...Marijuana in America COM 220 Marijuana is a drug that has played a significant role in American history and culture. The drug has been used in several forms, from practical uses to recreational uses. Marijuana also once defined a generation of American people. As of today, marijuana is illegal for recreational use, with some states allowing the drug to be used for medicinal purposes only. The debate has begun in federal and state governments for decriminalizing the recreational use of marijuana, which has brought about questioning the effects that the drug has on people. Is marijuana a gateway drug that leads people to use harder, more dangerous drugs or is this theory a scare tactic to persuade people to keep from using the plant? Marijuana began its history in the United States as a plant that was grown to produce rope, clothing and sails for boats as early as the 17th century. The plant, known as hemp, was first brought to America by the Puritans, a group of people from England that immigrated to the United States to escape religious prosecution. As the people began to create communities, leaders encouraged farmers to grow hemp. In 1619, the Virginia Assembly approved legislation that “required every farmer to grow the hemp seed because the plant’s large role in producing material” (Booth, 2003, p. 173). The plant was also used as legal tender in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to pay property taxes. By the 18th century, marijuana...
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...Marijuana is the most abused drug in the United States especially among teens and young adults. Since 1970’s Control Substances Act, marijuana has been considered a Schedule 1 drug (Odabasi, 45). It still is a Schedule 1 drug, but now these laws are starting to be reevaluated. In recent years many states have begun to pass laws to allow marijuana use in their boarders. However, the state laws conflict with the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling against using medical marijuana in the United States (Odabasi, 51). Cannabis, weed, pot, and Mary Jane are just a few...
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...has come to legalize prostitution. A major argument for legalizing prostitution is the questionable logic of criminalizing an activity that occurs routinely in our society. The services of a prostitute are used regularly by many people. According to Doctor Allan Schwartz, four main reasons that men visit prostitutes are a “compulsive need for sex, an insatiable need for sexual pleasure, a fear of intimacy or relationships, and misogyny” (Schwartz). These reasons for using the services of prostitutes have existed for a long period of time and the demand for paid sex will always exist. In many segments of society paying for sex is acceptable. History has proven that eliminating prostitution is not possible. Decriminalizing the sex trade will recognize prostitutions role in our society. Prostitution is generally an act between consenting adults and different categories include street, brothels, escorts and sex tourism. According to Sherry F. Colb of Rutgers Law School, prostitution is classified as a victimless crime. She states “What makes prostitution a victimless crime in the sense that no one is necessarily harmed by it, is that there are consenting adults involved” (Sherry Colb). Prosecuting and then clogging the already overloaded justice system with more court cases related to a consensual act is a waste of money and valued resources. If prostitution is legalized these resources will be better directed towards reducing crimes...
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...Chapter 1: Ethical Theory Meta-ethical positions include: * Ethical non-cognitivism (concept that ethics is a matter of feelings) * Ethical relativism (concept that ethics is relative to a particular point of view) * Ethical objectivism (notion that ethics is objective in nature). Meta-Ethical Positions Ethical Non-cognitivism The basis of ethical non-cognitivism is that ethical disagreement can be a highly emotional affair where no amount of reasoning is likely to convince the other party. * Example: “Let’s just agree to disagree” Ethical Relativism * Ethical relativism says that while ethical statements are cognitively meaningful, they do not hold in any objective sense because they depend on our point of view. * If we accept ethical relativism, then ethical disagreement among people who do not share the same perspective becomes impossible. * It assumes that if people agree on something, then it must be true. * Ethical relativism is suspect for a pragmatic reason: it is fundamentally at variance with our social practice. * Example: “To each his own”, or the belief that what’s right for one group isn’t necessarily right for another Ethical Objectivism * Ethical objectivism holds that right and wrong are objective phenomena. * Example: “I’m right and you’re wrong” What is Ethics? * As a discipline, ethics is a branch of philosophy. * It deals with questions of right and wrong conduct, and with what we ought to do and what...
