Reflection Essay

Edison Enciso

Professor Bailey

English 120-016

15 Dec 2014

Reflection Essay.

Reflection Essay   

To study the English 120-Expository Writing class has been a great experience on my educational process of learning. The course ENG-120 is a valuable lesson because it emphasizes the concept of rhetoric on different aspects of our life. Identifying rhetorically an advertisement or an article and analyzing rhetorically them provide me with a powerful tool to improve my learning. Although the course-works have demanded me a lot of time to do them and I have committed many mistakes in the development of the course, those course-works, professor’s corrections and suggestions have helped me to improve my work and learning.

After having received my First Draft corrected, I did some corrections following your observations and recommendations. One of his recommendations was that I had to go the Writer Center and I did it. Although I feel that I improve some in my grammar problem, I still feel that I have some problem with the use of articles and prepositions. However, when I received my feedback from the final Essay and was graded with “A-“, I noticed that I was going to for a good way.

To make the Rhetorical Analysis Essay, I remember that at the beginning I chose an article to develop my work, but I could not finish it because I was confused about some concepts. However the professor repeated how to make a rhetorical analysis many times, giving us different examples. At the end, I changed for an advertisement and I got a good feedback. Now I have well definite what the “rhetoric of power” and the “power of rhetoric” are.
 When I was making the Revised Post Assessment Respond, and compared with the Pre- Assessment, I noticed that the main argument on the issue was different. Developing the Revised Post Assessment was more easy. Only I need read it once to understand the message and not four times how it was the first time. Now I feel more confident to develop an essay.  

After having chosen the topic “Marijuana and its Consequences”, I had problem to define my thesis and the professor suggested that I had to be more specific and I did it. However, this work was the most difficult assignment that I had in this season because it required me to look for information from books, magazines, and web-sites, and to read, evaluate and analyze all the collected information. Developing the research paper has  helped me increase my y judgment in differencing between  academic sources and primary sources. It has also helped me be more critical reader because when I looked for information, I found different research and conclusions from different authors for a same topic. Although development of the research paper demanded me a lot of time, I could know more about the marijuana and its consequences on our health.

                                                                                                

Sincerely,

Revised Post-Assessment Respond

Edison Enciso

Professor Bailey

English 120-016

16 Dec 2014

Revised Post-Assessment Respond

Summary/Respond to the article “Changing the Face of Poverty: Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation”

There are many non-profit organizations that look for economic help to finance different humanitarian programs, and they use distinct types of publicity.  Many non-profit organizations represent poverty with emotional images to get their objectives. However, the representation of poverty is a sensible problem that affects many families in the entire world and its representation has to be treated with special care if non-profit organizations want to get their aims. In “Changing the Face of Poverty: Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation,” writer Diana George particularly focus on the way the organization, Habitat for Humanity, stereotypes poverty in order to promote help to people who need house; however, its representation of  poverty goes against the aim of the organization that is to provide house to all needed people. This is because Habitat produces videos of poverty trying to convince American people what to do, and how to solve the poverty problem according its point of view that is “that we are all responsible for partnering with our neighbors throughout the world so that everyone might eventually have, at least, a simple decent place to live. Like the philosophy behind many nonprofits, Habitat ‘s is not mainstream notion” (47). Another reason is the apparent demonstration through the photos of urban poverty, which was denied by Bush Administration, and it was also confirmed for Heritage Foundation in 1998 (47). Also, the principal problem is to identify suitable applicants for home that are confused for the visual content of publicity videos; for example, when writer asked  Kim Puuri, a member of the affiliate’s Homeowner Selection Committee, about the video, Kim said “when I saw those pictures I usually think of Africa or a third world country and NOT the U.S…People viewing the videos and pictures see the condition of the people and feel that their own condition may not be that bad and feel they probably wouldn’t qualify” (50). Finally, George finds the representation of poverty that is the messages that focus poverty “as an individual problem that can be dealt with by volunteers on an individual basis,” when the description of poverty also has other characteristics that are not represented in the images of the nonprofit’s publicity videos (50).

The writer, in her article, describes us the messages of how Habitat for Humanity represents the poverty through images in which it is the model of poor family that needs a home in order to get applicants. However, representation of poverty of Habitat will not have a positive effect on American people. They will be confused with the image of poverty showed by Habitat because the characteristic of poverty is completely different to characteristics of poverty of people in the United States. In this country many people receive economic help from the government because they are considered in situation of poverty; however, they have electro domestics, place where to live, medical care and food.  If Habitat wants to get its aims, why does this organization not change the way of representing poverty in the United States? Although many organizations or companies use extreme situation in their visual publicity to attract attention of people, it can create confusion if the goal of publicity is not well directed. When we see publicity of the consequences of smoking cigarette, and the images show us sick people that are in extreme situation, this type of publicity attract our attention. However the aim of this publicity is to create awareness that if we smoke, we might die because of that. Instead of Habitat for Humanity, it has as objective to eliminate poverty housing, but the images in its videos of as Habitat represent the poverty go against its main goal, because many poor people are not adequately represented in the publicity videos creating confusion to potential applicants in order to get a house.

To think of “constructing poverty over poverty as an individual problem that can be dealt with volunteer an individual basis” (50), is an appreciation idealist because poverty is a problem social, economic and politic. To fight against poverty is not only provide houses to needed families and the attitude of people if not it requires other aspects such as education, work that can offer enough money to live quietly,  a good environment where to live and others.

In conclusion,, although I agree with the social work that this organization do, I disagree of how the representation of poverty on its videos and its way the organization pretend to convince us how to solve the problem of poverty. Creating confusion among potential applicants, Habitat is working against its aims.

