005-06-17T09:18:42-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Pro-Essay-for-Legalization-of-Drugs-26897.aspx Should Marijuana be Legal? Should it be Legal? Marijuana Legislation in America In 1978 the state legislator of New Mexico made a law allowing physicians to prescribe marijuana to patients suffering from nausea caused by chemotherapy, much of this due to the efforts of a cancer patient by the name of Lynn Pierson. The Federal government modified the law to make it comply with IND regulations requiring a research program. The FDA also demanded many studies and required the doctors to fill out many pages of forms for every patient and documenting their progress, slowing the process to a stand still. This process of getting marijuana to the patients was taking so long that New Mexico officials considered using confiscated marijuana from the state highway patrol. In August of 1978 Lynn Pierson, who worked so hard for the legalization of marijuana, died of cancer without ever receiving legal marijuana. A few weeks later the Federal Government suspended the marijuana program. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics reasons for making marijuana illegal were that it was highly addictive and caused violent crimes. Today neither of those reasons has been backed by much data and many experts believe the opposite. According to the National Household Survey on drug abuse, more than 76 million Americans admit to trying marijuana. Along with those who value marijuana: for recreational reasons, many doctors say that it has medicinal uses as well. The government should look at these facts and consider the legalization of marijuana. There are many arguments against the legalization of marijuana. One commonly held view is marijuana is "gateway drug" or a drug that opens the door for harder drug use such as cocaine or heroin. The Institute of Medicine disagrees, and in their 1999 report they explained that marijuana has been mistaken for a "gateway drug" in the past because patterns in adolescence drug use is strikingly regular. Because it is the most commonly used illicit drug, it is likely that it is the first illegal drug that people try. Most drug users begin with alcohol and nicotine, before they use marijuana (Joy 32). Another complaint about marijuana is that it is a dangerous drug that causes permanent brain damage. Dr. Iversen of Oxford University says, "Cannabis does not cause structural damage to the brains of animals as some reports had claimed, nor is there evidence of 2005-05-16T06:26:23-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Should-Marijuana-be-Legal-26639.aspx Marijuana Horticultural Revolution Medical and Legal Battle Marijuana: A Horticultural Revolution, A Medical and Legal Battle For years there has been a wonder drug, which has befriended countless sick patients in a number of countries. A relatively inexpensive drug that is not covered by health care plans, which has aided the ill both mentally and physically--marijuana. Significant scientific and medical studies have demonstrated that marijuana is safe for use under medical supervision and that the cannabis plant, in its natural form, has important therapeutic benefits that are often of critical medical importance to persons afflicted with a variety of Life-threatening illnesses. Courts have recognized marijuana's medical value in treatment and have ruled that marijuana can be a drug of "necessity" in the treatment of glaucoma, cancer, AIDS, and multiple sclerosis. From the collection of information we now have on marijuana's health benefits for the ill, there is no longer any reason to keep it illegal. It should therefore be legal for licensed physicians to prescribe marijuana for terminal patients for whom it Offers the only reasonable opportunity for living without unbearable pain. Marijuana has been used many times to help ease pain and suffering. It often eases nausea in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, reduces the pain of AIDS patients and lowers eye pressure in glaucoma sufferers. Cancer and AIDS patients often lose a lot of weight, either due directly to their illness or indirectly to the treatment of the illness. Dramatic weight loss puts there Lives in even more danger. Marijuana stimulates the appetite, thus enabling patients to eat more and gain weight, which in turn strengthens the immune system. So if there are so many benefits, then why is marijuana not legal? Many states contend that the ban on medical marijuana is necessary to prevent drug abuse and the availability of illicit drugs and to control the purity of medicinal drug products. These states have no compelling interest in intervening to needlessly prolong terminal patients' suffering. States should allow the medical use of marijuana under strict regulations, rather than uphold an outdated drug classification scheme. While federal agencies adamantly maintain marijuana has "no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States," the medical prohibition has come under strong legal challenge from seriously ill Americans who have been arrested on marijuana-related charges. 