Michael+Mirabal's+page

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= = = = =toc= =cannabis= Cannabis a controversy Picture this: four teenagers in there living room listening to music, talking, and passing around a pipe, not doing anything wrong besides the fact that, in the pipe, its not tobacco that they are smoking. Smoking cannabis: a horrifying drug addiction or a leisure smoking habit equivalent to drinking a glass of wine after a fine dinner? Many people will argue cannabis or marijuana is a gateway drug that will ruin your life after the first hit. But the fact of the matter is that cannabis is no more dangerous then a cigarette or even alcohol. It also has many values as a resource more then a smoking habit, and this is why cannabis should be decriminalized in America.

Unlike other drugs, it would take twice ones body weight too overdose on cannabis, this makes it almost impossible to die from it. In fact, there has never been any reported death from smoking marijuana. The most common way individuals take this drug is by smoking it, the same way as tobacco. The effects are simple; you get a “high”, a moment when your mental state is impaired similar to catching a buzz after a few beers. The active chemical that causes this affect is THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol). This chemical mimics the brains natural chemical that produces pleasure, which is one of the reasons when people smoke it they tend to laugh and experience a good time...of course THC does have affect on the brains mental awareness and reaction time. But, in defense, it isn’t to the extreme that alcohol has on the brain. media type="youtube" key="93pvKrGNO9o" height="251" width="336" align="left" Although in some states (California, Colorado, New Mexico, and a few others), Marijuana has become legalized for medical purposes, it is still illegal on a federal level, which trumps state law. Which means having more then an ounce, 28 grams, is considered a federal offense and can lead up to 5 years in prison. My question is: why such a serious punishment for what could benefit society in many ways, when the federal government could easily supply this drug and tax it like cigarettes and liquor? Some will say it remains illegal because of crime and drug lords will lose money and retaliate, but in countries where cannabis is actually legal like in the Netherlands or Canada, we actually see a drop in crime rate (compared to the U.S.A).

THC has a number of benefits as a pharmaceutical. Recently, petitions have grown to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. some advocates of marijuana claim "medical marijuana... can be a safe and effective treatment for the symptoms of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, pain, glaucoma, epilepsy, and other conditions." In fact, those who suffer from AIDS say cannabis helps makes them want to eat. "a clinical trial of patients with HIV/AIDS and weight loss found that those who took delta-9-THC had increased appetite and stopped losing weight compared with patients who took a placebo ." Because one of the effects of cannabis is gaining an appetite there is talk among doctors that say people who suffer from anorexia or eating disorders could benefit from this drug as well.

 Marijuana, portrayed as “bad”, breaks laws when coming to America through the means of illegal drug trafficking. Typically we see drugs as bad but when we look at the 1920s, when prohibition was put into place. Alcohol sales became illegal which lead to increase in crime due to the high demand for liquor. Of course we can’t directly connect cannabis trafficking to prohibition but in some way they are similar. In other words, it can be seen as a big problem. Weather or not congress will change the laws is to be unsaid, but it should come on to the table with in time.

 Drugs will always be apart of society weather we like it or not; humans from the dawn of time have naturally been drawn to the allure of intoxicants. Maybe, indeed, that could be a bad thing; drugs like methamphetamine and heroin are known to destroy ones life. People choose to take these drugs and there own will is turned against them and they ARE made slaves of the drug and can never stop! But this can be said for most things, some people get addicted to: working, sugar, caffeine alcohol, cigarettes, and many other things that can be potentially dangerous to ones health; but in the case of marijuana, maybe just getting high isn't so much of a bad thing after all.

=Grades: a true reflection of talent? =   Growing up, I attended public schools and I always thrived to be successful and achieve high grades, and I did. To me grades represented the work and time I put into an assignment and a good grade meant I did my very best. But to say they represent talent, I disagree. Grades tell how that particular teacher felt about the reaction from the assignment he or she gave to their students. It does not show weather the student liked the assignment or even if the teacher has a bias towards any particular student. The assumption is that because students are being graded, they are doing their very best, but this is not always true

 In high school I learned you can't get an A in everything. This was a hard thing to learn for me, I had always been an A student and I felt defeated when I got a C in geometry. No matter how hard I tried, no matter what I did I could not get anything better than a C. I really thought I was stupid in math because of this. It turns out that 90% of the class was passing with a C or D and this was because our teacher was just a bad teacher and failed to instruct us adequately. She was in charge of our high school mesa team and had a bias normally favoring her mesa kids and just not liking anyone else. This one case shows that teachers are humans and thus tend to have a bias’, and there bias’ can reflect how they grade their students some more harsh then others.

