Illegal war trade, and its effect on society Research Paper

Illegal war trade, and its effect on society - Research Paper Example hereas the problem was being addressed, during the 19th century, locally at different countries of the world, now-a-days, it has assumed a global aspect. Therefore it is evident that modern transportation system has significantly contributed to the increase of the illicit drug-trade. As a result in the international drug market, the trade in drug is a highly profitable business, as Presidents Commission on Organized Crime notes, â€Å"Drug trafficking accounts for almost 38 percent of all organized crime activity across the country and generates an income estimated to be as high as $110 billion† (4). A report prepared by the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows that the abuse of drug like any illegal drugs, except the smoking and alcohol, exerts a toll of averagely $161 billion dollars on the economy of the United States in the years 1999, 2000 and 2001 (NIDA). If alcoholism and smoking are counted within the statistics, the cost will rise up to approximately $487 billion dollar. Out of this $161 billion dollars, about $110 billion costs in lost productivity, whereas $12.9 billion is spent in healthcare issue. In the UK, the total economic cost of illicit drug abuse fluctuated between  £2.9bn and  £5.3bn in the past decades. If the social costs are added to this economic cost, the total amount will range between  £10.1bn and  £17.4bn per year (Godfrey et al. 7). In a study Collins and Lapsley (2008) report that Australian socio-economy has to bear the cost of $30 billion per year. But a global comparative statistics of the effects of drug on the economy of the countrie s is still a matter of investigation (87). The UK Drug Policy Commission approximates that there are about 23.1 million natives of the total British population who are addicted to at least one drug in the year 2010 (Reuter and Stevens, 2007). According to the British Crime Survey 2005, about 45% of the population (aged between 35 and 44) were addicted to at least one drug, whereas 50 percent of the