2005-05-16T06:07:43-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Marijuana-Horticultural-Revolution-Medical-and-Legal-Battle-26634.aspx Decriminalization of Marijuana vs. Local Regulatory Control We Don’t Juana Give Everyone Power to Decide [i:219a1fc06c]Decriminalization of Marijuana vs. Local Regulatory Control[/i:219a1fc06c] Marijuana, a Schedule I mild hallucinogen is illegal to purchase, cultivate and posses in all fifty states of the union . In recent years, states have taken steps to harness the medical benefits of this drug and some have even gone so far as to decriminalize it altogether. States such as California and Oregon led the charge for decriminalization with several others following in step1. Marijuana, used alone cannot be abused to the point of an overdose and there are no documented cases of a marijuana related death. Given this trend many local and town governments have tried to use this as grounds for decriminalizing marijuana as well as many other more potent and fatal ‘recreational’ drugs. The decriminalization of marijuana by local government has been utilized by certain individuals in attempt to amend the current laws on drug use. Their arguments are invalid due to the fact that municipal governments do not, and should not, have the power to take such action. Therefore using these state decriminalization cases as examples to call for a nationwide decriminalization of “recreational drugs” cannot prove to be effective. Article I and article IV of the Constitution grant states the power to a legislative body unto themselves with a code of law for each member of the Union. The Federalists purposely gave these specific rights to the States, not towns or municipalities, to ensure that a majority faction could never be established enabling an area to fall victim to politics of self-interest. In Federalist Ten Madison points out that; “There are again two methods of removing the causes of faction. The one: destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions and the same interests.” (Fed. 10, pg. 72) While it may seem more democratic to give equal say to every town and city, and force states to recognize this power, it is this concept which will deconstruct the careful equilibrium of power this nation strove so hard to achieve. If this were the case every single vote in our elections would count, but instead that power is granted to the Electoral College. Instead it is recognized that if every town is granted a legislative body unto itself, power is taken from the state level as well as the nation 2005-04-24T08:30:22-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Decriminalization-of-Marijuana-vs_-Local-Regulatory-Control-26566.aspx Marijuana The Case for Decriminalization Marijuana: Decriminalization or Legalization In high school when I first learned about the alluring world of illegal pharmaceuticals, I was scared. My fear was based on all my prior knowledge of drugs was from government propaganda and popular beliefs. Now I’m older, and more experienced about drugs. When did the America first begin to be wildly afraid of a plant that has been on this continent since our forfathers ()? America’s fear of illicit drugs can be as far traced back as the prohibition era of the early 20th century. Pot, a nickname for the plant, is still illegal due in part to the bias government drug enforcement forces of the nineteen thirties and forties. Past propaganda and seeds of ignorance about marijuana still grow today in American. Marijuana has been used responsibly by cultures dated as far back as 3000 BC China (Jones, 2003). So how have Americans been brainwashed to believe marijuana is different than any other smokable plant? The earliest harvesting of marijuana specifically for smoking, or “getting stoned,” was by the Scythians from Siberia around 700BC. Surely Marijuana has had a long history of medical used by the human race (Jones, 2003). Rastafarians base most of their key beliefs around the herb. The divinity of marijuana is central to their religious beliefs. Indian cultures have been smoking marijuana for a varieties of ways for thousands of years. Hinduism has a long tradition with marijuana use, having ancient prayers claiming that pot is a sacred herb. Of major world religions only Christianity has been a party pooper by consistently denying the divinity of weed (Jones, 2003). The Spanish Inquisition of the 12th century banned marijuana labeling it the work of the devil. Since that ancient papal decree, Christians have looked upon marijuana as a demon herb, with no medical use. This may have been one of the earliest attempts at marijuana prohibition. America’s history with marijuana began around 1914 when it became popular among Hispanics of El Paso and New Orleans (Jones, 2003). Around this time Americans were still angry from the Spanish-American War. A media campaign against Hispanics was launched by the government. Stories usually told of Hispanics all doped out committing vicious violent crimes. The publics attitude toward marijuana in the twenties is described as, “…they believed it was a sexual stimulant and lowered societal inhabitions. (Musto, 2003)” The marijuana was blamed 2005-04-20T04:31:40-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Marijuana-The-Case-for-Decriminalization-26520.aspx Pro Legalization Marijuana Paper The medical community continues to expand our ability to handle life-threatening illnesses and prolong life. With that ability comes an extension of the treatments that patients must undergo. Many patients today refuse medical treatment that may save or prolong their life, out of a desire to avoid the unpleasant side affects associated with the treatment. In recent years it has been discovered that the use of Marijuana alleviates several symptoms associated with cancer and AIDS treatments and disorders. The patients are currently forced to choose between breaking the law to reduce symptoms or suffering