Draft of Research Paper

Edison Enciso

Professor Bailey

English 120-016

28 Nov. 2014

Draft of Research Paper

Marijuana and its Consequences

           Marijuana is referred to the dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the hemp plant, and its botanical name is Cannabis sativa. It is also known with other names: pot, herb, dope grass, Mary Jane, and other 200 street names. Marijuana is used for recreational use because of its psychoactive component that alters mind, and for medical use because of its application on treatment of some sicknesses. Currently, for medical use, marijuana is legal in 24 states included New York, and for recreational usage is legal in Colorado and Washington State and is being debated in other states, but marijuana is still considered an offense under Federal law. According to the last Gallup poll in the population of the United States, 38 percent have ever tried marijuana in their life, and 51 percent have supported the legalization of marijuana. However, how much do we know about the effect of marijuana in our body after smoking, or what is the consequence in our health of smoking marijuana?  Although many people think that smoking marijuana is not harmful, marijuana is very bad for our health.

           The production of hemp plant in the United States was encouraged in the early 1600’s until the early 1900’s when it was replaced for new materials in many products, and the use of hemp changed to medicinal use. In the early 1900’s, marijuana for recreational use was brought across the border by Mexican immigrants, and by the 1920’s it was adopted by jazz musicians.

During the Great Depression, the reputation of marijuana was diminished and associated with crimes, and it was portrayed as a drug that induced criminal activities. By 1931, twenty-nine states criminalized use of marijuana, and the federal government encourage all states to enact laws to control marijuana use. Over the years later, governments enforce rules and laws to reduce the use of marijuana, until in 1996, California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medical use, and in this year, Colorado became the first state to legalize marijuana for recreational use.  

Many people consider marijuana like a soft drug; on the contrary, this drug is completely dangerous for our health. There are many reasons why people smoke marijuana such as curiosity, peer influence, to relax the stress, anxiety, fear related to personal or family issue, or to enter into certain social circle. However, many ignore the  consequence of smoking marijuana because according to National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), marijuana is a product of a plant that contains more than 400 chemicals, having as its principal active component the THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) that is psychoactive ingredient (DrugFacts: Marijuana). Using of marijuana changes the way the brain works, and has effects such as impaired short-term memory making it difficult to retain and learn information, slowed reaction time affecting driving skills, altered judgment and decision, increased heart rate by 20-100%, and altered mood leading to euphoria, calmness or in high doses anxiety, paranoia (Topic in Brief: Marijuana). Also, for many years, marijuana has been considered for the department of Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule I. This means marijuana is a substance that has no approved medical use and has a high potential for abuse. Currently the marijuana is classified in the same level of drugs as heroin and Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and it is even considered more harmful than morphine and cocaine (Drug Fact Sheets: Marijuana Cannabis).

Although many people start smoking marijuana for recreational use, they might become in dependence of marijuana, and the effects on their brains will be harmful. In his book The Secret Addition Dr. Tony Deramus describes how marijuana affects the short-term memory of heavy marijuana user:

Marijuana’s damage seems to occur, because THC alters the way in which information is processed by the hippocampus, an area of the brain responsible for memory formation. For example, laboratory rats treated with THC display the same reduce ability to perform tasks requiring short-term memory as other rats showed after nerve cells in their hippocampus were destroyed. I know you are not a rat, but the brain does function in very similar ways (130).

In addition, when marijuana is heavily used by young people, its effects on thinking and memory might last long time or even be permanent. According to NIDA, in New Zealand, a long-large study showed that “people who began smoking marijuana heavily in their teens lost and average of 8 points in IQ between age 13 and age 38…the lost cognitive abilities were not fully restored in those who quit smoking marijuana as adults.” The study also adds that” people who started smoking in adulthood did not show significant IQ declines.”  

           Also, marijuana affects the cerebellum that is associated with movement such as balance and coordination, or motor control, and the amygdala that is associated with memory of emotional reactions such as anxiety and stress. Deramus states that the CB1 (Cannaboid-1) is found in part of the brain known as the cerebellum and when someone smokes marijuana, the receptor will be saturated with exorbitant mount of THC. Deramus in his book points out , “ in a study by the Department of Neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital (Limperopoulos et al., 2005), researchers found that 61 percent of children with cerebellar injury had global development delays, including deficits in language, visual reception and social/behavioral function, in addition to motor control problems”(131).  Regarding to the effect of marijuana on the amygdala, which is associated with hormones that produce anxiety and stress, has as a principal function “…in the formation and storage of memories associated with these types of emotion” (135). According a study by Anna Blood PhD, from the Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, after assessing brain morphology using MRI in 40 young adult aged 18 to 25 years recruited from Boston-area College, 20 used marijuana recreationally (11.2 joints per week) and 20 did not use the drug at all. She stated “These abnormal changes in the amygdala…could indicate that the experience with marijuana alters brain organization and may produce changes in function and behavior” (Brooks). Also, in the Deramus’s book stated according to a study (Katona, et al., 2001) showed “the amygdala had approximately less volume in men who smoke heavily (five cigarettes daily for an average of 20 years) compared to nonusers” (135).

Many people think smoking cigarette is more dangerous than smoking marijuana However, according to National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), in a study led by Dr. Donald Tashkin at University of California, smoking marijuana is more dangerous than smoking cigarettes. Because although smoking marijuana cause the similar damage respiratory than smoking cigarettes, the probability of develop a cancer of people who smoke marijuana is higher than people who smoke cigarette. This is “because smoker typically hold their breath four times as long as tobacco smoker after inhaling, marijuana smoking deposits significantly more tar and known carcinogens within the tar”. His studies also add “marijuana smoking is associated with a range of damaging pulmonary effects, including inhibition of the tumor-killing and bactericidal of alveolar macrophages the primary cells within the lung.”