Discounted Cash Flow Techniques Essay Example for Free

Discounted Cash Flow Techniques Essay A brief tutorial on Excel financial functions (problems to follow) You may find the following Excel, built-in financial functions helpful when analyzing the problems below. (To access these functions, select Insert, Functions, and choose Financial.) =PV(rate, nper, pmt, fv, type) returns the present value of a series of cash flows. =FV(rate, nper, pmt, pv, type) returns the future value of a series of cash flows. =PMT(rate, nper, pv, fv, type) calculates the periodic payment for a loan based on constant payments and a constant interest rate. =NPER(rate, pmt, pv, fv, type) returns the number of periods for an investment based on periodic, constant payments and a constant interest rate. =NPV(rate, range) returns the net present value of an investment based on a discount rate and a series of future payments (negative values) and income (positive values). (Warning: By convention, NPV calculates the net present value one period before the first cash flow.) =IRR(range, guess) returns the internal rate of return for a series of cash flows. In these functions, rate = the discount, or interest rate. nper = number of periods. pmt = annual uniform payment. fv = future value, or future cash flow. type is a logical value allowing you to specify if cash flows occur at the end or the beginning of the period. A value of 1 indicates beginning of period, 0 or omitted indicates end of period. pv = present value. range = the cells on your spreadsheet containing the cash flows you want to analyze. For example, if the cash flows are in the first 10 rows of column A, the entry for range would be a1:a10. guess = your guess as to the internal rate of return. This helps the computer get started and may be left blank. An example Suppose you want to know the present value of $100 per year for 19 years and $500 at the end of the 19th year when the interest rate is 13 percent. Select a spreadsheet cell and enter =PV(0.13,19,100,500). Excel will return ($742.83). This is the amount one should be willing to pay today to receive the indicated stream of cash flows when the interest rate is 13 percent. Problems 1) An investment costing $50,000 promises an after tax cash flow of $18,000 per year for 6 years. a. Find the investments accounting rate of return and its payback period. b. Find the investments net present value at a 15 percent discount rate. c. Find the investments profitability index at a 15 percent discount rate. d. Find the investments internal rate of return. e. Assuming the required rate of return on the investment is 15 percent, which of the above figures of merit indicate the investment is attractive? Which indicate it is unattractive? 2) A $1,000 par value, 10 percent coupon bond matures in 20 years. If the price of the bond is $1,196.80, what is the yield to maturity on the bond? Assume interest is paid annually. 3) Ten years ago you invested $1,000 for 10 shares of Trublock common stock. You sold the shares recently for $2,000. While you owned the stock it paid $10.08 per share annual dividends. What was your rate of return on Trublock stock? 4) Having heard of your knowledge of present value techniques, you have been asked to testify as an expert witness in the following lawsuit. Several homeowners in a nearby community have organized to protest against alleged gouging on the part of a local lending institution. One resident presents his payment book as evidence. The resident has a 30-year, fixed rate loan at 6 percent interest for $200,000. He got the loan 10 years ago and has been making equal annual payments of $14,529.60 ever since. He observes that he has paid the lending company $145,296.00 yet his payment book indicates that the principal due on the loan has only declined by $33,345.40. He presents this as obvious proof of gouging on the part of the money changers. Do you agree? Why, why not? 5) In 1984, the city council of the town of Patterson agreed that their community badly in need of a modern hotel that would cost approximately $25 million. To finance construction members of the council organized the Patterson Hotel Corporation. Through strenuous promotion they raised $15 million by selling 15,000 shares of stock at $1,000 per share. They secured the other $10 million necessary to build the hotel as a loan provided by a local bank on a 10 year, 14 percent mortgage that called for uniform annual payments sufficient to pay interest and to extinguish the debt at the end of 10 years. Upon completion, the Patterson Hotel Corporation leased the hotel to a national company that operated a chain of hotels. The lease ran for 30 years and contained a clause permitting the lessee to purchase the hotel for $10 million at the end of the 30-year period. The lessee agreed to furnish the hotel and pay all taxes (including income taxes) and operating expenses, and was to meet the interest and repayment obligations on the mortgage during the first 10 years of the lease. During the last 20 years of the lease, the operating company agreed to make payments sufficient to permit annual dividends of $400 per share. No payments at all were to be made to the stockholders during the first 10 years. This was the most favorable operating contract that Patterson Hotel Company was able to negotiate. When stockholders, many of whom had bought stock under considerable pressure, learned that there was no prospect of dividends for 10 years, they were quite upset, and a number of them were anxious to sell their stock. Conrad Billings, a local businessmen in the original group that promoted the hotel, was reported to be buying stock from some of these disgruntled stockholders at $750 a share. Some locals were heard to comment that Conrad Billings was a clever old bastard who was taking advantage of his public-spirited neighbors. There were remarks regarding the fat dividends he would be receiving after the mortgage was paid off. One man was said to have declined Billings’ offer of $750 a share and to have commented publicly that nobody was going to get his stock unless they paid what it was worth. Make whatever assumptions and calculations you find necessary to estimate the fair value of the stock. Was $750 a share really too low a price? 6) You need four new tires for your car. You can buy cheap retread tires for $25 a piece and replace them every 20,000 miles or you can spend $40 per tire and replace them every 40,000 miles. If money has an opportunity cost of 10 percent to you, how many miles must you drive annually to warrant the more expensive tires?

