Speech- McKenna Elliott

            Cigarettes contain over 4,000 dangerous chemicals, including 43 known cancer-causing compounds, and causes around 500,000 American deaths annually, yet are still legal. Marijuana has less than ten percent of that amount of chemicals, many of which are natural, 61 of which are unique to the cannabis plant, and has caused zero deaths, yet it is still illegal. Does that seem fair to you? Marijuana was legal at one point in American history, and was only made illegal due to many factors not related to the drug itself. After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, many Mexican immigrants were fleeing to the United States, and many Americans feared them. When the Mexicans introduced using marijuana for recreational purposes, people had a tendency to associate their fear of Mexicans with the use of marijuana, giving them a misconception of the drug, leading to the illegalization of it and the controversy that still exists today. If there are so many proven mind, body, and economical benefits, what is holding back American citizens and politicians from legalizing it?

The simple facts about marijuana reveal that it is harmless, and professedly beneficial to the health of one’s body and mind. THC’s interaction with the neurotransmitter called anandamide in the brain, which creates the happy, relaxed, and sleepy euphoria experienced by those ingesting or inhaling marijuana. There are also cannabinoid receptors in the endocannabinoid system, located near the amygdala, and the receptors regulate pain and appetite, so therefore when they are activated by cannabis, they decrease and regulate anxiety. During a high, one’s creativity is spurred through the release of dopamine in the brain, which gives you the serene, euphoric feeling associated with marijuana, and decreases your inhibitions and “inner-editor” so that when a person is drawing, writing, or doing anything of that sort while high, their thoughts move freely. Studies have also shown that the use of marijuana increases hyper-priming, which is when a person is able to make connections between things that are seemingly unrelated.  Overall, marijuana stimulates the brain and body in a positive manner. It has a very low addiction level, if any, and if one were to be addicted to marijuana, it is seemingly impossible to overdose because researchers have found that one would need to smoke around 20,000 blunts to overdose. In comparison to alcohol, it causes much less physical damage to the body as well as a person’s surroundings, so it is therefore safer. Compared to other illegal drugs, it is much safer to the person and society because a person who is smoking marijuana likely does not feel a strong desire to go rob a bank or shoot someone, but rather to lie on the couch with a bag of chips. Keeping marijuana illegal is like keeping the freedom of our mind, body, and soul illegal. Does that seem fair to you?

Those who oppose the legalization of marijuana are usually against it due to common misconceptions about the short-term and long-term effects. The reality is that marijuana has very, very few, if any health risks. It’s actually been proven to have various health benefits. Journal of the American Medical Association tested the lung function capabilities of 5,115 young adults over the course of 20 years, and the study found that Tobacco Smokers lost lung function over time, but marijuana smokers actually showed an increase in their lung capacity. This begs the question of why citizens everywhere are legally allowed to self-medicate themselves with something as detrimental to their health as cigarettes and/or alcohol, but a safer, more benefitting alternative is illegal.

Yes, marijuana is legal in some states, but other than just a couple, it is strictly for medical purposes. Those who are permitted to use it medically have not reported any major problems using the drug, so why not open it up to the public? Some people spend thousands of dollars on therapy, psychologists, prescriptions, and many other resources for things that could easily and more economically treated with a joint. A prime example is my sister who has had problems with anger, anxiety, depression, attention span, along with other things, her entire life. She has been prescribed a wide variety of medicines and coping techniques that never seemed to work because the only thing that has ever been able to soothe her body and mind of her abnormalities is marijuana. She has been living her life unable to get the medication she needs because it is illegal, all while in the presence of my grandmother dying a slow death at our home for nine years due to emphysema from smoking cigarettes, which she thought harmless due to their legality, for 45 years. I have seen the mental and physical oppression firsthand and it is not an enchanting sight. So tell me, does that seem fair to you?

Marijuana legalization has the potential to reduce healthcare costs for millions of Americans because they will be able to freely  and more cheaply medicate themselves with what works for them, rather than wasting their own money or government money on other resources. It has been proven that marijuana can treat glaucoma by reducing the amount of pressure in the eye and can also slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, which currently affects around 5 million Americans. It has also been shown that it can help treat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and even treat life-threatening seizures.

Yes, stoned driving is a potential danger to the marijuana user as well as those around them, but if marijuana were legalized, it could be treated like alcohol in the sense that if a person is pulled over and marijuana is in their system, they are issued a DUI. Legalization of marijuana could increase chances of drugs falling into the hands of minors, but the simple solution to that would be to have a legal marijuana use age, just like we have a legal drinking age. It would not keep the drug out of the hands of minors totally, but as much as the government and other organizations try, is alcohol really kept out of the hands of kids either?