Draft of Rhetorical Analysis

Edison Enciso

Professor Bailey

English 120-016

21 Nov 2014

Draft of Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Rhetorical Analysis of Anti-Smoking Advertisement

For many years cigarettes companies had promoted the consumption of cigarettes until 2011, year in which advertising of cigarettes was restricted. Many people start smoking cigarettes when they are young without having into account that cigarette is very harmful for their health. Also, some people know the damage that produces to smoke cigarette; however, many of them still continue smoking. The anti-smoking advertisement (shown on the next page) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) displays the picture of Terrie Hall, a former smoker, for an educational campaign of awareness to people of the consequence of smoking cigarette. The advertisement is an example of the power of rhetoric because it is challenging the assumption that smoking cigarette is not as harmful as many people think. The ad is also challenging the consumption of cigarette that was promoted by cigarette companies. Finally, the advertisement induces smokers and nonsmokers to take into consideration on the dangerous consequences of smoking cigarette in order that smokers quit smoking and nonsmokers do not try to smoke.

           The anti-smoking advertisement induces people not to smoke cigarette. The advertisement uses logos, pathos and ethos in order to convince people that smoking cigarettes is very dangerous for their health. Logos is portrayed through the message that if people smoke cigarette, they will end up undergoing throat cancer. Ethos is displayed with the picture in general, in which Terrie states “I never thought smoking would do this,” and with the fact, that cigarette produce cancer, that is supported by experts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Finally, pathos is shown in the picture itself because the picture is very emotional to viewer.

    The advertisement challenges the consumption of cigarette that was promoted by cigarette companies. For many years, cigarette companies invested large amount of money in advertising to promote the consumption of cigarette. According to “Fact Sheet: Tobacco Industry Marketing,” these companies spent $8.37 billion on advertising and promotional expenses in the United States in 2011 and $8.05 billion in 2010. The report also state that “there is sufficient evidence to conclude that there is a casual relationship between Tobacco Company advertising and promotion and the initiation and progression of tobacco use among youth people.” The anti-smoking advertisement is fighting against the consumption of cigarette promoted by cigarette companies that for many years, they were focused on increasing the consumption of cigarette through advertising. This advertisement challenges the consumption of cigarette with the following message that if people smoke cigarette, they will end up suffering throat cancer.

The advertisement challenges the assumption that smoking cigarette is not as harmful as many people think. The concept that smoking cigarette is not so harmful has been imposed by cigarettes companies through advertising and promotions, making us believe that smoking cigarette is cool. Those companies with that assumption had governed us for many years and they also created different reasons to smoke cigarette. According to Chris Kinsey, editor for a medical publisher, There many reasons why teenagers smoke cigarettes, but “the most common reasons are that It makes them feel more independent, look older or more interesting, and can serve as a means for rebelling against authority figures.” Kinsey also states that for adults, the main cause is the misconception the smoking cigarette relieves stress. However, “tobacco smoke contains a deadly mix of more than 7,000 chemical; hundreds are toxic, and about 70 can cause cancer, [and] tobacco smoking increase the risk for serious health problems, numerous diseases, and death” (Fact Sheet: Quitting Smoking). In the Terrie’s case, she started smoking in high school and she said “I thought it was the cool thing to do” (Antismoking Champion Terrie Hall Dies). After being detected with throat cancer, she said “I never thought smoking would do this.”  This advertisement contradict the assumption that smoking cigarette is not so dangerous for smoker’s health because according to this ad, people who think that smoking cigarette is not so harmful may end up undergoing throat cancer.

In conclusion, the anti-smoking advertisement of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has the power of convincing us that smoking cigarette is very dangerous for our health. This advertisement with its rhetoric challenges the consumption of cigarette that was promoted by Cigarette Company and contradicts the assumption that smoking cigarette is not so harmful for our health. Therefore, this advertisement is a good example of the power of rhetoric.

Works cited

Pre-Assessment Excercise

Edison Enciso

Professor Bailey

English 120-016

2 Set 2014

Pre-Assessment Exercise

Summary/Respond to the article “Changing the Face of Poverty: Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation”

There are many non-profit organizations that look for economic help to finance different humanitarian programs, and they use distinct types of publicity. In “Changing the Face of Poverty: Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation,” writer Diana George particularly focus on problems of the representation of poverty in publicity videos that nonprofit Habitat for Humanity make to get its goal that is “to eliminate poverty housing from the globe” (45). Although she does not criticize the work of the nonprofit, she finds serious problems in how Habitat gives us the representation of poverty in videos. One principal problem is to be able to identify suitable applicants for home that are confused for the visual content of publicity videos; for example, when writer asked  Kim Puuri, a member of the affiliate’s Homeowner Selection Committee, about the video, Kim said “when I saw those pictures I usually think of Africa or a third world country and NOT the U.S…People viewing the videos and pictures see the condition of the people and feel that their own condition may not be that bad and feel they probably wouldn’t qualify”(50).  Finally, Diana finds in the representation of poverty is that the messages focus poverty “as an individual problem that can be dealt with by volunteers on an individual basis,” when the description of poverty has too other characteristics that are not represented in the images of the nonprofit’s publicity videos (50).

Although many organizations or companies use extreme situation in their visual publicity to attract attention of people, it can create confusion if the goal of publicity is not well directed. When we see publicity of the consequences of smoking cigarette, and the images show us sick people that are in extreme situation, this type of publicity attract our attention. However the aim of this publicity is to create awareness that if we smoke, we might die because of that. Instead, Habitat for Humanity has as objective to eliminate poverty housing, but the images in their videos of as Habitat represent the poverty go against its main goal, because many poor people are not adequately represented in the publicity videos creating confusion to applicant potential in order to get a house.

