Tobacco

Everyday the United States spends millions of dollars trying to keep illegal drugs out of the United States. Smoking is the leading most preventable cause of death in the world yet the drug is legal. The U.S. Surgeon General released a repot saying that smoking causes problems in every organ of the body. Smoking has been linked to diseases such as leukemia, cataracts, pneumonia and cancers of the cervix, kidney, pancreas and stomach. Smoking kills an estimated 440,000 Americans each year. Men and women that smoke cut their lifetime by 13-15 years. Tobacco is the most dangerous and lethal drug in the United States. 2,000 kids in the United States become addicted to smoking everyday. 90% of smokers begin smoking at or before the age of 18. Many people that believe smoking should be illegal call the tobacco companies “the merchants of death”. Since people are learning about the facts of smoking tobacco companies have to find ways on how to keep there business going. They add an addictive drug called nicotine to the cigarette causing the user to become addicted to there product. Tobacco companies are also trying new things for the consumers to get them addicted like making nicotine throat lozenges and water pipes. Water pipes are when you smoke tobacco through water making the consumer think it’s safer but it is no different then smoking a cigarette. The only way to stop the deaths from tobacco is to make the drug illegal.

http://www.con-suming.com/Tobacco/should_tobacco_be_legal.htm
http://www.stopsmokingsteps.com/2007/11/24/tobacco-should-be-made-illegal/http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/commentary.asp?record_id=282

Too Young To Be a Dad

1. I think that guys being pressured into having sex is mostly from there friends pressuring them saying that its “cool” and “fun”. (But do they ever mention the effects from sex). Peer pressure and the media always give the notion that sex is awesome and nothing will happen if you do it. The newest music that is being released is always talking about sex and drugs and it is giving the impression that it is okay to do it.

2. I think that girls are pressured into having sex because of a person they are dating. They are afraid of losing there boyfriend because they think if they don’t do it then he will think they don’t like them. The best thing to do to avoid this is to set standards with the person you are dating so they know what you will and will not do. If the person likes you enough they will respect you and respect your standards. If they don’t respect yours standards then you are probably not dating the right person for you because that means that don’t respect you.

3. Drugs and alcohol are a terrible thing to throw into the equation of peer pressure and sex because it impairs your judgment. If you were to use these substances you might do something that you would usually not do because you don’t have full control of your body under the influence of these substances.

4. I think that the G.R.E.A.T. decision making model is the best one because it keeps you from regretting things you have decided upon in the future. The G.R.E.A.T. decision making model causes you to think about what the consequences may be before you make the decision. I make decisions by relying on what my gut feeling tells me what to do and not do and I think about what the consequences are. If I have even the slightest feeling not to do something because it will harm me in the long run I don’t do it because it’s not worth messing up my future for one stupid action.

Legalize Drugs?

In Mexico drug cartels murdering people have been the headlines in many news stories for the last two years. Violence is between the cartels and law enforcement against the cartels. Thousands of people have died from the “war on drugs”. The reason for this violence is because the drugs they sell are prohibited. This causes the cartels to do everything secretly and if some kind of crime is committed they can not go to the police. This is because what they are doing is illegal and they handle the problem themselves by killing the perpetrator. This same problem occurred when alcohol was banned but it’s not anymore because it has been legalized. Jeffrey A. Miron said that the only way to stop this problem is to legalize illegal drugs. I think that drugs should not be legalized because you would be giving the drug cartels what they want because they could sell there drugs freely. The cartels will still be in control of the drugs even if they are legalized. The only way to stop this problem is for the nations with drug problems to come together and find the cartels and prosecute them. Many people are talking about wanting to legalize marijuana. If this drug is legalized it would help few if any of the problems of the “war on drugs”. If drugs were legalized there would be an extreme amount of medical attention needed for the users because of overdosing or long term use. I think that drugs should not be legalized because the problems that would occur from legalization would be far worse then what’s going on now.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/24/miron.legalization.drugs/index.html
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Misc/roe1.htm
http://www.gargaro.com/drugs.html

Environmental Pharmaceutical Pollution

Drugs contaminating the earth is on the rise because there is more and more drugs being used. Drugs usage from 1993-2003 has rose 73%. The United States EPA in 2000 named pharmaceuticals and personal care products as one of the top five "emerging" contaiminants. The contaiminants are microorganisms and chemicals. In 2002 the United States performed a survey on the waterways and concluded that evidence of these contaiminants is on the rise. Some affects on the wildlife is Wild Geese becoming resistant to ampicillin and Vultures in India dying from Diclofenac. Concentrations of six components in sunscreen have been found in fish. These contaiminants are finding there way to the environment by sewage systems and landfills. Pharmaceuticals are entering the environment because 54% of people throw there medicine in the trash and 35% flush it down the toilet. Research has found that 13 medications found in drinking water inhibits cell growth and causes changes in human embryonic cells. Medications in the United States are disposed of because medications are discontinued and nursing homes use billions of dollars of medication. Ways to reduce medications in nature are to educate consumers how to dispose of meds, not to prescribe more medication than being used, and stop using drugs that harm the environment.