life-changing symptoms rather than break the law. The conditions of AIDS and cancer are life threatening and many are not going to survive its attack. Medicinal marijuana should be legalized so that those who already suffer the disadvantage of disease, will not also be forced to suffer treatment symptoms that are easily corrected. It is interesting that during current history the use of marijuana is even up for debate (Medical Marijuana Legislation Overdue, 45). For many years it was an accepted treatment for the alleviation of symptoms of different disorders. Between 1840 and 1940 there were over 100 papers published in which the effectiveness of marijuana for medical use was praised. Physicians constantly reported success from the use of the drug in treating some disorders (Medical Marijuana Legislation Overdue, 46). According to those who published the papers, marijuana works medicinally by shutting down the nerves that allow pain to be transmitted from the brain to other areas of the body (Medical Marijuana Legislation Overdue, 39). In more recent years many chemotherapy patients have insisted that smoking marijuana relieved the nausea often associated with disease treatments (Medical Marijuana Legislation Overdue, 45). In addition patients with glaucoma have been proven to have pressure on their eyes relieved with the use of marijuana. (Medical Marijuana Legislation Overdue, 45.) In the most recent developments regarding the medicinal use of marijuana it has proven to be a successful appetite stimulant as well as a depression reliever among patients who are fighting AIDS (Medical Marijuana Legislation Overdue, 43.). "In spite of these medical benefits, Congress still refuses to legalize marijuana for medical use, because it is harmful to one 's health when smoked." (Medical Marijuana Legislation Overdue, 45). " This seems like a ridiculous argument, considering that cigarettes are the leading cause of heart disease and lung cancer (Medical 2005-03-27T07:03:55-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Pro-Legalization-Marijuana-Paper-26401.aspx Attitudes Towards Smoking In Public Attitudes Towards Smoking In Public Shore, Ted H, Tashchian, Armen & Adams, Janet S (2000). Development and validation of a scale measuring attitudes toward smoking. Journal of Social Psychology, 140 : 5, 615-623 The topic of the article I have chosen deals with smoking, and the attitudes of smokers and nonsmokers towards smoking in public places. Legislators have brought many laws into effect that restrict smoking in many public places. These laws and restrictions have caused much contraversy about the rights of smokers and nonsmokers. Each person has their own opinion about smoking. Smoking poses a serious health risk to smokers, and also to their rivals, nonsmokers. Many things have been done to try to help smokers stop smoking. It has been clearly proved that a serious behavior change is needed by the smoker to ever quit smoking. Over the years, peoples ideas about smoking has changed a great deal. As people learned more and more about the health risks, smoking has become a major concern on many peoples minds. This has resulted in many changes reguarding smoking in public places. In the experiments carried out by these psychologists, they found that smokers and nonsmokers have very strong opinions which usually differ greatly. The psychologists used a questionnaire to retrieve peoples opinions on smoking in the first experiment. They used the questionnaire on a group of 7th and 8th grade Chinese students. In this questionnaire they found that Chinese students had a more positive attitude toward smoking than did students in the United States. In 1989, two psychologists used a telephone survey to study public opinions of smoking. They found that smokers were more against public smoking restrictions and tobacco sales taxes than nonsmokers were. Also, psychologists used a telephone survey in Illinois and North Carolina. They found that the results were the same. They concluded that self-interests were related to attitudes toward smoking restrictions and tobacco sales. In another experiment among several hundred college students, some smokers and some nonsmokers, many conclusions were made. Smokers said that "cigarette companies should be able to advertise their products in any way they wish." Nonsmokers held more negative attitudes towards smoking, they favored laws restricting the use of tobacco products in public places. Nonsmokers were also more concerned with the 2004-12-21T08:07:35-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Attitudes-Towards-Smoking-In-Public-25946.aspx A Discussion of Cigarette Smoking Cigarette Smoking Cigarette smoking is one of the major killers in the world. The biggest side affect from smoking is Cancer. Cancer is a group of many related diseases. All forms of Cancer involve out-of-control growth and spread of abnormal cells. The American Cancer Society estimates that cigarettes are responsible for about 419,000 deaths in the united states each year. The largest killing cancer is Lung Cancer, which accounts for 30% of all U.S cancer deaths. The risk of dying from lung cancer is 22 times higher for males, and 12 times higher for female smokers as oppose to nonsmokers. Additionally, smokers are at an increased risk for cancer of the larynx, oral cavity , esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas. Health effects of smoking Smoking causes a five time increase in the risk of dying from chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and