The writer, in her article, shows us the messages of how Habitat for Humanity represents the poverty through images in which it is the model of poor family that needs a home. Representing “poverty as an individual problem that can be addressed on an individual basis”, Habitat for Humanity appeals to a nation that believes anyone can achieve economic security with just right attitude and set of circumstances (45). The poverty a global problem where not only depend on the attitude of the people, if not it also depends on the situation economic, politic and social of country.

In conclusion, although I agree with the social work that this organization do, I disagree of how the representation of poverty is shown in the publicity videos and the message that they have.  

    

Draft of Annotated Biblography

Edison Enciso

Professor Bailey

English 120-016

11 November 2014

Draft of Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Caulkins, Jonathan P., Angela Hawken, Beau Kilmer, and Mark A. R. Kleiman. Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York. Oxford University Press, Inc., 2012. Print.

           Caulkins serves on the editorial board of Management Science, Operations Research, Mathematical and Computer Modelling, the Journal of Drug Issues and Socio-Economic Planning Sciences. In the book, the writer describes the risks and benefits of using marijuana and also, he discusses the probability of costs and benefits of legalization at the states and nation levels. The author also considers how marijuana legalization would impact parents, heavy users, medical users, drug traffickers, and employers. I think this book may help me support my argument on the medical impact that marijuana might cause to smokers.

Moffat, Mike. “Should Government Legalizes and Tax Marijuana? Examining a Recent Study on Legalization” About.com: About Education,” About.com, 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.

           Moffat is a Canadian Economist writer and holds an Honor B.A. degree in Political Science and Economics and a master degree in Economic Theory from the University of Rochester. In the article, he makes an economic analysis if marijuana is legalized. I am not sure if this article will help me support my arguments for my project; However, I will cite it as a source of information.

Remnick, David. “Going the Distance.” Newyorker.com. The New Yorker. 27 Jan. 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.

Remnick is editor and writer of The New Yorker. He has written 6 books including a bibliography of the president Barack Obama (The Bridge). The article is an interview that Remnick did with president Obama where Remnick tackled different issues on his interview. For my work, I will use only the issue concerning the president’s opinion about marijuana to support my argument that marijuana is a drug completely dangerous for health.       

Tandy, Karen. “Marijuana: The Myths Are Killing Us.” About.com: About health, About.com. 9 May 2014. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.

           Tandy is a former head of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), an agency of the United States Department of Justice. In the article, she examines people’s misconception about marijuana use. This article provides me with medical information, and she discusses on temporary relief of people smoking marijuana associated with glaucoma, to support my argument that marijuana causes serious damage to smoker’s health.

United States. Department of Justice. Drug Enforcement Administration. “Drug Fact Sheets: Marijuana/Cannabis.” DEA Drug Enforcement Administration. Department of Justice. 2011. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.

The Drug Fact Sheets is an informative means developed by Drug Enforcement Administration that is an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice and that has the function to enforce the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States, where we can find the latest information about illegal and legal drugs and their effects on our body and brain. This informative source provides me information about how marijuana is legally considered by Department of Justice to back up my argument that that marijuana is a dangerous drug that has no approved medical use and that has high potential for abuse.

Zickle, Petrick. “Marijuana Smoking Is Associated With a Spectrum of Respiratory Disorders.” National Institute on Drug Abuse: The Science of Drug Abuse & Addiction. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and National Institutes of Health. 1 Oct. 2006. Web. 8 Oct 2014.

Zickle, is an specialist in research, writing, and communications management in the fields of biomedical science, public health policy and research, and environmental science and technology. He has extensive experience working with senior federal staff at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Health and Human Services institutes and agencies to develop and plan communication projects. In his article done for National Institute on Drug Abuse, he analyzes the significant associations between marijuana smoking and a variety of respiratory diseases. This article provide me significant evidence about an epidemiological study that suggests that marijuana smoke causes the same types of respiratory damage as tobacco smoke, to support my argument that marijuana causes respiratory damages of smokers.

Final of Annotated Bibliography

Edison Enciso

Professor Bailey

English 120-016

28 November 2014

Final of Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Caulkins, Jonathan P., Angela Hawken, Beau Kilmer, and Mark A. R. Kleiman.”What Are the Risks of Using Marijuana?” Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2012. 54-80. Print.

In this book, Caulkin, Hawken, Kilmer, and Kleiman analyze the risks and benefits of using marijuana from different points of views, and they also discuss the probability of costs and benefits of legalization at the state and national levels. However there is a section in which I am interested because it examines the different risks of using marijuana such as overdose, emphysema and other respiratory problems, cancer, impaired mental health, and the effect of parental use on children. I think this section of the book will help me back up my thesis that smoking marijuana is dangerous for people’s health.  

Deramus, Tony. “It’s All in Your Head: Marijuana and the Brain.” The Seceret Addiction: Overcoming Your Marijuana Dependency. Texas: SMA International, LLC. 2011. 129-136. Print.

Deramus is the CEO of SMA International, a company devoted to addressing the rampant abuse of marijuana worldwide by training, coaching and educating counselors. This book is a guide to overcome marijuana dependency in which it shows why people smoke pot, how they get addicted, how it destroys motivation and accomplishment, the difficulties and challenges of quitting. In the section “It’s All in Your Head: Marijuana and the Brain,” there is important information about the effects of marijuana on the hippocampus and the cerebellum that are related to memory, coordination, and balance produced in the brain. This section  will also provide me with useful evidence to support my claim that marijuana damages smokers’ brain.  

