How the Legalization or Decriminalization of Marijuana Can Optimize a Essay

How the Legalization or Decriminalization of Marijuana Can Optimize a Drug Situation in a Country - Essay Example Although not legal in the Netherlands, cannabis is openly tolerated and can be both purchased and consumed in one of several Amsterdam ‘coffee houses.’   Inexplicably, the city has not been thrown into anarchy which, evidently, is what the opponents of cannabis legalization are afraid of.   The evidence demonstrates that legalizing cannabis for medicinal in addition to general purposes would prove a benefit to society, evidence which is well-known throughout the scientific, political and public arena but this collective knowledge has yet to be acted upon.  Eleven states allow the use of marijuana for medicinal use, Rhode Island the most recent joining California, Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada, Montana, Washington and, Vermont and Maine.   However, laws enacted by the federal government supersede those of the states.   Therefore, the physician within the borders of the U.S. cannot lawfully dispense marijuana nor can a patient legally possess it. †Å"The U.S. Supreme Court said federal law preempts any efforts by the state to authorize the use of marijuana for any purpose, including medicinal† (Schweitzer, 2005).   Most Americans are not against the medicinal use of marijuana and states are legalizing the practice but any use of marijuana remains against federal law which generally translates to stiffer sentences if caught. The U.S. government has recently softened its position on allowing marijuana dispensaries located in states where it is legal but other than that small waiver has continued its absolute prohibition of Marijuana, a method that is one of the most common policies utilized but has evidently not succeeded as intended.   This practice has not eliminated drug traffic.   It has, however, altered the arrangement of supply and demand by forcing the illegality of this market. Illegal marijuana makes criminals of the sick. Many medical benefits are well known.   

Canadian cultural Essay Example for Free

Canadian cultural Essay In her article â€Å"I Am Half-Canadian,† Pamela Swanigan seeks to define Canadian cultural identity by comparing and contrasting it to the often highly regarded identity attributed to Americans. Born in the USA to parents of mixed racial origin and later immigrating to Canada, Swanigan offers a unique view on many of the common fallacies that come up when one envisions the culture of the United States. Contrary to the popular view, that depicts the United States as an all-welcoming â€Å"melting pot† of cultures and races, Swanigan contests instead that American culture is one of constricting self-definition and pigeonholing. She argues that American culture is neither open nor accepting of diversity, instead forcing people to strictly classify themselves into certain racial and linguistic categories- â€Å"everyone’s forced to pick one definition and stick to it. † Having personally experienced this phenomenon, as a woman of mixed race working in a traditionally male field (sports writing), Swanigan is extremely influential in presenting her case, offering a number of examples as to how Americans are boxed in to certain classifications and social expectations. She further goes on to remark on the close-minded nature of such a view, which leads many Americans to be suspicious and vaguely threatening- a stance that directly contradicts the traditional view of the United States as an open and accepting country. Swanigan contrasts this with the relatively fluid and undistinguishable collective culture of Canada, where a lack of strict individual definition leads to the misconception that Canadians have no culture at all. Instead the author seeks to dispel this myth by suggesting that this lack of identification is in fact the ideal that America claims to promote, which its neighbor to the north that has achieved.

Definition and History of Alternative Schools :: essays papers

Definition and History of Alternative Schools The first thing one should know is what alternative schools are and how they came about. The World Book Encyclopedia (2003) defines an alternative school as, â€Å"†¦ any public or private school that differs from traditional schools in curriculum, purpose, or teaching methods.† This definition can be traced back to the 1960’s, when free schools were created. These types of schools usually consisted of a small number of students and staff. During this time period, there were many popular beliefs about children and education. First of all, people believed that children would learn things at their own pace. Secondly, teachers and faculty were supposed to be mentors, rather than figures of authority. In comparison to public schools, which were seen as oppressive, free schools were a suitable alternative for many students (Miller 2002). One of the main reasons why this was the case, is because the free schools took student’s needs into consideration (Boss 1998). The needs for a flexible curriculum and self-paced learning were met by the free schools. All of these ideas have remained a part of society, as seen by the development of current alternative school settings. Funding In order for alternative schools to continue to operate, adequate funding is necessary. Thus, schools should work to gain a place in the budget of the local school district. According to the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (2001), there are many ways in which alternative schools can be funded. Funds can come from local school districts, grants from state or federal governments, and or donations from local businesses. It is possible for some alternative schools to run based on a combination of sources. Purpose of Alternative Schools Students who attend alternative schools do not necessarily lack the ability to learn. The main issue that students struggle with is that they each have different needs when it comes to learning. According to the Waterville Alternative School (2003), located in Waterville Maine, public schools are created on a â€Å"one size fits all† basis. That is, there is one set curriculum, one set schedule, and one set teaching style. Each student is expected to learn at the same pace, however, this is not the reality. Thus, alternative schools have been created as a way to meet each student’s individual needs.

Mary McLeod Bethune Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mary McLeod Bethune was an innovative leader because she took a story which was largely latent in the population, equal education rights for black children, and brought it to national prominence through the creation of the Bethune-Cookman college. She was also a visionary leader because of the incredible success she was able to attain in advancing the cause of equal education.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bethune was such an effective leader because both she completely embodied her story and it became completely central to her life and persona. Bethune was able to embark on her incredible quest because of the educational opportunities she was provided by missionary teachers and therefore dedicated her life to ensuring that every black child had the opportunity to advance and prove themselves through education. In Leading Minds, Howard Gardner describes the many characteristics which comprise his cognitive model of leadership. In this brief biographical excerpt, Bethune meets them all.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the characteristics Gardner uses to quantify cognitive leadership is the acquisition of power and the use of this power to implement policy. The segregated and patriarchical nature of the society Bethune lived in made it extremely difficult for her advance herself or her vision of equal opportunity education. However, despite these challenges, she was able to rise to a position of national prominence as a director of the divisi...