 Although bias teachers can be an excuse to why grades don’t reflect talent it is not the only one. The shear nature of the assignment given can be a key reason why a student won’t pass or try there hardest on it. If the assignment doesn’t grab or motivate the student to do well on it, some will just do it to pass or so they don’t just get a zero on that particular assignment. Like Sandra Cisneros wrote, “peel back a “D” in reading and there you see //The House on Mango Street//”. The nature of an assignment is key to how well a student will perform, if it is dull to the individual he or she might not want to do it and think of it as a waste of time thus not fully use their potential on the issue.

 Thus saying grades are handy in the sort of sense they show you if you’re passing or failing a class. When it comes to reviling a student’s talents I feel it falls short on that. There are factors that come into play that are not necessarily accounted for in the grading system for example: bias teachers or un-motivating assignments. These do not reflect talent and like Cary Clack writes “regardless of circumstances, real or imagined barriers and bad report cards has the potential for genius or greatness and that families, schools, communities and the students themselves must find, embrace and work tirelessly to develop their talents”. so don’t stress if you can’t get that A in geometry focus on yourself and you will eventually find your talents.

corporal punishment?
 In the story //who's Irish// a grandmother uses corporal punishment to stop Sophie, her three year old gran-daughter, from taking off her clothes in a public park. The grandmother's actions to use physical punishment are driven by a cultural and social push. Sophie's mother, Natalie, is strongly against the institution of corporal punishment and her wishes conflict with the grandmother's way of raising children. The grandmother's use of of physical punishment seems to have apositive effect on sophie and seems to justify her actions. corporeal punishment should take some stance in controlling an out of control child, like Sophie.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;"> According to research, spanking is "hitting a child with an open hand on the buttocks or extremities with the intent to discipline without leaving a bruise or causing physical harm." Thus when used accordingly spanking has the potential to be a good institution, as long as punishment stays stable and doesn't change over time. these are the rules and they will stay the rules and breaking them will result in punishment. children will learn what is acceptable behavior. In no way one should bet or abuse children. physical abuses is characterized as "corporal punishment that is harsh and excessive [and] involves the use of objects (e.g., belts, paddle), [as well] is directed to parts of the body other than the extremities, and causes or has the potential to cause physical harm." which is illegal.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;"> In regards to Who's Irish, an elderly grandmother from china, uses her culture and traditions to raise her grand-daughter but it is challenged by her duaghter that her ways are not the american way "In america, parents [are] not supposed to spank the child" (Who's Irish, 4) but when the grandmother uses american means of punishment <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;"> //I say, Sophie, if you take off your clothes, no snack. I say, Sophie, if you take off your clothes, no lunch. I say, Sophie, if you take off your clothes, no park. Pretty soon we are stay home all day, and by the end of six hours she did not have one thing to eat. you never saw a child stubborn like that.// (Who's Irish?,8) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;"> And still there are no results. Once she introduces corporal punishment there are immediate results, Sophie begins to behave and act some what appropriate. As the story goes on this victory is only the battle; Sophie wins the war and acts out even more and as a result the grandmother leaves her daughters house and lives with her daughter's mother in law.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;"> However it is apparent that if the child would have received just one way of up bringing, Sophie may have acted differently. she is young for that matter and most likely didn't understand what was wrong; having two very different views on the matter. Natalie, the mother, uses words and lets her be "creative" (Who's Irish, 3). well as, the grandmother, is more strict and see's this creativity as a problem. in the end it turn out a loss for the grandmother. maybe hinting that old traditional style of physical and corporal punishment is slowly being replaced by a more subtly way of raising children in this newer age we call the present.