Martin, Alison, and Nushin Rashidian. “A Plant by Any Other Name.” A new Leaf: The End of Cannabis Prohibition. New York: The New Press, 2014. 12-35. Print.

Through this book, Martin and Rashidian present an expert analysis of how recent development toward legalization will affect the war on drugs both domestically and internationally. In the section, “A Plant by Any Other Name,” he refers to scientific studies of marijuana and its effects on smokers, and how marijuana is scientifically considered in the United States.The scientific studies of pot will help me support my argument that smoking marijuana is harmful to smokers.  

Tandy, Karen. “Marijuana: The Myths Are Killing Us.” About.com: About Health. About.com. 9 May 2014. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.

Tandy is a former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), an agency of the United States Department of Justice. In her article she examines people’s misconceptions about marijuana use. She also discusses the relation between  the temporary relief of glaucoma and marijuana. Although this article has medical information that the writer uses to support her arguments. I am not sure if this article will help me support my arguments for my project. However, I will cite it as a source of information.

United States. Department of Justice. Drug Enforcement Administration. “Drug Fact Sheets: Marijuana/Cannabis.” DEA Drug Enforcement Administration. Department of Justice. 2011. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.

The Drug Fact Sheets is an informative means developed by Drug Enforcement Administration that is an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice and that has the function to enforce the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States. In the DEA’s drug fact sheet, we can find the latest information about illegal and legal drugs and their effects on our bodies and brains. This informative source will provides me with information about how marijuana is legally considered by the Department of Justice to back up my argument that marijuana is a dangerous drug that has no approved medical use and that has high potential for abuse.

Zickle, Petrick. “Marijuana Smoking Is Associated With a Spectrum of Respiratory Disorders.” National Institute on Drug Abuse: The Science of Drug Abuse & Addiction. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and National Institutes of Health. 1 Oct. 2006. Web. 8 Oct 2014.

Zickle is an specialist in research, writing, and communications management in the fields of biomedical science, public health policy and research, and environmental science and technology. He has extensive experience working with senior federal staff at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Health and Human Services institutes and agencies to develop and plan communication projects. In his article done for National Institute on Drug Abuse, he analyzes the significant associations between marijuana smoking and a variety of respiratory diseases. This article will provide me  with significant evidence  through an epidemiological study that suggests that marijuana smoke causes the same types of respiratory damage as tobacco smoke, to complement  my support about  smoking marijuana that causes respiratory damages.

          

Draft of Growth Process Essay

Edison Enciso

Professor Bailey

English 120-016

22 Set 2014

Post draft two of Growth Essay

Legalization of Marijuana

When some people try to do something that they usually do not use to do it, then they look for some stimulants, and these stimulants could be coffee, liquor, cigarette or others. As some people need to stay up late, they normally drink coffee, or as some people that are in party need to be more exited or happiness, they normally drink alcoholic beverage or smock cigarette. The excessive consumption of products with caffeine, nicotine, ethyl alcohol, or ethanol produce impairment on the health whose consume; however, the consumptions of these products are legal in our country. If alcohol and tobacco-unhealthy and dangerous products- are legal, why is still is marijuana still illegal?

Marijuana, its botanical name -Cannabis sativa,- is a product of the plant that contains more than 400 chemicals, having as its principal active component the THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) that is a psychoactive ingredient. Use of marijuana changes the way of how the brain works, and has effects such as impaired short-term memory, making it difficult to retain and learn information, slowed reaction time, affecting driving skills, altered judgment and decision, increased heart rate by 20-100%, and altered mood leading to euphoria, calmness or in high doses anxiety, paranoia. You will want to follow up with this since it makes marajuana sound really bad and works against your argument.           

Although marijuana is banned in the most states of this country, its demand is increasing. For many years the marijuana has been considered for the department of Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule I, use period or semi-colon this means marijuana is a substance that has no approved medical use and has a high potential for abuse. Currently the marijuana is classified in the same level of drugs as heroine and Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), even it It is considered more harmful than morphine and cocaine. However, despite being considered as harmful substance, many people consume marijuana. According to National Institute on Drug Abuse in Nationwide Trends, we can appreciate the tendency of marijuana and other illegal substances (see fig. 1). Since 2002 to 2007, there is a tendency decreasing and whereas since 2007 to 2012, there is a tendency increasing perceptual of 1.5% that is equivalent to 4.5 million of people that consume marijuana. This is a very confusingly worded sentence

Fig. 1     Marijuana use has increased since 2007. In 2012, there were 18.9 million current (past-month) users—about 7.3 percent of people aged 12 or older—up from 14.4 million (5.8 percent) in 2007.

Being considered a prohibited substance, the marijuana is commercialized in the black market. The existence of trafficker of drugs is due to a great demand of marijuana. For this reason, governments invest a lot of money in the fight against traffickers and their whole chain of commercialization. This investment also include to collateral effects that produce the consumption of marijuana as treatment, rehabilitation, and others. However, if the marijuana is considered legal, then government could better control the system of commercialization. For example, what happen with cigarette that is legal but the government with taxes and advertising has achieved to reduce the consumption of this. When there is demand of a product in a market, always there will be a supplier; therefore, it is time to legalize the marijuana.

Interesting and time-relevent topic, Encisco. I believe this last sentence here would really serve as an argument/thesis statement. In other words, your argument needs to come sooner. You also need to work on certain grammar elements and, most importantly, sentence-level phrasing. My suggestion is to take future papers to the Reading & Writing Center (416 Hunter West) to go over with a tutor before you turn them in as final drafts.