Sex in Reality TV Essay -- Television Media Papers

Sex in Reality TV The Sex Factor on Survivor Survivor, one of the first successful reality shows, is a show that puts a selected group of people in a beautiful setting leaving them to fend for themselves within the two different teams. Every week the two teams compete for rewards and immunity before someone is voted off at the end of each episode. The shows main theme is how the different people interact with one another, and since the theme of the show is outwit, outplay, and outlast there is plenty of drama to go around on the show. After almost ten seasons the show can’t just rely on the same premise that the show has been using for the four years it has been on the air so the producers have to rely on something else, sex. Sex in the promotion, though subtle, is recognizable. For example the attire of the members in the game is very small, with most women in bathing suit tops and the men without shirts. Although the climate the show is placed in is typically very hot, the producers had a hand in choosing it, knowing very well what the contestants would be wearing to stay cool. Also when the show does the casting, very often most of the women and men that are chosen happen to be good looking with great bodies, which could spark nudity. Nudity on the Survivor show started in its first season. Richard Hatch the first winner of Survivor was known for walking around nude during the duration of the first season. In the recent all-stars season he brushed up against Susan, who also came out of the first season show, causing a heating argument between the two â€Å"Sue believed Richard Hatch sexually violated her during an Immunity Challenge† (e.g., Lewis, 2004, 3). In some Survivor promos they advertised the show by showing w... ... turns into ‘The Carnal Camera Show’. The San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved October 7, 2004, from http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040926/news_1a26real.html MTV (August 31, 2004). Real World. 10:00pm-10:30pm. MTV (September 21, 2004). Real World. 10:00pm-10:30pm. MTV (October 19, 2004). Real World. 10:00pm-10:30pm Sex, Money & Videotape (2002 March, 3). from http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/free_forbes/2003/0317/088.html Belle, Laura (2004, 0ct 3) Brigitte's Just Loose! Reality Shack. Retrieved Octover 8, 2004 from www.realityshack.com/modules/articles/article.php?id=196 Abrego, C. (2004). the show. the surreal life. Retrieved November 3, 2004, from < http://www.thewb.com/Shows/Genericshow/0%2C11116% 2C146010%2C00.htm> WB(Season 2) . the surreal Life . 9/8 C http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/02/television.richmond.reut/

