Category: Unit 2

For years there’s been this whole debate on whether or not the use of medical marijuana should be legal or not. Now in 2021, the use of marijuana has been legalized in almost all states in the US. This brings me to the topic of discussion since marijuana use is legal ‘Why are there still people in jail for it? Shouldn’t they be released on all marijuana charges? I came across this question when I first saw in the news that Colorado and Washington were the first US states to legalize the plant, before this I had an idea of what it was, so right then and there I asked myself would all marijuana convictions in those states be dropped? After researching more about this topic I expect to see a lot of positives about the use of marijuana. Also, I’m expected to see statistics of how many are incarcerated for marijuana use or just having it on them.

In my research, I expect to see statistics on how the cannabis industry is growing across the world. Also, I would like to know how soon it will take into effect to release people incarcerated for cannabis. If what I’m looking for is not available, ill use anything I can find that relates to my question. Also ill keep looking through articles and different websites, if anything I can use my social media platforms to do research. I can also use Youtube to search up videos on people’s lives in states where cannabis is legal, to get more in-depth of the topic. In general, ill try to expand my resource options. 

Dr. John Collins. “ Why are so many countries now saying cannabis is OK” London school of economics ( 10-11-2018 ) In this article it talks about how the first international country to legalize the use of marijuana was Uruguay. The reason for this move was to intervene in links between organized crime and the cannabis trade. Later on, the same year that Uruguay legalized cannabis, Washington and Colorado were the first Us states to legalize cannabis for non-medical use. After this, the US government stepped back on enforcing laws and gave states a green light to find alternatives. For example in the Netherlands, it’s illegal to sell cannabis but it’s legal to use it in private areas and can be bought in coffee shops. The rules and regulations for marijuana are different all over the world, in Malaysia a young boy was sentenced to death for trying to sell cannabis oil, in the UK doctors are allowed to prescribe cannabis products. After reading this article I understood more about the positive effects cannabis can bring to people and the economy. The main purpose of this article was to mainly inform people that are new to the drug or someone that maybe doesn’t agree with the legalization of cannabis. I would have wanted to know how long was the process for Washington and Colorado to legalize cannabis. I was also wondering what reasons or statistics did those states present to legalize cannabis. I have also noticed through this article that the author doesn’t choose sides on whether cannabis is a good thing or a bad thing he keeps it neutral. Keeping the genre of this article neutral does not affect the meaning of this article.

Joan Oleck ( consumer tech ). “With 40,000 Americans Incarcerated For Marijuana Offenses, The Cannabis Industry Needs To Step Up, Activists Said This Week” 6/26/2020. In this second article, the tone is different from the first article. The first article’s tone was more neutral than anything but in this second one, it’s more of a one-sided argument. The article started with a big statement that portrays what the rest of the article has in store. The author starts with the statement that an estimate of 40,000 people are still incarcerated for marijuana offenses even though a lot of states are legalizing it and cannabis companies are making a profit. The author also mentions ways panelists can help people that have been incarcerated, not only be released but also give them sort of a fresh start once they are released. The author also gives a real-life example story about a music producer in 2002. He was a music producer for the famous Tupac Shakur and snoop dog, he was arrested on 3 counts of marijuana to distribute it was a total of $900 worth of marijuana because of the laws back then, he was sentenced to 55 years in prison. After serving some years in prison and with some help from his friends he was pardoned in 2016 by the former president Barack Obama. The author’s main purpose in this article was to inform but in a way where it seems like the author doesn’t agree with a topic. As I was reading this article it felt like a one-sided argument writing all their key points. I would love for this author to do an update on this article because it ended with the process people will take to reach their end goal and I would like to know if they have reached it.

Charles S. Gascon. “As more states legalize marijuana, Economics comes into play” This article is mainly talking about how the sale of marijuana in states can impact their economy in a good or bad way. In early 2012 Colorado’s cannabis sales were up to 10- 20 million, in 2018 that number raised to 90 million per month. It also talks about some negatives of taxing cannabis products. For example, The taxation of marijuana will be inconsistent with tax policies on other medical drugs. The purpose of this article was to show statistics on the sales of cannabis all over the US and also how those numbers can affect the economy of states.

In conclusion, after reading all three articles it has been cleared up that it’s a whole process in the cannabis industry on both sides. Also after gathering as much info as I can, I’ve gone even deeper on the thought of my question, the articles helped me find a piece of the answer but I know there’s more to it. For me, the most important article to my question was the second article because it gave me what I was looking for. Also, the article provided a real-life story of my question. As a result of all of this, I have found some good articles that have brought me to the conclusion of my question.

Ever since I’ve been in the U.S, I noticed how quickly I’ve gained weight. It made me wonder why and how I dramatically gained weight when I eat nearly the same food I ate in my country. Of course I thought it may be because we’re surrounded by junk food and snacks, there are many more fast food restaurants available here, and there are more processed foods available than my country has. However, it must be more than that. Food in other countries, such as mine, have more fresh ingredients and organic meat. We rely heavily on vegetables because it’s affordable and easy to grow on your own. We don’t have any chemical or processed food on a regular basis. I have noticed how many Americans are obese. So, why is obesity so high in America? It’s understandable it’s a different case for everyone. The reasons can vary from hormonal levels, metabolic activity, and even genetic. However, what is causing the high rate of obesity in America and how can it be decreased? 