Final of Research Paper

Edison Enciso

Professor Bailey

English 120-016

14 Dec. 2014

Final of Research Paper

Marijuana and its Consequences

           Marijuana is referred to the dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the hemp plant, and its botanical name is Cannabis sativa. It is also known with other names: pot, herb, dope grass, Mary Jane, and other 200 street names. Marijuana is used for recreational use because of its psychoactive component that alters mind, and for medical use because of its application on treatment of some sicknesses. Currently, for medical use, marijuana is legal in 24 states included New York, and for recreational usage is legal in Colorado and Washington State and is being debated in other states, but marijuana is still considered an offense under Federal law. According to the last Gallup poll in the population of the United States, 38 percent have ever tried marijuana in their life, and 51 percent have supported the legalization of marijuana. However, how much do we know about the effect of marijuana in our body after smoking, or what is the consequence in our health of smoking marijuana?  Although many people think that smoking marijuana is not harmful, marijuana is very bad for our health because it impairs our brain, respiratory system and may even produce cancer.

           The production of hemp plant in the United States was encouraged in the early 1600’s until the early 1900’s when it was replaced for new materials in many products, and the use of hemp changed to medicinal use. In the early 1900’s, marijuana for recreational use was brought across the border by Mexican immigrants, and by the 1920’s it was adopted by jazz musicians. During the Great Depression, the reputation of marijuana was diminished and associated with crimes, and it was portrayed as a drug that induced criminal activities. By 1931, twenty-nine states criminalized use of marijuana, and the federal government encourage all states to enact laws to control marijuana use. Over the years later, governments enforce rules and laws to reduce the use of marijuana, until in 1996, when California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medical use, and in this year, Colorado became the first state to legalize marijuana for recreational use.  

Many people consider marijuana to be a soft drug; on the contrary, this drug is completely dangerous for our health. There are many reasons why people smoke marijuana such as curiosity, peer influence, to relax the stress, anxiety, fear related to personal or family issue, or to enter into certain social circle. However, many ignore the consequence of smoking marijuana because according to National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in the article “DrugFacts: Marijuana,” marijuana is a product of a plant that contains more than 400 chemicals, having as its principal active component the THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) that is psychoactive ingredient (NIDA, 2014). Using of marijuana changes the way the brain works, and has effects such as impaired short-term memory making it difficult to retain and learn information, slowed reaction time affecting driving skills, altered judgment and decision, increased heart rate by 20-100%, and altered mood leading to euphoria, calmness or in high doses anxiety, paranoia (NIDA, 2014). Also, for many years, marijuana has been considered for the department of Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule I. This means marijuana is a substance that has no approved medical use and has a high potential for abuse. Currently the marijuana is classified in the same level of drugs as heroin and Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and it is even considered more harmful than morphine and cocaine (DEA, 2014).

Many people smoking marijuana for recreational use ignore the effects of marijuana on their brains. In his book, The Secret Addition, Dr. Tony Deramus describes how marijuana affects the short-term memory of marijuana users:

Marijuana’s damage seems to occur, because THC alters the way in which information is processed by the hippocampus, an area of the brain responsible for memory formation. For example, laboratory rats treated with THC display the same reduce ability to perform tasks requiring short-term memory as other rats showed after nerve cells in their hippocampus were destroyed. I know you are not a rat, but the brain does function in very similar ways (Deramos 130).

This is the reasons why people smoking marijuana make it difficult remember recently fact after smoking. In addition, when marijuana is heavily used by young people, its effects on thinking and memory might last long time or even be permanent. According to “DrugFacts:Marijuana,” in New Zealand, a long-large study showed that “people who began smoking marijuana heavily in their teens lost and average of 8 points in IQ between age 13 and age 38…[and] the lost cognitive abilities were not fully restored in those who quit smoking marijuana as adults” (NIDA, 2014). However, although many people ignore the consequences of smoking, scientific studies showed how marijuana use impairs the capacity of learning, and remembering because of destruction of nerve cells in the hippocampus.  

           Also, marijuana affects the cerebellum that is associated with movement such as balance and coordination, or motor control, and the amygdala that is associated with memory of emotional reactions such as anxiety and stress. Deramus states that the CB1 (Cannaboid-1) is found in part of the brain known as the cerebellum and when someone smokes marijuana, the receptor will be saturated with exorbitant mount of THC. Deramus in his book points out , “ in a study by the Department of Neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital (Limperopoulos et al., 2005), researchers found that 61 percent of children with cerebellar injury had global developmental delays, including deficits in language, visual reception and social/behavioral function, in addition to motor control problems”(Deramos 131).  Regarding to the effect of marijuana on the amygdala, which is associated with hormones that produce anxiety and stress, has as a principal function “in the formation and storage of memories associated with these types of emotion” (Deramos 135). Although the effects on the amygdala are associated with anxiety and stress, marijuana also alters the size of the amygdala affecting the function of the brain. According a study by Anna Blood PhD, from the Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, after assessing brain morphology using MRI in 40 young adult aged 18 to 25 years recruited from Boston-area College, 20 used marijuana recreationally (11.2 joints per week) and 20 did not use the drug at all. She stated “These abnormal changes in the amygdala…could indicate that the experience with marijuana alters brain organization and may produce changes in function and behavior” (Blood quoted Brooks in 2014). Also, in the Deramos’s book stated according to a study (Katona, et al., 2001) showed “the amygdala had approximately less volume in men who smoke heavily (five cigarettes daily for an average of 20 years) compared to nonusers” (Deramos 135). With those researches, we can say that marijuana will alter the function of cerebellum and amygdala in our brain affecting our mental health if we smoke.