Amartya Sen and His Contributions to Economics

Born in 1933 in Dhaka, Bengal, Amartya Sen spent his childhood in a school run by a Nobel Prize winner, Rabindranath Tagore. He was further exposed to racial riots in British India in his childhood. This brought him the understanding that poor people are especially vulnerable to violence. As a young man, Sen moved to England to study at Cambridge University and deepen his understanding of poverty, a topic in developmental economics.Upon finishing his education, he taught at some of the finest universities in the world, including Cambridge University, Oxford University, London School of Economics, and Harvard University (â€Å"Freedom as Progress,† 2004). Today, the name, Amartya Sen is considered synonymous with welfare economics. The man won the Nobel Prize for economics in the year 1998 (â€Å"Amartya K. Sen†). The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences explains the reasons for the award thus: Prof Sen's contribution to welfare economics †¦ (and) applications of his t heoreticalapproach have enhanced our understanding of the economic mechanisms underlying famines. He has made a number of noteworthy contributions to central fields of economic science and opened up new fields of study for subsequent generations of researchers. By combining tools from economics and philosophy, he has restored an ethical dimension to the discussion of vital economic problems. Prof Sen treated problems such as majority rule, individual rights and the availability of information about individual welfare.Almost all of Prof Sen's work deals with development economics, as they are often devoted to the welfare of the poorest people in society. He has also studied actual famines. His best-known work is Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation. He challenges the common view that a shortage of food is the most important (sometimes the only) explanation for famine. On the basis of careful study of a number of catastrophes †¦ he argues that famines have occurred even when the supply of food was not significantly lower than during previousyears (without famines), or that famine-stricken areas have sometimes exported food. (â€Å"Sen’s work is ‘devoted to the welfare of the poorest people in society,’† 1998) Sen won the Nobel Prize especially for his work in welfare economics (â€Å"Sin wins Nobel for Contribution to Welfare Economics,† 1998). His contributions in this area include the social choice theory, welfare and poverty indexes, income distribution, research on famine, collective decision making and individual welfare (â€Å"Amartya Sen,† 2000). The economist’s contribution to the social choice theory relates to democracy.Sen is a fan of Adam Smith, but the social choice theory was originally developed by Marquis de Condorcet, a French mathematician who lived and worked during a period of revolution back in the eighteenth century. The theory was modernized in the 1950s by Kennet h Arrow from Stanford University, who had also won a Nobel Prize for economics. But, Sen’s contribution to the theory is marked by its political implications. He was concerned about violence inflicted upon the poor in British India, which is why his contribution was meant to be a framework to evaluate social progress (â€Å"Freedom as Progress†).According to Sen, the Gross Domestic Product and Gross National Product are unreliable. The reason is twofold: firstly, these national income statistics do not measure income distribution as it is; and secondly, there are various influences upon individual freedom as well as well-being that these statistics fail to give consideration to, for example, disabilities and exposure to serious illnesses in a contaminated environment. Sen further believed that the head-count technique of measuring the malice of poverty is insufficient.He did not only want to know how many people fell below the poverty line but also how far they fell be low or rose above the poverty line. It is possible to analyze income inequality among the poor as well with these statistics. Hence, Sen proposed a new poverty measure in the year 1979 (â€Å"Freedom as Progress†). This method was developed to take into consideration â€Å"the ‘relative deprivation’ of individuals† (â€Å"Freedom as Progress†). Sen also helped in the development of the Human Development Index published by the United Nations Development Program.His contribution to the Human Development Index included a vector of numerical figures to take into account the various influences on individual welfare that the Gross National Product would not accommodate (â€Å"Freedom as Progress†). Undoubtedly, this Index, inclusive of â€Å"observed features of living conditions,† is now â€Å"the most widely accepted measure of comparative international welfare† (â€Å"Freedom as Progress†). Sen was a witness to the Bengal fa mine of 1943, which is what inspired him to contribute to famine economics so much so that governments around the world have developed policies around his contributions.Most policymakers and commentators had previously believed that famines ensue when the supply of food declines. Although this makes perfect economic sense, Sen proved through his study of famines in Bangladesh, India, and sub-Saharan Africa that famines also occur when the supply of food has not declined. In the year 1974, for example, Bangladesh was hit by a famine although production of food was very high. Furthermore, Sen proved through research that it was not only the poorest people that were affected by famines; rather, even those who had suddenly experienced a decline in income for some reason were affected by food shortage.As a result of his research, governments decided to replace the lost income of the poor during famines. Prior to this, they had simply concentrated on food distribution (â€Å"Freedom as P rogress†). Sen further found that famines do not happen in democratic countries. In India, for example, information spreads rapidly and criticism about policies is not discouraged, which is why the country has never experienced a famine. Even though India is poorer than China, the latter experienced a famine that killed approximately thirty million people between 1958 and 1961.But, Sen did not just advocate democracy through this research. As he studied famine economics, he analyzed gender inequality to boot. According to him, democracy has not inspired India to save women from dying prematurely year after year because of inequality in access to healthcare (â€Å"Freedom as Progress†). In fact, millions of women are equally affected by this problem in addition to â€Å"domestic neglect† and â€Å"social negligence† in West Asia, North Africa, China and India (â€Å"Freedom as Progress†).Even if these problems are resolved, Sen has noted that â€Å" ‘selective abortion of female fetuses’† is a new contributor to the high rate of female mortality (â€Å"Freedom as Progress†). Of course, those who believe in aborting female fetuses would disagree with Sen that it is a social problem to reduce the female population thus. It is for this reason that Sen’s social choice theory revolves around democratic principles (â€Å"Freedom as Progress†). In other words, â€Å"when there is general agreement, the choices made by society are uncontroversial.When opinions differ, the problem is to find methods for bringing together different opinions in decisions that concern everyone† (â€Å"Freedom as Progress†). This theory of social choice analyzes the significance of individual decisions for collective welfare. Apart from analyzing the issue of gender inequality, Sen has used this theory to answer questions such as, ‘When is it possible for majority rule to yield decisions that are c lear and consistent? ’ and, ‘Because individuals have differing interests, how is it possible to know that the society is doing well?Branching into politics, Sen’s contribution to social choice theory makes it essential for democracies not only to perfect the process of elections but also to hold regular public debates and discussions. He offers the example of India to illustrate this point. The country had voted out a powerful political party on the basis of political discussions even if the result of the elections had appeared decisive (â€Å"Freedom as Progress†). Sen explains another use of the social choice theory with an example of India. There was public debate on the issue of whether poverty in India was on the decline.Upon analyzing the issue with the social choice theory, Sen discovered that reduction in poverty only affected those who were already very close to the poverty line. It is for this reason that the economist continues to trust evaluat ion of income distribution through a variety of measures rather than Gross Domestic Product and Gross National Product alone. With his contribution to the Human Development Index, the economist has theoretical evidence that education and healthcare reforms will alleviate poverty in developing nations.Moreover, Sen believes that globalization can benefit the poorest people of the world to boot (â€Å"Freedom as Progress†). Of course, to make this dream a reality, policymakers must be working around the Human Development Index. After all, violence, too, affects everybody. If poverty is not alleviated, economic progress must needs be dampened by war.References Amartya K. Sen. Retrieved Apr 1, 2009, from http://cepa. newschool. edu/het/profiles/sen. htm. Amartya Sen. (2000). LSE. Retrieved Apr 1, 2009, from http://www. lse. ac. uk/resources/LSEHistory/sen. htm. Freedom as Progress. (2004, Sep). People in Economics. Retrieved Apr 1, 2009, from http://www. imf. org/external/pubs/ft /fandd/2004/09/pdf/people. pdf. Sin wins Nobel for Contribution to Welfare Economics. (1998, Oct 14). Rediff on the Net. Retrieved Apr 1, 2009, from http://www. rediff. com/business/1998/oct/14sen5. htm. Sen’s work is ‘devoted to the welfare of the poorest people in society. ’ (1998, Oct 14). Rediff on the Net. Retrieved Apr 1, 2009, from http://www. rediff. com/business/1998/oct/14sen2. htm.