a two time increase in deaths from diseases of the heart and coronary arteries. Smoking also increases the risk of stroke by 40-50% in men and 60% in women. Researchers have also proven that mothers who smoke while pregnant or before they got pregnant usually give birth to babies with birth defects, who are premature or are underweight. This is probably because of a decrease in blood flow to the placenta. Tobacco Smoke The ways in which tobacco smoke affects the human body have been under extensive research and study for many years. Recent findings may explain why cigarettes are so addicting. An unknown component or part of tobacco smoke appears to destroy an important enzyme in the brain called monoamine oxsidase B (MOA B). The enzyme is essential in breaking down excess amounts of the chemical dopamine, a nerve cell messenger chemical and one that is involved in pleasure-seeking behaviour. Apparently smokers have low levels of MOA B and have exceptionally abnormal levels of dopamine, which most likely encourage the smoker to go for the more pleasure seeking things such as smoking, and sometimes experimenting with more mind altering drugs. Recent research has focused on the effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS). This is the effect of smoke in the atmosphere and the environment and how it affects the non-smokers. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that exposure to ETS, which contains all of the same toxic chemicals that the smoker inhales, causes 3000 cancer deaths a year in non-smokers. It can also provoke less serious diseases 2004-12-21T06:07:56-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/A-Discussion-of-Cigarette-Smoking-25920.aspx Real Rehabilitation Instead of throwing drug offenders in jail and hoping for the best, why not try to treat them? Treatment is ten times more cost effective than law enforcement. It costs fifteen times less to treat a person than it costs to put them in jail (Rydell 16). Tax dollars that are being spent on an obsolete program (the present “War on Drugs”) could be spent on treatment, a proven method of decreasing the use and sale of illicit drugs. The American legal system should draft a bill in Congress that gives treatment to drug offenders instead of throwing them in jail. Such a bill would be advantageous to American society as a whole, and benefits would arise from an economic and civil rights standpoint as soon as the bill was signed into law. Such programs have already shown nothing but positive results in The Netherlands and Switzerland, and I believe that with the right direction America can catch up with the rest of the world. The first step in creating a functional program to fight the Drug War is to face a few hard facts. A study was conducted to investigate police corruption inside drug cases in New York City. This study showed that police corruption, brutality, and violence were present in every high crime precinct that had a high concentration of minority populations (Cole 23). It found very disturbing cases of corruption and brutality, including cases of police stealing from drug dealers, engaging in unlawful searches and seizures, and lying to justify unlawful searches and arrests in areas with large minority populations (Cole 24). After seeing this information, one might come to the conclusion that most drug offenders are in fact minorities. This is far from the truth. Minority groups are victims of our inadequate system. Not only are most drug offenders white, but five times as many whites use drugs as blacks (hrw.org). Since most of the offenders are white, an intelligent person might come to the conclusion that most people put in jail for drug offences are also white. This is also far from the truth. Blacks make up the great majority of drug offenders sent to prison (hrw.org). It is not a sensible solution to send more white drug offenders to jail. Rather, reducing the use of prison for lower level drug offences and increasing the use of treatment would be an effective way to 2004-10-29T02:18:38-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Real-Rehabilitation-25574.aspx Marijuana for Medicinal Purposes Marijuana is illegal in fifty states because of its classification as an illicit drug, but controversial issues have been established that this "illicit drug" has improved the course of treatment for suffering patients. Marijuana has beneficial effects when used in medicinal scenarios for the treatment of pain; thus it should be an administered drug for patients who can benefit from the use of this drug. Marijuana has undergone analysis for its use as a medicine and the results have shown improvements in the patients who were treated with this drug. Doctors have expressed opposite opinions, making this issue very controversial. As the debate about marijuana’s use as a medicine continues, experts have given us information pertaining to its positive effects when used properly. Much of the controversy falls in the hands of the government, which purports that marijuana is not a safe medicine, versus the doctors who research the topic for medicinal purposes. Granted, not all doctors feel cannabis should be a "legal" prescribed medicine, it is in their hands to decide so. The Institute of Medicine has ignited the controversy when it said smoking marijuana is risky, but also recommended that critically ill patients should be allowed to use it under closely monitored settings (Koch 707). A specialist at the National Cancer Institute authorized his patients to use the drug, but not over do it (Koch 708). With all the speculation, one would think that doctors wouldn’t be so eager to offer the drug as a reliever. The National Institute of Drug Abuse renders approximately 300 free joints each month for patients whom are enrolled in an experimental program (Iversen 12). The Government proclaims there is no therapeutic value in the medicinal use of marijuana, but they do not have hard evidence to prove it (Grinspoon 46). Ira Glasser, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, (at a congressional forum) expressed: "the government has demonized all drug use without differentiation and has systematically and hysterically resisted science."