           However, smoking marijuana also affects the levels of dopamine that is important nerve chemical or neurotransmitter and that promotes communication among brain cells. Dopamine between its functions is to help control the brain reward and pleasure centers and to regulate movement and emotional responses. This neurotransmitter is associated with rewarding experiences such as food, sex, use of certain drugs, and other activities that produce strong pleasures. Dopamine deficiency results in Parkinson’s disease and people with low dopamine results in addiction. To compensate the low dopamine, the smoker’s brain asks for some stimulants as marijuana and other drugs. According to a study carried out, in the article “Decrease Dopamine Brain Reactivity in Marijuana Abusers Is Associated with Negative Emotionality and Addiction Severity,” Dr. Nova Volkow and her colleagues at the National Institute on Drug and Abuse, investigated the impact that marijuana can cause human brain. For this, the researchers challenged 48 participants (24 controls and 24 marijuana abuser) that were stimulated with a drug to check how dopamine reacts on their brains (see table 1.). The result was the followings: use of marijuana disrupts dopamine levels causing negative emotions and addictive behaviors with potential consequences. (Volkow, et al., 2014). In addition, another study, arrived at the same conclusion that marijuana is addictive, carried out in England, by scientist at Imperial College London and King’s College London, in the article “Long-Term Pot Use Tied to Less Dopamine, Which May Help Explain Less Motivation,” by Rick Nahuert PhD. The researcher used PET brain imaging to look at dopamine levels in 19 regular marijuana user and 19 non-users of matching age and sex. The investigators found that “dopamine levels in a part of the brain…were lower in people who smoke more cannabis [marijuana] and those who began using the drug at a young age. They also stated that marijuana use may be the cause of difference in dopamine levels, which is the cause of severe addiction (Naurt, 2013). Therefore, smoking marijuana produces the problem of addiction that is caused for the alteration of dopamine in the brain and it also produces emotional changes that are dangerous for our health.           

           Table 1.  Demographics clinical characteristic and personality scores (positive emotionality, negative emotionality, and constraint) of participants, and the significance for the comparisons between healthy controls and marijuana abusers.

Parameter	Healthy controls(n = 24)	Marijuana abusers(n = 24)	P
Age	28.2 ± 6	26.9 ± 7	NS
Sex	50% males	50% males
Education	13.9 ± 2	13.2 ± 1	NS
Body mass index	24.3 ± 3	24.1 ± 4	NS
Tobacco	3 active	10 active	0.02
	1 former	2 former
Marijuana initiation		15 ± 3 y of age
Days per week		4.9 ± 3
Joints per day		4.8 ± 3
Years of abuse		10.5 ± 2
Scores on MDQ		5.4 ± 3
Positive emotionality	52.3 ± 6	47.2 ± 10	0.05
Negative emotionality	13.7 ± 9	22.4 ± 9	0.001
Constraint	51.3 ± 10	47.7 ± 8	NS

MDQ, marijuana dependency; NS, not significant

Source: Decreased Dopamine Brain Reactivity in Marijuana Abuser Is Associated with Negative Emotionally and Addiction Severity/ www.pns.org.

Many people think smoking cigarettes is more dangerous than smoking marijuana. However, according to the article “Marijuana Smoking Is Associated with a Spectrum of Respiratory Disorders” done for NIDA by Patrick Zickler, the Dr. Donald Tashkin at University of California found that smoking marijuana is more dangerous than smoking cigarettes. Because although smoking marijuana cause the similar damage respiratory than smoking cigarettes, the probability of develop a cancer of people who smoke marijuana is because he found “evidence that regular smoking marijuana injures airway epithelial cells, leading to dysregulation of bronchial epithelial cell growth and eventually to possible malignant changes” (qtd. in Zickler). This is “because smoker typically hold their breath four times as long as tobacco smoker after inhaling, marijuana smoking deposits significantly more tar and known carcinogens within the tar”. His studies also add “marijuana smoking is associated with a range of damaging pulmonary effects, including inhibition of the tumor-killing and bactericidal of alveolar macrophages the primary cells within the lung.” (Zickler, 2006). Also, in the article “Respiratory Effects of Marijuana and Tobacco Use in a U.S. Sample,” done By PhD, Brent Moore and his colleagues presented this article in part in 2003 annual scientific meeting of the College on problem of Drug Dependence, Bal Harbor, Florida, with the objective of showing the impact of respiratory problem caused by smoking marijuana and compared with smoking cigarettes. To get the result, they analyzed the information of the nationally representative third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) (see table 2.), concluding that “ marijuana use was associated with increased risk of many respiratory symptoms that are associated with disorders common to tobacco use such as chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and  

Table 2. Percent of Nonsmokers, Tobacco-only Smokers and marijuana Smokers with Respiratory Symptoms: NHANES III, 1998 to 1994

Variable	Nonsmokers (n = 4,789) %	Tobacco Smokers (n = 1,525)           %                    NNH		Marijuana Smokers (n = 414)          %                    NNH
Current asthma	3.8	6.5	37.0	5.8	50.0
Chronic bronchitis	3.2	8.2	20.0	8.1	20.4
Cough: most days	3.8	19.5	6.4	21.7	5.6
Phlegm	3.5	14.6	9.0	16.9	7.5
Shortness of breath	14.8	33.4	5.4	23.7	11.2
Wheezing	9.7	25.2	6.5	40.1	3.3
Chest sounds	5.8	19.4	7.4	23.5	5.6
Pneumonia	1.7	3.5	55.6	2.8	90.9
Overall chest finding	1.1	9.0	12.7	3.1	50.0
FEV1/FVC ratio<70%	3.8	20.0	6.2	9.1	19.8

Source: NHANES III, third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; NNH, number needed to harm.

cancer. In addition, marijuana smoking may increase of respiratory exposure by infectious organisms, such as fungi and molds, as cannabis plants are contaminated with arrange of fungal spores”(Moore et al., 2004). Despite of respiratory problems and a range of damaging pulmonary, shown with investigations by researchers, many people smoke marijuana without knowing the dangerous effect on their health.