Merchants of Cool Essay

In watching the film, Merchants of Cool, which was aired in 2001, it is quite concerning how our society is turning to consuming as a means of achieving a satisfying standard of living. The film brought to light how large media companies, especially conglomerates that own all production and distribution of media from start to finish, study and sell to teen youths because of their large quantity of â€Å"guilt money†, disposable income giving to youth by parents to keep them happy. They have become the most marketed group, which in turn turns the youth into adults that continue to seek happiness in consuming. The fear in this standard of living is that we start losing touch with our true values, and instead of looking towards family, community, ethnicity and religion as the creator of cultural forms, we are now being oriented as a society by the world of commodities. And with the advancement of technology, so has marketing research advanced, where we are being specifically being catered to with ads to continue this cycle of finding meaning and happiness through the purchase of goods and services. Advertisers know that they cannot sell meaning and happiness, but they can illicit those feelings by advertising visions of what a â€Å"good life† should be through the selling of products, known as **image-based advertising**. Sut Jhally’s article, Image-Based Culture: Advertising and Popular Culture, explains how image-based advertising has been so integrated into our way of thought and consumption that it is difficult to pinpoint when our most cherished values became tied into consumer culture (p 201). Advertisements have taken up so much of our public space and discourse, and now even our private with the advancement of technology, that we are constantly being shown what the vision of happiness is, and what we must buy to achieve a satisfying standard of living. Juliet Schor’s article, The New Politics of Consumption: Why Americans Want So Much More Than They Need, breaks down the idea that Americans live in a constant state of **dis-ease**: worrying about the preoccupation with getting and spending (p 205). Not only is this disconcerting because it takes away from living in the moment, but it pushes us to live beyond our means. We aren’t happy because we do not emulate what we see as the â€Å"good life† because of the growing aspirational gap because of upscale emulation. We are never at ease where we stand economically and socially, and feel the pressures to keep up. And although this is a problem with the upper and middle class, it is a more dangerous problem for the lower class. The trickle effect of status symbol goods, such as state of the art phones, flat screen televisions, etc. , sets up those with limited resources and aspirations of living the â€Å"good life† by buying those goods for continual financial failure through consumption of expensive goods that is beyond their means. The film, The Merchants of Cool, aired in 2001, and the way that companies acquired information from the consumer was with â€Å"cool hunters†, marketing researchers who would research and interview to see what trends could be capitalized on. The analyzing was apparent, as opposed to now where consumers are being researched and targeted in ways that are more subtle, and now advertisers have the tools to more conspicuously sell us the â€Å"good life†. On the radio interview â€Å"How Companies are ‘Defining Your Worth’ Online†, Joseph Turrow discussed how marketers don’t even have to do much to gather information from us, they can now track our online movements using digital tracking like cookies. This information is gathered and sold to advertisers by data marketers, unbeknownst to us. Market research has evolved so much because of the growing digital world we live in. And advertisers are now able to subtly sell to us in a personally targeted way, instead of the blatant in your face banner ads that we would automatically close without even reading them. Although this is perfectly legal, the downfall falls on the consumer that is being researched and targeted. Our sense of consumption is insatiable when we are constantly being targeted, we lose a sense of privacy when we are constantly being watched, and, as Joseph Turrow also discussed, and we can also be targets of **digital social discrimination**. Digital social discrimination, which is the idea that companies can take digital information and make inferences of what kind of ads are suitable for the individual consumer, they target only certain ads, discounts, and such (2012). Advertisers then think of that individual only in a certain way, and may even target ads that may have negative connotations, such as getting out of debt ads, weight loss, and such. Consumers are being categorized, and because of the categories they are being targeted by certain ads, which perhaps sell a good that is not appropriate, and denied others because of assumptions being made by the online information gathered on that individual. This is why it is important to have some sort of regulatory system overseeing the structure and ownership of media. U. S. government plays only a small role in determining who owns the media, and only regulates it minimally, and the power of the U. S. media that uses the market research to produce products reaches us not just here in the United States, but also has a global impact. Because of the United States’ **cultural imperialism**, where American styles in fashion and food, as well as media far, dominate the global market, our versions of the â€Å"good life† are influenced on parts of the world, as discussed in Richard Campbell’s â€Å"Media Economics and the Global Marketplace†, (p 411). Our ‘cultural dumping’ of exporting U. S. media can influence other countries societal value systems, development of original local products, and abandon their own rituals to adopt American tastes. In reality, the power behind these large media researchers, marketers, producers, and distributors, who are often the owned by the same company, is astounding and influences not only our lives as an individual, but also has the potential to influence on a global level. They are able to gather information about individuals, sell it, and categorize as they see fit, leaving us with no sense of privacy, with the goal of selling us as many goods and services as possible until we reach the unattainable â€Å"good life†, which is a vision that they have carefully created. Until we, as consumers, are more aware of how much consumption has taken over our sense of self-worth and satisfaction and how little privacy we have in the new digital age, we will keep trying to buy the â€Å"good life†. ?