             The facts are all there, marijuana is less harmful than many things which are legal in our country, and is even more beneficial to our health and well-being than those things, such as alcohol and cigarettes. It is not as detrimental to a person as other illegal drugs like meth, cocaine, and heroin, so therefore should not be classified into the same category as them when dealing with law and justice, and should be legalized. By keeping marijuana illegal, the government is oppressing our health, creativity, and even our freedom. Does that seem fair to you?

 

Works Cited

Easter, Brian. "The Science Behind Cannabis and Creativity." The Nebo Blog Interactive Marketing Design Ramblings. Nebo Agency, 30 Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2014.

Loria, Jennifer Welsh and Kevin. "23 Health Benefits Of Marijuana." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 20 Apr. 2014. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.

Ray, Oakley. "What Chemicals Are in Marijuana and Its Byproducts? - Medical Marijuana - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. Procon, 8 July 2009. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.

Tilley, Dylan. “Marijuana: A Chronic History.” 2014. The History Channel website. Dec 14 2014, 1:32 http://www.history.com/videos/marijuana-a-chronic-history.

               

Speech-Emily Chavez

English Final- Persuasive Speech

Emily Chavez

According to a USA TODAY report, there are over 500,000 severely mentally ill Americans who are suffering from the broken mental health care system in our country. More often than not, the mentally ill are found in emergency rooms, jail cells and even the streets rather than in adequate treatment facilities. The continuation of a failing mental health care system poses a problem for every citizen in the United States, whether that is financially, emotionally or physically. Each year, we see more school shootings than we did in the previous one. The number of suicides is increasing. Denying proper treatment to these sufferers is unacceptable and will hurt them and those around them.

Mental illness is just that- an illness. One does not choose to be clinically depressed or to be bipolar. There is a chemical imbalance in the body of a mentally ill person that causes them to act or feel the way they do. However, these illnesses tend to have a different stigma to them compared to terminal cancer or diabetes. Because this affects the behavior of people and the physical symptoms may not be evident or present, many Americans blame the person for their actions without taking into account that there may be a real medical motive behind the actions.

This is one aspect of the mental health care system that must be changed in order to provide patients with the care they deserve. Mental illness is not taken as seriously as breast cancer or as Alzheimer’s, simply because mental illness is very difficult to treat and understand and it is easier to label a school shooter as “crazy” rather than take the possibility of mental illness into account. There are clues that someone may have a mental illness and if Americans are educated on these clues and are taken seriously, we can prevent tragedy.

In 2007, Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho was ordered by the court to seek mental health care because his behavior was worrisome to peers. Sadly, this order was never followed up on and Cho killed 32 people and himself. James Holmes been reported to University of Colorado police as “potentially violent”. No action was taken after these reports, and he shot 70 people in a Denver movie theater dressed as the Joker. Even beloved actor Robin Williams committed suicide after years of a silent battle with depression and anxiety.

If these people had been given the necessary treatment for their illnesses, dozens of lives would have been spared. But instead, we live in a nation that continues to fail to recognize, understand and properly treat these people before it is too late. On average, those with severe mental illness live about 23 years less than their fellow Americans. Lives are being lost to a problem that can often be treated with simple medication and psychiatric help.

Everyday people are feeling the repercussions of the tattered system. Karen Kelley is 55 years old and has fought with depression for over 15 years. She describes depression as “being in a tunnel that's encased in with black”. Her psychiatrist tried to get her admitted into a hospital only to be informed that not only was there not a psychiatric bed available in her city of Burlington, but there was not a single psychiatric bed available in the state of Vermont. Karen felt like the world would be a better place without her, but she did not want to die. She knew she needed medical help one night and aware of the flawed mental care system, swallowed an entire bottle of pills and said to her husband “Now they will have to admit me.”

Unfortunately, she’s right. That was the only way she was going to been seen. Because there seems to be such a lack of immediate care for the mentally ill, the emergency room is the only option in many situations. In order to avoid waiting in the ER for hours, many do drastic things because they know their lives are in danger if they are unable to get help. Even after they are admitted, there is a only a small amount of time the ER has to keep the patient- only until they are no longer a threat to themselves or others. This is an ongoing cycle that for much of the mentally ill population does not end.

But that’s best case scenario. That is when someone recognizes their illness and is well enough to see the need to go to a hospital. What happens when they don’t? Many try to oppress the symptoms with alcohol and drugs, leading to troubles with addiction. With the combination of addiction and other mental illnesses, these people end up unemployed and often in jail or living on the streets. We see this in Lexington. More than 25 percent of the homeless population can be contributed to mental illness and lack of treatment. We are losing valuable and productive members of our community and our society because this country cannot take this issue seriously.