Finally, not only smoking marijuana causes respiratory problems and damaging pulmonary, but it can also produce cancer to people who smoke frequently.  Although marijuana smoke has carcinogen components, there are some studies that sustain smoking marijuana do not produce cancer such as, in the book, Marijuana legalization, shows that according to a study by Kaiser Permanent researcher Stephen Sidney and colleagues in 1997, examined cancer incidence to 6500 people who smoke marijuana in the past or currently, for about eight years, they found that there is no risk of cancer if people smoke marijuana (Caulkins et al., 66). Also, another study done by Dr. Tashkin in 2006, did not find a direct relation of smoking with lung cancer (Zickler 2006). However, later studies showed that smoking marijuana produces cancer such as, in 2008, the “European Respiratory Journal” published a research that found a clear association between marijuana and lung cancer; this study pointed out that “an 8 percent increase of developing cancer per year of smoking marijuana.” (Deramous 69). Also, in 2009, a study published in “Chemical Research in Toxicology,” Raj Singh carried out a research and found clear evidence that marijuana smoke damages DNA. This result cited on Science Daily’s website says, “These results provide evidence for the DNA damaging potential of cannabis [marijuana] smoke,

implying that the consumption of cannabis cigarettes may be detrimental to human health with possibility to initiate cancer development.” (qtd. in Deramos 69). Finally, another recent study found association between marijuana and testicular cancer. In the article, “Study Links Marijuana Use to Testicular Cancer,” by Stacy Simon, she states that in 2012, American Cancer Society journal cancer published online the study led by Victoria K. Cortesis, MSPH, PhD, of University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Cortesis stated “her team based its hypothesis on research that shows the active ingredient in marijuana may interfere with normal hormone signaling between the brain and the testicles.” She also added “Three studies have now found the same specific result – a history of marijuana use associated with double the risk of non-seminoma testicular cancer. This is a more dangerous type of testicular cancer that requires chemotherapy treatment. We have to take it seriously.” (qtd. in Simon 2012). Although some studies of smoking marijuana are not associated with cancer, there are later studies that found a clear relation between smoking and cancer, which is very dangerous for our health.

In conclusion, scientifically marijuana is a drug that produces noxious effect in mental health, respiratory system, and lung of human being. For this reason, this drug is classified by department of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), as Schedule I, and under Federal law, it still is considered an offense. The marijuana is addictive and causes personal and familiar damage in a society. Although many people ignore of the consequence of smoking marijuana, medical researchers found that smoking impairs the capacity of learning and remembering. They also demonstrated that is addictive, altering the levels of dopamine in our brains. The researchers also found that marijuana is associated with a range of damaging pulmonary and respiratory problems. Researchers found a clear association between marijuana and lung cancer and a study of DNA determined that marijuana potentially damages DNA, causing a possibility to develop cancer. Finally, researchers in a recent study found an association between marijuana and testicular cancer. Therefore, scientifically it is shown that smoking marijuana is bad for our health.

 

Works Cited

Brooks, Megan. “Estructural Brain Differences Seen in Casual Marijuana.” Medscape Medical News: Neurology. WebMD LLC, 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.

Caulkins, Jonathan P., Angela Hawken, Beau Kilmer, and Mark A. R. Kleiman.”What Are the Risks of Using Marijuana?” Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2012. 54-80. Print.

Deramus, Tony. “It’s All in Your Head: Marijuana and the Brain.” The Seceret Addiction: Overcoming Your Marijuana Dependency. Texas: SMA International, LLC, 2011. 129-136. Print.

Moore, Brenda A. “Respiratory Effects of Marijuana and Tobacco Use in a U.S. Sample.” The National Center for Biotechnology. National Center for Biotechnology Information, US and National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.

Nauert, Rick. “Long-Term PotUse Tied to Less Dopamine, Which May Help Explain Less Motivation.” Psych Central. Psych Central, 2014. Web. 28 Nov. 2014.

Saad, Lidia. “In U.S., 38% Have Tried Marijuana, Little Changed Since ‘80s.” Gallup. Gallup, Inc. 2014. Web. 7 Dec. 2014.

Saad, Lidia. “Majority Continues to Support Pot Legalization in U.S.” Gallup. Gallup, Inc. 2014. Web. 7 Dec. 2014.

Simon Stacy. “Study Marijuana Use to Testicular Cancer.” American Cancer Society. American Cancer Society Inc, 2014. Web. 5 Dec. 2014.

 United States. Department of Justice. Drug Enforcement Administration. “Drug Fact Sheets: Marijuana/Cannabis.” DEA Drug Enforcement Administration. Department of Justice, 2011. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.

United States. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute on Drug Abuse: The Science of Drug Abuse & Addiction. “ DrugFacts: Marijuana.” National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Institute of Health, 2014. Web. 4 Oct 2014.

Volkow, Nora D. “Decreased Dopamine Brain Reactivity in Marijuana Abuser Is Associated with Negative Emotionally and Addiction Severity.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. National Academy of Sciences, 2014. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.

Zickle, Petrick. “Marijuana Smoking Is Associated With a Spectrum of Respiratory Disorders.” National Institute on Drug Abuse: The Science of Drug Abuse & Addiction. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and National Institutes of Health, 1 Oct. 2006. Web. 8 Oct 2014.