Cell Phone Radiation

My purpose is to provide information on cell phone radiation, the risks that can be caused by cell phone radiation, and the potential health problems that could result from this. Details of the topic: I am going to talk about the arguments about how cell phone radiation can affect our lives and whether these arguments are accurate or not. Cell phone radiation is a type of electromagnetic radiation that has the ability to cause health issues. The radiation from this device can cause serious brain tumours, according to one study by Anna Lahkola of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland, which found that people who use their cell phone for more than 2000 hours have a higher chance of getting a brain tumour. The chance of getting a brain tumour increased from 40 to 270 percent and most of the users that might experience this side effect would be teenagers to people in their twenties. This is because it is people in this age group who are most likely to use cell phones/smart phones and they are also most likely to use the phones most frequently. There are several other health issues or risks out there that are linked to the usage of cell phones such cancer, headaches, Alzheimer’s disease, fatigue and Parkinson’s disease. But it still has not been proved with 100 percent accuracy because so far every scientist is getting different results. There is no consensus among scientists about the risks that associated with cell phone/smart phone radiation. A famous neurosurgeon Vini Khurana argued that if you use a cell phone for more than ten years you are very likely to get brain cancer. His conclusion seems more believable because he did a long study about this and he mentions that other scientists have only done short term research on this matter. He states that a brain tumour can take up to 10 years to develop, so studies on the effect of cell phone/smart phone radiation should last at least that long or longer. However, most scientists do not do studies that last long enough in his opinion. Relevance: A while back group 11 did their presentation on â€Å"the history of radiation†, where they discussed the two types of radiation, ionizing and non-ionizing. Cell phones/smart phones would be in the non-ionizing category because they use a low to mid frequency. In this diagram you can see the frequency for cell phones/smart phones is in the range from 0 to 10 in hertz (Hz). Furthermore the group also mentioned that, even though the frequency for non-ionizing radiation is less dangerous, it is still possible to have side effects that may affect to our personal lives. There was a class where at the end we had a very brief discussion about radiation from electronics and the topic of cell phones/smart phones was brought up by few students when they were asked about their opinion or personal experience. Some side effects they mentioned from using their cell phones/smart phones constantly were having problems falling asleep along with minor headaches. Reflection: This voluntary assignment helps me because it provides some very interesting facts and debates about the side effects of cell phone/smart phone radiation. In this course we have covered many different kinds of radiation, but we have not talked a lot about the radiation from technology. We presume this kind of radiation is too low to have serious effects on us. However, I remember that I actually had some problems when I used my IPhone (smart phone) two years ago. For instance, I started out with a headache that turned into a very serious migraine and lasted for one week. I’m not sure if it is because I had just got my first phone and so I was using it a lot, but after doing this research into cell phone/smart phone radiation. I’m starting to think that this might be the problem that causes my headaches and migraines. Just recently when I moved to my new apartment, because I didn’t have a small table next to my bed, I put the phone under my pillow for about one month and I was getting frequent headaches. So I believe in headaches as a potential side effect of cell phone/smart phone radiation. In fact, I’m a little bit worried about brain tumours, even though most research and debates are not official. However what I have experienced makes it seem like the potential side effects could be true. Our use of technology is growing and we take technology for granted, so that we very rarely stop to consider the radiation that is associated with our technology. This is something I think we should know more about, even if the risks are minimal. Conclusion: Because of doing this assignment, I have found out that there’s a lot of debate about the risks that are associated with cell phone/smart phone radiation. Even though most scientists believe there are few to no risks from this type of radiation, I believe this issue hasn’t been studied enough for us to determine what the real risks are. However I intend to be more careful from now in how I use my phone. I definitely won’t be sleeping with my phone under my pillow anymore. References http://www.naturalnews.com/021634_mobile_phones_brain_tumors.html http://www.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone-radiation2.htm Cell Phone Radiation The radiation protection to be practiced > cell phone radiation During normal use, over half of the radiation transmitted by your mobile phone is absorbed by your head or body. Around 80% of the phone's microwave emissions are absorbed by the head. Only shielding or distance to the phone can reduce their severe impact. The United Nations World Health Organization has classified mobile phone radiation as possibly cancer causing and advise that it is important for mobile phone users to minimize exposure by utilizing hands free devices or texting. Always use speakerphone or proven radiation safety accessories.Steps that should be take to reduce cell phone radiation : > use the speakerphone because the cell phone radiation drops exponentially by distance, so, the further away the phone is from your head the better. > limit the use to essential calls and keep calls short because even a two minute call has been found to alter the natural electrical activity of the brain for up to an hour a fter-wards. > children should not be allowed to use the cell phone, except in emergencies because their skulls are still developing and the radiation can penetrate much more deeply. use an air tube headset (not regular wired headset) because research has shown that regular wired headset could transmit radiation into the ear canal. > do not put cell phone in your pocket or belt while in use or while it is on because men who wear cell phones near their groin could have their sperms count dropped by as much as 30%. > if using phone without a headset, wait for the call to connect before placing phones next to the ear because radiation level is higher while phone is still trying to make a connection. Most cell phones emit the most adiation when they first connect with the cell tower. > do not use the cell phones in enclosed metal spaces such as vehicles or elevators because phones need more power to make connection. The metal enclosure also traps the radiation and reflects it back at the occupants. > do not make a call when the signal strength is one bar or less because the phone must work harder to establish a connection and thus emits more radiation. > buy a phone with low radiation rating because the phone's SAR ( Specific Absorption Rate ) can be found in manual.The lower the SAR value from the FCC limit of 1. 6 W/kg , the better. > use scientifically proven cell phone radiation reducing or protection device. > Keep Your Distance because the intensity of cell phone radiation diminishes quickly as your distance from your cell phone increases, and every millimeter counts. You can protect yourself from the effects of cell phone radiation by holding your cell phone away from your body and use a wireless Bluetooth headset or earpiece, which emit radiation at far lower levels than cell phones.Other than that, you can carry your cell phone away from your body – in a purse, briefcase or computer bag – not in your pocket where it is pressed up against you. > Try Texting, Not Talking – When you send a text message from your cell phone, you hold your phone away from your body, and far away from your head, which reduces your exposure to radiation. > Find a Strong Signal and Stay Put -When your cell phone has a weak signal, it has to work harder to transmit and receive, and that equals higher bursts of radiation.You face the same problem when you are moving quickly – riding in a car, bus or train, for example – because your cell phone is forced to repeatedly emit new bursts of radiation as it connects to different cell towers along your route. > Use the Toggle Method – you can reduce your radiation exposure by holding the phone away from your ear when you are talking and only bringing it close to listen. Using a headset or speaker mode is still the better option, but the toggle method can cut the amount of radiation your brain and body absorbs.

Essay on Mr Ghode

Essay on Mr Ghode Essay on Mr Ghode between the states that succeed and fail. For legitimacy to exist a state must satisfy the following characteristics; the physical basis including, effective sovereignty, and a international consensus on territory. Supported by an implicit social contract and a consensus on the concept of the state. It is exactly the failure to meet these dimensions that lead to the perils of the weak state, there are several causal factors to why periphery nations have difficulty achieving legitimacy. It stems from the nations development, many of which emerged from colonialism. The colonial legacy has very negative consequences for the developing nation, principally because the social and political institutions left to the new nation hinders it rather than helps. The political institutions were founded on a western premise, political participation, accountability and constitutionalism are not always the suitable basis for development, it is as if the new nation has to set itself against a western t emplate. The bureaucratic structure was inherently elitist, decisions made in the capital were often resented in the country. Colonial authorities sustained cultural elite's to rule over their inferiors, this was exactly the case in Rwanda. "In a number of instances ..the allocation by the state of differential rights of access was based on a normative scale according to which groups were seen as superior to others, and at times these normative evaluations were projected into the collective images which Africans formed of themselves." Colonialism also left organised military and police forces, often used as instruments of coercion. In a deteriorating state they become a law unto themselves, selling themselves as mercenaries to wealthy independents. For the few states that do develop most descend into civil war, rebellion, wars of succession and political corruption, "between 1958 and 1985, there has been 65 forcible changes of government in Africa alone." It would be inaccurate to presume that Europe is spared these problems but the Intra-war in ex-Yugoslavia shattered this illusion. A feature of the war in Yugoslavia was ethnicity, ethnic hostilities hidden under the silencing hand of communism were emerging. Experts on ethnicity such as Ted Gurr suggests that ethnic hatreds and affinities can be products of the weak state, they are not primordial but arise in particular political, social and economic conditions. The state can often be seen as exploiting ethnic grievances for their own political ends. Emerging peripheral nations have been unable to cope with the pressure of rapid economic modernisation and the legacy of colonialism, the tensions that arise cause stress on the basic foundations of the developing nation leading to a decent into revolutionary violence. This alternative strategy of war fare is becoming increasingly prolific. the last major state confrontation could be viewed as the cold war and the nuclear stalemate that ensued, since the advent of nuclear weapons inter-state war has become obsolete because of the threat of total annihilation that is posed. The new form of war-fare is Intra-state war and insurgency. " in the last eight years alone there have been no less that 164 internationally significant out breaks of revolutionary violence" . The terms insurgency and revolutionary war-fare are largely inter-changeable, they refer to a particular variety of revolutionary activity that involves a protracted struggle using irregular military tactics. Tactics involve psychological and political operations in addition to conventional military strategies. The goal is generally to form a new system or political structure from within the state. Insurgency is markedly different to conventional war, T.E Elliot defines it as "an influence, an idea, a thing intangible, without front or back, drifting like a gas." Conventional war focuses its attention on military considerations were insurgency