http://www.teleosis.org/presentations/environmental_burden.ppt
http://www.environmental-expert.com/resultEachPressRelease.aspx?cid=8819&codi=47077&lr=1
http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/06/02/16/pharmaceutical-pollution-what-it-is-and-how-pharmaceutical-pollution-threatens-your-health.htm

Industrialized Farming

Industrialized farming is causing the world to use more oil and oil is already running out. China and India are consuming vast amounts of oil because they are industrializing fast. When the oil supply starts to run out it will climb in price and industrialized farming will decline. Industrialized farming also causes shortages of water. The United Nations is already predicting that in 2025 the war will be in a battle for water. Global warming is also playing a role in this because crops are being destroyed from climate changes. Storms are also getting stronger and droughts are getting worse. If the world keeps growing in population people are going to start dying more rapidly because of the shortage of food. The transportation of crops from around the world is also causing green house gases to pollute the air because of ships and planes. Between 1968-88 the world food trade increased 184 percent causing more admissions of green house gases because of packaging and shipping. One way to help with this problem is by reducing pesticides in the agriculture and going to a more organic agriculture. The government should design a sustainable food system. Finally the United Nations should find a way to transport crops using less green house gases and finding alternative fuel sources.

Soy and a healthy diet

Soy was once thought as being an extremely healthy food but new studies have proven otherwise. Theirs a hormone in soy that is like estrogen and this hormone can cause a higher risk of breast cancer. Studies in animals have shown that soy can alter sexual development. Phytic acid in soybeans can stop the absorption of some minerals in the body. Third world countries that consume soy have deficiencies in minerals. Some baby formulas are based with soy and this can cause an unhealthy deficiency in minerals. Soybeans also contain potent enzyme-inhibitors which block the absorption of protein. Reduced protein then can lead to the reduction of amino acids. Hemagglutinin is also found in soybeans and this causes red blood cells to stick together which is a problem for the heart. The clustered blood cells are bad at absorbing oxygen and this causes bad distribution of oxygen to the rest of the body. Hemagglutinin is also a "growth depressant". Some researchers studied the rate of puberty in hamsters and when they had isoflavones their rate was accelerated. Isoflavones is something that is found in soybeans. These results were about the same from other labs when tested on rats. When babies are allergic to milk they are feed soybean based formula. This results in the baby having large amounts of soybeans which is like giving them five birth control pills per day. I think that soybeans are bad for the economy because of the risks it has.

Step One: Set the Scene
If appropriate to the situation, agree the rules of the IBR Approach (or at least consider using the approach yourself.) Make sure that people understand that the conflict may be a mutual problem, which may be best resolved through discussion and negotiation rather than through raw aggression.
If you are involved in the conflict, emphasize the fact that you are presenting your perception of the problem. Use active listening skills to ensure you hear and understand other’s positions and perceptions.
Restate
Paraphrase
Summarize
And make sure that when you talk, you're using an adult, assertive approach rather than a submissive or aggressive style.

Step Two: Gather Information
Here you are trying to get to the underlying interests, needs, and concerns. Ask for the other person’s viewpoint and confirm that you respect his or her opinion and need his or her cooperation to solve the problem.
Try to understand his or her motivations and goals, and see how your actions may be affecting these.
Also, try to understand the conflict in objective terms: Is it affecting work performance? damaging the delivery to the client? disrupting team work? hampering decision-making? or so on. Be sure to focus on work issues and leave personalities out of the discussion.
Listen with empathy and see the conflict from the other person’s point of view
Identify issues clearly and concisely
Use “I” statements
Remain flexible
Clarify feelings

Step Three: Agree the Problem
This sounds like an obvious step, but often different underlying needs, interests and goals can cause people to perceive problems very differently. You'll need to agree the problems that you are trying to solve before you'll find a mutually acceptable solution.
Sometimes different people will see different but interlocking problems - if you can't reach a common perception of the problem, then at the very least, you need to understand what the other person sees as the problem.

Step Four: Brainstorm Possible Solutions
If everyone is going to feel satisfied with the resolution, it will help if everyone has had fair input in generating solutions. Brainstorm possible solutions, and be open to all ideas, including ones you never considered before.

Step Five: Negotiate a Solution
By this stage, the conflict may be resolved: Both sides may better understand the position of the other, and a mutually satisfactory solution may be clear to all.
However you may also have uncovered real differences between your positions. This is where a technique like win-win negotiation can be useful to find a solution that, at least to some extent, satisfies everyone.
There are three guiding principles here: Be Calm, Be Patient, Have Respect…

I think this is a great tool and model to use when settling a conflict. The first of the five steps states that understand and assess that you have a problem. The next step is too gather information on what the person has to say about the problem and be a good listener. You have to clarify what you are saying and do it in a mature tone. The next step is too agree with the conflict. Next you should think of what the possible solutions could be. Finally you should agree on what the solution can be for the problem that you both like for example a win-win situation.
I think this is a great problem solving technique because it has all the components of making a great choice on the solution. Using these steps are the best way to make a choice because you think over what you are going to say and agree on.