Majority rule and power essays

Majority rule and power essays When looking at the writings of Martin Luther King Jr. in, A Letter From a Birmingham Jail and Henry David Thoreau in Civil Disobedience, one finds that each man takes a somewhat different approach to delivering a message, but the messages are in fact similar, as both call for a drastic change to majority rule. Both men share the desire for universal justice and they feel majority rule prevents this, as too small of a number of individuals can make unjust laws that affect a large portion of the population. Majority and minority are two terms that King and Thoreau use in their writing's, but their definition of each differs slightly. King sees himself as a part of a minority in the fact that, him being black prevents him from having equal rights under the laws of the United States of America. Thoreau sees himself as a minority because he does not have a say as to the actions of the United States government that is suppose to represent him and he is supposed to support. Both men call for action and use themselves as a model for how to take action. The motive for both Thoreau's and King's writing is based on race and how the United States government does not represent all of its' citizens. The issue of race is more at the forefront of King's writing, while proper (or improper) representation by the government is more of the issue that Thoreau looks at, with race as a key point. One of the few significant differences in both men's attempt to persuade the citizen's of the United States that their government does represent all men, is the level at which each protest. King's protest is grander in the form a large march, while Thoreau prefers to do his protesting on an individual level by not adhering to an unjust law and refusing to pay his taxes. Both men believe in accepting full responsibility for their action and all repercussions that come with their actions. This is evident by the fact that both men spent time in jail for t...