(Koch 714) Possibly if the two "sides" would work together an agreement could be established concerning procedures for further development and treatment. Marijuana has eased the pain of chemotherapy, severe muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis, weight-loss due to the AIDS virus, and other problems (www.abcnews.go.com/medmj990317.html). Experts from the National Institute of Health or NIH have confirmed that marijuana is an effective, safe and inexpensive alternative for treating nausea caused by AIDS 2004-07-12T21:59:34-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Marijuana-for-Medicinal-Purposes-25548.aspx Drugs and Alcoholism Why are Teenagers Involved? Adolescence is much like a midpoint in ones life; when a person is neither a kid nor an adult. At this period, teens have passed the age when they were called kids but are not yet qualified to be adults. Teenagers want to think like adults, behave like adults and also start to view themselves as independent beings in decision making. All this hormonal changes also come with the negativity of maturity such as drugs and alcohol. The statistics below show that the percentage of teenagers using drugs and alcohol in the last decade has increased. Why is this? The answer is that teenagers are under pressure by their peers, mass media and also the influence of parents. Peer pressure plays a major role in the harmful behavior of teens. Teens who want to fit in among their friends are most especially prone to this. They try to make friends and they get friends as much as possible. Of these friends there are the good ones who give them the knowledge and information you want need or inquire and there are the ones who give them information about not too good things like drug, alcohol, parties, e.t.c. This influential communication between a teen and his/her peer may be directly or indirectly. Directly such as conversations with their friends or indirectly such as listening to classmates discussing of a party which occurred a night before. Then they begin to mention alcohol, drugs and violence obviously from what have experienced they talk about it in a way possible. Then you would like to see how good it is the next weekend you go to that kind of party. If you can not resist such as a temptation you will begin to do harmful deeds that will definitely have adverse results in the future. Let’s not put all the blame on teens and their peers alone. The mass media is also responsible in an understandable way. The media has proven to be a lot damaging than useful in the type of information meant for mature audience but end up with the immature audience. Soap operas and frivolous shows shown on TV contain immoral and untrue images of the world as it is more of the writer’s imagination or the way directors direct them to act. Most teenagers are probably old enough to watch this shows but not mature enough to comprehend with the 2004-07-05T22:48:56-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Drugs-and-Alcoholism-Why-are-Teenagers-Involved-25524.aspx Drinking Age The drinking age is fine, if anything is should get raised. It is hard to ignore the fact that this law is broken everyday. It's the 90's all teens just want to fit in. Kids are drinking at a much younger age. Now, even 10 year olds and 11 year olds are trying to fit in with us older kids. It's amazing and sometimes funny what kids will do just to fit in with the "good" crowd. Well to some of us, that's considered the druggies and drinkers. Our parents call them the "bad" crowd with good reason. I speak from experience. Now I agree with the parents out there who worry about their kids getting into the same kind of troubles as I was in at one point in my life. I'm going to cut the bull shit and talk about the facts. Here's what parties today look like for teens. The setting, a beach or a house with no adults around to say what's wrong. The people are a bunch of teens of both sexes. The environment is any kind of drugs and or alcohol. These consists of hard liquor like Vodka and Jack Daniel's. Then there is beer with the lighter stuff like wine, wine coolers, and fuzzy navel. Teens that drive are in big trouble and are at big risk. I'm not blaming the accidents that involve drunk in just teens. Drunk drivers are of all ages. And I'm not trying to say that all teens drink either. But the ones that do and are stupid enough to say they're sober and can drive home safe. Those are the ones that put innocent citizens at risk. The drunk teens that drive are looking at getting their license provoked. They go to jail, their car gets impounded, and of course they get a DUI. At parties where teens get drunk, they can easily forget stuff. A lot of times that's where teens get pregnant. The girls don't always know their pregnant so they continue drink. This is bad for their baby. When they have unprotected sex there's the risk of diseases. All together I think it's pretty stupid to even think about changing the drinking age to 18. We already have to worry about the illegal drinkers. There will be more drinking by teens if they change the age. What's next? Changing the age to 16? Yes it makes sense that 2004-07-05T22:46:33-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Drinking-Age--25521.aspx Hemp the Miracle Plant Is there a single plant that could possibly save the world? Because of its vigor and adaptability, it was amongst the first plants to be cultivated by humans and has been used and grown by many cultures for thousands of years. Yet, today people are fined, even jailed for growing this plant because it is illegal. Lawmakers fail to see that this sole plant probably has more uses than any other material on earth. The entire plant can be utilized for over 25,000 applications. To begin, the seed is nature's perfect food. It can be ground into a meal or can be sprouted and used like other beans and seeds. In addition to the oil from the seeds have the highest percentage of essential fatty acids and the lowest percentage of saturated fats. It is also a complete source of protein and can be served as a meal in itself. Second, byproducts from the plant are an excellent source building material. It has 4 times the cellular fiber than trees, making it perfect for pressed board, particle board and concrete framework. It is longer lasting and more flexible than currently used materials. In comparison, trees take 20 years to mature while this plant only takes 4 months. Correspondingly, 1 acre of this plant produces as much as 4 acres of trees. Third, paper that is made from this plant is stronger, more water-resistant than wood pulp, is less likely to tear and is 7 times more recyclable than wood. It also uses a fraction of the dangerous chemicals used in processing wood pulp. Fiber is a fourth use. A cloth made from this plant is softer and warmer than cotton and is 6 times as strong. In addition to, the cloth is much more resistant to weathering and wear. Moving on to the fifth use, medically, a derivative of this plant has recently been proven to relieve nausea in AIDS and cancer therapy. It has been used with success in treating glaucoma, asthma, epilepsy, mood disorders, and arthritis. It increases appetite, promotes sleep and relaxation, and relieves stress and migraines. Most importantly, fossil fuels could stay in the ground. The plant produces far more and safer chemical compounds suitable for conversion to methane than any other plant. This renewable fuel contains no sulfur and while growing helps remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via photosynthesis. For thousands of years, all good 2004-07-05T04:19:36-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Hemp-the-Miracle-Plant-25289.aspx Marijuana Legalization Marijuana should be legalized. Marijuana's composition is complex, and has a number of physiological effects. Also, a reason for marijuana legalization is the potential wealth of health benefits that have largely been ignored (www.howardcc.edu). In addition, there are many industrial uses for the cannabis plant (www.sandi.net). Marijuana consists of a mixture of leaves, stems, and flowering tops of the Cannabis sativa plant, or hemp plant (Britannica 7/47). Marijuana is also known as grass, pot, tea, or weed. Both male and female plants contain psychoactive substances called cannabinoids. The ingredient in marijuana that produces most of the psychological and physiological effects is 1-delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinol, or THC. THC effects primarily the nervous system and on the heart and blood vessels. Marijuana generally produces changes in mood, mental abilities, coordination, blood pressure, and pulse. These physiological factors result in a "high," including euphoria, relaxation and sleepiness (Marshall 76). Marijuana potentially has many health benefits that have been widely ignored. Marijuana holds the promise of being a treatment for glaucoma, chemotherapy-induced nausea, multiple sclerosis, and AIDS, among many others (www.howardcc.edu). In addition, the side effects of marijuana use, which include hunger and red eyes, are beneficial. The "munchies" (hunger) allow cancer and AIDS patients eat without becoming nauseous. The red eyes are a sign of vascular dilation which means marijuana could relieve migraine headaches (www.sandi.net). The problem is marijuana is classified as a Schedule 1 drug, which means that the drug has no currently accepted medical use as a treatment in the United States. This restricts any research or experimentation to be made with marijuana. Many researchers have suggested that marijuana be promoted to Schedule 2 classification, which would allow it to be tested, allow it would still be illegal. In addition, the medical community is the place where marijuana legalization has received the most support (Marshall 79). The many uses of the Cannabis plant have remained hidden since 1937, when the Marijuana Tax Act was passed, prohibiting the cultivation of the cannabis plant. Paper and clothing can both be made out of hemp with less harm to the environment. One acre of hemp can produce the same amount of paper as wood, with much less chemicals (www.sandi.net). Hemp fiber and pulp can also make biodegradable alternatives to plastic. In addition, many plastic products can 2004-07-05T01:07:03-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Marijuana-Legalization-25274.aspx