Free Essays on The Legalization Of Marijuana

This is only a tool for research not my actual paper: Why legalize marijuana? The legalization of marijuana will reduce narcotic drug use, crime, and create a better society. Marijuana's effect on people is greatly over exaggerated, in that marijuana acts as a scapegoat for many of society's problems today. Marijuana is blamed today for leading to the use of narcotic drugs, this claim has never been proven, the only grounds for that statement is, marijuana is a more widespread and more sampled drug. There are many reasons presented by both sides why or why not marijuana should be legalized. Chronic marijuana users may develop a motivational syndrome characterized by decreased motivation, and preoccupation with taking drugs, or what is contrived as generally lazy. The relationship of this syndrome to marijuana use however, has not been proven. Like alcohol intoxication, marijuana intoxication impairs judgment, comprehension, memory, speech, problem-solving ability, and reaction time. The effect of long-term use on the intellect is unknown. There is no evidence that marijuana induces or causes brain damage ("marijuana" 2, Microsoft). In 1991, almost half the oncologists who answered a Harvard Medical School Survey said they would prescribe marijuana for relief of chemotherapy side effects were it legal, and most had already recommended it to their patients (Baum, 132). Marijuana grows throughout mild to hot regions, with more potent varieties produced in dry, humid, climates. Marijuana is defined as a cannabis plant; and or a preparation made from the dried flower clusters and leaves of the cannabis plant, smoked or eaten to induce euphoria, or â€Å"high†. The Drug Enforcement Agency estimates that we presently have 20 million regular users of marijuana in the United States (Heerema 130). The inclusion of drug users within society is in turn based on the premise that the desire to alter consciousness is a normal human trait, ... Free Essays on The Legalization Of Marijuana Free Essays on The Legalization Of Marijuana This is only a tool for research not my actual paper: Why legalize marijuana? The legalization of marijuana will reduce narcotic drug use, crime, and create a better society. Marijuana's effect on people is greatly over exaggerated, in that marijuana acts as a scapegoat for many of society's problems today. Marijuana is blamed today for leading to the use of narcotic drugs, this claim has never been proven, the only grounds for that statement is, marijuana is a more widespread and more sampled drug. There are many reasons presented by both sides why or why not marijuana should be legalized. Chronic marijuana users may develop a motivational syndrome characterized by decreased motivation, and preoccupation with taking drugs, or what is contrived as generally lazy. The relationship of this syndrome to marijuana use however, has not been proven. Like alcohol intoxication, marijuana intoxication impairs judgment, comprehension, memory, speech, problem-solving ability, and reaction time. The effect of long-term use on the intellect is unknown. There is no evidence that marijuana induces or causes brain damage ("marijuana" 2, Microsoft). In 1991, almost half the oncologists who answered a Harvard Medical School Survey said they would prescribe marijuana for relief of chemotherapy side effects were it legal, and most had already recommended it to their patients (Baum, 132). Marijuana grows throughout mild to hot regions, with more potent varieties produced in dry, humid, climates. Marijuana is defined as a cannabis plant; and or a preparation made from the dried flower clusters and leaves of the cannabis plant, smoked or eaten to induce euphoria, or â€Å"high†. The Drug Enforcement Agency estimates that we presently have 20 million regular users of marijuana in the United States (Heerema 130). The inclusion of drug users within society is in turn based on the premise that the desire to alter consciousness is a normal human trait, ...