Obesity is a medical problem that involves excess amount of fat in an individual’s body. Obesity has become a problem since the 1900s and it continues to increase in the United States. Obesity can lead to many health problems, such as, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and more. According to the article “The Nation’s Childhood Obesity Epidemic: Health Disparities in the Making,” by Suzanne Bennet  Johnson, only 13% of the U.S adults and 5-7% of the children were obese in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, 73.6% of adults ages 20 and over are overweight with obesity. Children ages 2-5 have a rate of 13.4% with obesity. Children ages 6-11 have a rate of 20.3% with obesity. Adolescents aged 12-19 have a rate of 21.2% with obesity. The percent of obesity keeps increasing due to the decrease in physical activity. Back in the 1900s, people would walk or bike to school for 1-2 miles. They were much more active. Nowadays, we have easy access to transportation, such as cars, trains, and cabs, and we only travel by foot for a few minutes. An average American spends 55% of the waking hours just sitting down and watching TV (“Obesity in America: What’s Driving The Epidemic”, 2012). In addition to sitting for the majority of the waking hours, the eating portion is quite large and calorie intake tends to be high. The percentage of obesity will continue to increase in America if we don’t start having smaller portions, getting more active, and intaking less calories.  

If you travel around different countries, you will notice how many brands of food or snack products taste different than the products America has. For example, I had a chocolate, Kit Kat, when I was in the U.K, and I instantly noticed it tasted different than the Kit Kat we have here. The American made chocolate bar contains more sugar (Entenman, 2018). The British chocolate bar is higher in fat and cocoa (Entenman, 2018). Food processing companies will change the formula for a food product in Europe to meet UK’s rules. One of their rules is that a product must contain no less than 25% cocoa solids to be considered “milk chocolate.” However, milk chocolate must contain no less than 10% chocolate liquor in the U.S (Entenman, 2018). 

Many food additives that cause cancer have been prohibited or restricted by the European Union. Many of these foods are still used in American-made bread, cookies, soft drinks, and other processed foods. Majority of European countries have limited the cultivation and import of genetically modified foods as well (Rabin, 2018). One food additive that has been banned in Europe, but hasn’t been banned in the U.S is called potassium bromate and azodicarbonamide, which is used for mainly baked goods to make dough rise higher and brightens the dough. Europe banned this because they may cause cancer. Another food additive is called brominated vegetable oil, which is used in citrus flavored drinks. It’s banned in Europe due to the risk of potential lead to memory loss and skin and nerve problems (Rabin, 2018). Lastly, food dyes can affect children’s activity and attention. Due to this risk, Europe requires sellers to carry a warning label. Unfortunately, these warning labels are not required in the U.S. It seems like in the U.S, food that can be harmful to our body is not taken seriously enough as the European Union does. The food dyes are used in a number of things from candies and sweets to something as simple as condiments, such as ketchup and mustard. These are just a few examples of what is not banned in America. There are plenty more that isn’t good for our health that take into factor obesity. However, they aren’t banned. America does not take action like Europe does to keep us healthy.  

 Obesity could be prevented in the U.S if certain food were banned. Due to less physical activity, and large portion of food, we already make it easy on ourselves to become obese. With some restriction on food that can potentially cause us to get cancer and/or become obese, obesity may decrease in the U.S. Many people go on strict diets, and some still fail to lose weight. This may be due to ingredients we don’t even know of that are banned in other countries, and not in the U.S. Food that should be banned is one of the reasons why obesity has not decreased in the U.S for many years. In modern times, we have easy access to travel, which means less physical activity. In addition, because of technology, we spend more time on our electronic devices. There needs to be a new way of decreasing obesity with modern problems. Modern problems require modern solutions. If the U.S does not enforce new laws or rules regarding our food and health, no one will ever be able to solve the obesity issue in the U.S. In my case, my diet has not changed much. After reading how much food additives are not banned in the U.S that should have been prohibited, I am starting to be convinced that it is due to the American-made products that have made me gain weight. 

Sources:

Entenman, Elizabeth. “This Is Why Kit-Kats Taste A Million Times Better In The U.K.” So Yummy, SoYummy, 26 Jan. 2019, soyummy.com/why-kit-kats-taste-completely-different-uk/#:~:text=American%20Kit%2DKats%20are%20made,in%20a%20richer%2C%20smoother%20flavor.&text=However%2C%20in%20the%20U.S.%2C%20a,merely%20be%2010%25%20chocolate%20liquor 

“FastStats – Overweight Prevalence.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 Mar. 2021, www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm 

Johnson, Suzanne Bennett. “The Nation’s Childhood Obesity Epidemic: Health Disparities in the Making.” American Psychological Association, July 2012, https://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/newsletter/2012/07/childhood-obesity.

Publishing, Harvard Health. “Obesity in America: What’s Driving the Epidemic?-Harvard Health.” Harvard Health, https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/obesity-in-america-whats-driving-the-epidemic, February 2012. 

Rabin, Roni Caryn. “What Foods Are Banned in Europe but Not Banned in the U.S.?-The New York Times.” The New York Times-Breaking News, World News and Videos, December 28, 2018,https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/28/well/eat/food-additives-banned-europe-united-states.html. 

Spector, Dina. “Why British And American Chocolate Taste Different.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 27 Jan. 2015, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm