Tobacco

In the United States, I believe it is the right of the people to choose whether or not they want to purchase items such as tobacco. However, I do believe it is the U.S. government's job to protect it's people. This brings up a conflict: which is more important, people's individual rights, or the government's job to protect the people? The issue is quite a gray area and involves a lot of opinions; which is why we are discussing this issue on the blog today.

In Pennsylvania, you must be 18 years of age or older to purchase tobacco products. This is because, at 18, people are legally called an adult. People 18 years old can make decisions for themselves, like choosing whether or not they want to but tobacco products. The reason why purchasing tobacco is such a big issue is because of tobacco's health problems. 

On each box of cigarettes, there is a Surgeon General's Warning printed on it.  The warnings range from warnings of possible diseases like Ling Cancer, Heart Disease, and Emphysema, to pregnancy defect warnings.  There are so many health problems associated with tobacco use.  If it was eliminated from our stores, we could eliminate gum disease and mouth cancer associated with smokeless tobacco, and lung cancer and heart disease associated with cigars and cigarettes.  We would also be saving fetuses too! 

Remember, smoking tobacco not only negatively effects the person smoking it, but the people around them too.  Every year in the U.S., 50,000 people die from exposure to secondhand smoke.  People who are exposed to tobacco smokers are at risk for the same diseases as the one's who actually smoke. 

It is obvious that if tobacco was made illegal, bad things could happen to our economy. If people stopped buying tobacco, tobacco farmers would lose their jobs, as well as employees at tobacco-product companies and stores that sell their products. Less money would be going to hospitals, yet insurance companies would be making more dough. People would put less money toward their health and more money into goods and services. 

If we could eliminate tobacco, the government would not have to worry about Surgeon General Warnings on tobacco products.  I think a load of pressure would be taken off the government's back if they took action.  Tobacco users would be outraged, but I don't think they have a good case to back themselves up.  I'm sure Tobacco users are quite aware of what they are getting themselves into anyway.  Of course, this means that the police will have to crack down on crimes involving illegal tobacco use or dealing.  Either way, the government will have problems.

Personally, I think it's time for tobacco to be made illegal in this country.  Pennsylvania has already made cigarette use in public places illegal, which makes restaurants more enjoyable.  I know there are bad sides to this decision, but as a non-tobacco user, I would be much happier in a tobacco-free environment.  Wouldn't you?

Backup sources:

American Lung Association

Surgeon General Warnings 

Effects on Farmers
Economy and Healthcare   (look at  "How does tobacco use affect the economy?")

"Too Young to be a Dad"

After watching "Too Young to be a Dad" I viewed a very good way to handle a situation such as the one in this movie.  Though some people may choose adoption, taking responsibility for one's actions is a very modest way of handling a teen pregnancy.  I also thought it was interesting that this movie took the perspective of the father, rather than the mother's perspective, like in the movie "Juno."  I finally saw a movie that showed the guy making decisions and taking responsibility, rather than the girl.  

Here are my answers to the questions:

• Honestly, I believe guys feel pressure from friends to have sex.  On a personal note, I have gotten a lot of pressure from my peers about this topic.  Teens expect couples that have been together for an extended period of time to have had sex, or expect that they are going to have sex.  It's tough to endure the embarrassment when you say "no" to your peers when they've asked you if you have had sex.  Teens make it seem as if it's normal, as if everyone is doing it.  But in reality, most of it is all talk.
  
• I think girls feel pressure to have sex from peers and their boyfriends.  Since I'm not a girl, I can't give you my point of view, so I'm not going to assume anything.  However, I am interested to see what girls have posted.
  
• In either case, boy or girl, teens are pressured by the media to have sex.  Whether it's an ad in a magazine, a TV show, or a song on the radio, sex is EVERYWHERE.  The first thing I think of when sex and the media come to mind is Grey's Anatomy.  It seems to me that people are having sex all the time on that show.  Shows like this give teens the "green light;" they make sex seem common.
• Obviously, drugs/alcohol and sex don't mix.  If drugs and/or alcohol are involved in a situation where sex is a temptation, one's normal decision-making skills are impaired.  One becomes more relaxed, thus, more vulnerable to sex.  Often times, girls who are drunk are taken advantage of, and end up having unwanted or unplanned sex.
• The GREAT decision-making model is the best method to use when confronted with an opportunity to have sex.  This method allows one to view all of the possible choices and consequences.  Once acted upon, one evaluates his/her decision.  I prefer this method over the Feeling/Acting=Deciding method, because the latter allows fate to decide, rather than thinking it over and making a confident decision.  I personally use the GREAT decision-making model, whether I know it or not.  I weigh all of my options, and choose the one I think is best.

Legalize Drugs?

The battle against drug abusers has been fought long and hard.  I personally believe that legalizing drugs would just open the door wide open to drug abusers across America.  "An estimated 20 percent of people in the United States have used prescription drugs for non medical reasons."  Why such a high percentage?  Doctors are making more prescriptions than ever before.  There are even online pharmacies that allow patients to receive prescription drugs without a prescription.  

Why are these drugs abused?  Prescription drugs seem safer to abusers than street drugs.  Why?  Because these drugs are used by everyday people.  With that frame of mind, it is no wonder that prescription drug abuse is ranked second among the nation's most prevalent illegal drug problem, behind marijuana.

The three categories of drugs most commonly abused are as follows:

1. Opioids
2. Central Nervous System (CSN) Depressants 
3. Stimulants

Narcotics, or pain killers, are an especially risky drug when it comes to addiction.  People in severe pain need painkillers to relieve themselves from the aching they are experiencing.  The problem with patients with pain is that they may overdose on their pain-killing prescription, and may eventually become addicted.  

If prescription drug abuse is the second most prevalent illegal drug problem, why wouldn't we regulate them?  In my opinion, I believe the system we have now, in which doctors prescribe drugs to their patients, is the best way to distribute these drugs.  Prescription drug abuse is on the rise, and if we don't keep regulating them, the situation could get out of hand.  Perhaps there should be more regulations! 

Medline Plus   

ONDCP

Environmental Pharmaceutical Pollution

Before this blog, I was not aware of "pharmaceutical pollution," and as I research, I am finding out that the world wasn't either - and for the most part still isn't.  According to SixWise.com, pharmaceutical pollution has been under the radar for awhile until the 21st century.  One expert said, "Until 2003 there have been virtually no scientific studies examining this issue in the United States."  This fact concerned me.    

Pharmaceutical pollution is pollution from medical drugs that are released through excreted waste (human or animal waste).  When one takes a drug, experts say "90 percent may be excreted back into the environment, unchanged."  "U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) found that most waterways contain at least some antibiotics, steroids, synthetic hormones or other common drugs. Out of 139 streams in 30 states, they found:

• About 80 percent contained trace amounts of contaminants

• Half the streams contained seven or more chemical compounds

• One-third of the streams contained 10 or more compounds

• One water sample contained 38 chemicals"

With all of these pollutants entering our waterways, I became increasingly concerned, until I found out what I know now. 

Little is known about the result of these drugs interacting with the environment, but it is known that developing fetuses are greatly affected by drugs. If just the smallest amount of prescription drugs enter our drinking water, the fetus could develop birth defects, and according to studies, many tap water supplies are unintentionally dosed. Also, serotonin found in antdepressants could cause some fish to spawn, disrupting breeding patterns.

According to a 2006 study in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, "35 percent of patients have rinsed medications down the sink and 54 percent have flushed them down the toilet."  Though nobody can help going to the bathroom after taking a prescription drug, we can all stop doing the things we can help with.  So stop throwing your drugs in the garbage, down the toilet, and down the drain!  If I had extra drugs, I would contact my local pharmacist and ask what to do.

http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/06/02/16/pharmaceutical-pollution-what-it-is-and-how-pharmaceutical-pollution-threatens-your-health.htm

http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2008/2008-Mar-27/local-programs-offer-solutions-for-pharmaceutical-pollution/1/@@index