Abbreviations and Acronyms for English Learners

Abbreviations and Acronyms for English Learners Any shortened form of a word or phrase is an abbreviation. Acronyms are also a type of abbreviation that can be pronounced as a single word.   Abbreviations are selectively used in spoken conversation as well as written English. Generally, common abbreviations such as measurements and titles are always abbreviated in written form. Days and months are commonly written out. Online, abbreviations and acronyms are most common in texting, chat rooms and in SMS. In spoken English, we often use abbreviations in informal conversations. A good rule of thumb is to use abbreviations and acronyms that you know others are familiar with, and avoid them when they are too specific. For example, if you are having a conversation with a business colleague it may be appropriate to use abbreviations particular to your line of work. However, the use of work-related abbreviations would be out of place if speaking with friends. Here is a guide to some of the most common abbreviations. Titles One of the most common types of abbreviations is the shortened word. Either the first few letters of a word  or important letters in the word are used for this type of abbreviation. Common abbreviations include titles used in everyday conversation, as well as military ranks: Mr. - MisterMrs. - MistressMs. - MissDr. - DoctorJr. - JuniorSr. - SeniorCapt. - CaptainComdr. - CommanderCol. - ColonelGen. - GeneralHon. - the HonorableLt. - LieutenantRev. - the Reverend Other common abbreviations include: Months of the Year Jan. - JanuaryFeb. - FebruaryMar. - MarchApr. - AprilAug. - AugustSept. - SeptemberOct. - OctoberNov. - NovemberDec. - December Days of the Week Mon. - MondayTues. - TuesdayWed. - WednesdayThurs. - ThursdayFri. - FridaySat. - SaturdaySun. - Sunday Weight and Volume gal. - gallonlb - poundoz - ouncept - pintqt - quartwt. - weightvol. - volume Time hr - hourmin - minutesec - second Length - US/UK in. - inchft - footmi - mileyd - yard Measures in Metrics kg - kilogramkm - kilometerm - metermg - milligrammm - millimeter Initial Letter Abbreviations Initial letter abbreviations take  the first letter of each important word in a short phrase to make up the abbreviation. Prepositions are usually left out of initial letter abbreviations. One of the most common initial letter abbreviations is the USA - United States of America. Notice how the preposition of is left out of this abbreviation. Other common initial letter abbreviations include: Directions N - NorthS - SouthE - EastW - WestNE - NortheastNW - NorthwestSE - SoutheastSW - Southwest Important Institutions BBC - British Broadcasting CorporationEU - European UnionIRS - Internal Revenue ServiceNASA - National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNATO - North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationUNICEF - United Nations Childrens FundWHO - World Health Organization Types of Measurement MPH - Miles per hourRPM - Revolutions per minuteBtu - British thermal unitsF - FahrenheitC - Celsius SMS, Texting, Chat Many abbreviations are used online and in our daily lives with smartphones, chat rooms, etc. Here are a few, but follow the links for a complete list in alphabetical order. B4N - Bye for nowASAP - As soon as possibleNP - No problemTIC - Tongue in cheek Acronyms Acronyms are initial letter abbreviations that are pronounced as one word. To take the examples from above, the BBC is NOT an acronym because it is pronounced as it is spelled: the B - B - C. However, NATO is an acronym because it is pronounced as one word. ASAP is another acronym, but ATM is not. Tips for Using Abbreviations and Acronyms Use abbreviations when texting by learning common texting abbreviationsUse acronyms as a mnemonic device to help you learn a wider range of vocabulary. In other words, take a list of words you want to learn and memorize the first letters of each word you want to learn. For example, primary colors: RBYred,  blue,  yellow.Use abbreviations when writing quick emails in an informal voice.Do not use abbreviations or when writing formal emails, reports or letters except for common organization namesFor more uncommon acronyms, use the entire name followed by the acronym in parentheses the first time you use the acronym in written communications. For example: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is responsible for loaning money to nations. As the world experiences more economic difficulties, the role of the IMF is often called into question.