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