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...Georgetown Model United Nations Background Guide on LGBTQ Rights The Human Rights Council: The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system and a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly. The Human Rights Council, which replaced the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights, was created by the General Assembly on March 15 2006 by resolution 60/251 and it has as its designated meeting place, the UN Office at Geneva (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) It is made of up of 46 United Nations Member states which are elected by the UN General Assembly. The latter states are assigned with the responsibility of strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the world. They are elected by the majority of the members of the General Assembly of the United Nations through direct and secret ballot. The chosen members of the council serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) Membership to the Council is based on equitable geographical distribution. The seats are allocated as follows: 12345African States: 13 seats Asian States: 13 seats Latin American and Caribbean States: 8 seats Western European and other States: 7 seats Eastern European States: 6 seats The Council as a whole has its main purpose grounded in addressing human rights violations around...
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...What Is LGBT? LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and along with heterosexual they describe people's sexual orientation or gender identity. These terms are explained in more detail here. Lesbian A lesbian woman is one who is romantically, sexually and/or emotionally attracted to women. Many lesbians prefer to be called lesbian rather than gay. Gay A gay man is one who is romantically, sexually and/or emotionally attracted to men. The word gay can be used to refer generally to lesbian, gay and bisexual people but many women prefer to be called lesbian. Most gay people don't like to be referred to as homosexual because of the negative historical associations with the word and because the word gay better reflects their identity. Bisexual A bisexual person is someone who is romantically, sexually and/or emotionally attracted to people of both sexes. Transgender or Trans Is an umbrella term used to describe people whose gender identity (internal feeling of being male, female or transgender) and/or gender expression, differs from that usually associated with their birth sex. Not everyone whose appearance or behaviour is gender-atypical will identify as a transgender person. Many transgender people live part-time or full-time in another gender. Transgender people can identify as transsexual, transvestite or another gender identity. Gender Identity One's gender identity refers to whether one feels male, female or transgender (regardless of one's biological...
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...CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA An Interpretive History TENTH EDITION James J. Rawls Instructor of History Diablo Valley College Walton Bean Late Professor of History University of California, Berkeley TM TM CALIFORNIA: AN INTERPRETIVE HISTORY, TENTH EDITION Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Previous editions © 2008, 2003, and 1998. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. This book is printed on acid-free paper. 1234567890 QFR/QFR 10987654321 ISBN: 978-0-07-340696-1 MHID: 0-07-340696-1 Vice President & Editor-in-Chief: Michael Ryan Vice President EDP/Central Publishing Services: Kimberly Meriwether David Publisher: Christopher Freitag Sponsoring Editor: Matthew Busbridge Executive Marketing Manager: Pamela S. Cooper Editorial Coordinator: Nikki Weissman Project Manager: Erin Melloy Design Coordinator: Margarite Reynolds Cover Designer: Carole Lawson Cover Image: Albert Bierstadt, American (born...
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...C h a p t e r 1 Prewriting GETTING STARTED (OR SOUP-CAN LABELS CAN BE FASCINATING) For many writers, getting started is the hardest part. You may have noticed that when it is time to begin a writing assignment, you suddenly develop an enormous desire to straighten your books, water your plants, or sharpen your pencils for the fifth time. If this situation sounds familiar, you may find it reassuring to know that many professionals undergo these same strange compulsions before they begin writing. Jean Kerr, author of Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, admits that she often finds herself in the kitchen reading soup-can labels—or anything—in order to prolong the moments before taking pen in hand. John C. Calhoun, vice president under Andrew Jackson, insisted he had to plow his fields before he could write, and Joseph Conrad, author of Lord Jim and other novels, is said to have cried on occasion from the sheer dread of sitting down to compose his stories. To spare you as much hand-wringing as possible, this chapter presents some practical suggestions on how to begin writing your short essay. Although all writers must find the methods that work best for them, you may find some of the following ideas helpful. But no matter how you actually begin putting words on paper, it is absolutely essential to maintain two basic ideas concerning your writing task. Before you write a single sentence, you should always remind yourself that 1. You have some valuable ideas to tell your reader,...
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