Mental health care affects everyone in the amount of money we put into a tattered system. It is estimated that we spend about $444 million. The bulk of this is spent in loss of productivity and disability payments. Thomas Insel, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said, "The way we pay for mental health today is the most expensive way possible. We don't provide support early, so we end up paying for lifelong support." If America was treating these illnesses before they became a handicap, our society would be more productive.  There would be far fewer people on the streets and more contributing to our economy

We must strive to change two main things about the way the United States operates when it comes to mental health care and those who need it. First, we must begin to treat sufferers adequately- this means for the proper amount of time, with the proper medication and counseling. Over half a million people are severely affected by this and giving these people the treatment they so rightfully deserve is crucial to their well being, and society’s as a whole.

Secondly, we must advocate removing this negative connotation that people with mental illness have to endure. They are not “crazy” nor or they “freaks” nor do they have any say in the chemical imbalances in their brain that makes them feel and behave the way they do. I know that’s hard sometimes. It’s hard to be sympathetic to a school shooter who killed dozens of people, but we have to recognize their actions may not always occur with malicious intent. It’s hard to see the pain these people are feeling because it is not always evident from the outside. Just as we wouldn’t refuse a hospital to someone with terminal cancer, we should think it is acceptable to do so to someone who is suicidal or to someone with Schizophrenia.

This starts with people like you and me. Average people who refuse to joke about bipolar disorder when referring to the weather. Average people who do not make suicidal jokes when referring to studying for their finals. Average people that do not call the kid with anxiety in the back of the classroom a “weirdo” because he cannot help it. Average people who educate themselves on clues of mental illness and are willing to express concern when necessary. Average people who speak up against the current system and maybe one of us average people will be overheard by someone not-so-average. That may be a member of Congress who wants to write a piece of legislation reforming the way we treat sufferers of mental illness and make it a more financially efficient process. That might be someone who has lost a son to suicide and is happy to hear someone take the topic seriously. It could be someone who is silently crying for help and is waiting for someone to save them. Changing the way an entire nation feels towards a group of people is not easy, in fact it may be the hardest thing we could venture to do. If we wish to begin the construction of the strong and dependable system our country simply does not have, silence will not do. Be the voice for hundreds of thousands of those whose own have been taken from them because of a terrible illness and help them start building the efficient and reliable system they are in desperate need of.  

Flying Turkeys- Anne Russell

I love Thanksgiving for many reasons, the main one being that it brings all the family together. While we weren't able to this year, most years for thanksgiving we go up to Texas where most of my dad's family, consisting of a whopping 5 brothers and 1 sister along with their many children, reside. If they don't already live there, like us, they clear their schedules to travel to Paris, Texas for the giant family reunion. In the morning, the Thanksgiving Day Parade is playing on the TV for everyone to watch at their leisure. As the day goes on, the ladies make their way to the kitchen to help with cooking the turkey and other necessities while the men usually crowd around the TV to watch football. The food spread is always interesting, a potluck of sorts. The main foods are cooked at the house where everyone is gathering, but other small sides and desserts are brought by everyone who comes. We always have a wide variety of yummy food to indulge in. After we eat, things quiet down a bit as everyone settles into a food coma. My personal favorite part of thanksgiving, as I said, is just being around family and getting to talk with people that you only see once a year. There's always little kiddos running around for me to play with, and adults to talk with once I decide I need some intelligent conversation. So yes, this holiday is definitely something I look forward. I just love taking a day to remind yourself of all you have to be thankful for.

Covergirl - Caleb Combs

School can be extremely stressful.  For me, soccer is a huge stress reliever.  I am a part of the Henry Clay soccer program and I really enjoy it.  I really look forward after school to our practices and even more so for games.  I have played for Henry Clay since freshman year and it has been a huge part of my life ever since.  After a long day in the classroom, knowing I have a practice to look forward to is a real motivator.  In a way soccer may actually contribute to my stress, as it reduces the time I have after school to focus on my studies.   This stress however is nothing compared to what is released when I take the field.  With soccer, I can forget about anything that was on my mind during school, be it a bad grade or anything else. This makes it no doubt my best stress reliever.

Brave Little Toasters - Isabel Jenkins

I am a whale. My tag claims that I am a dolphin, but all of the others (including myself) agree that I'm a bit too puffy to be a dolphin. Mind you, I do not consider myself to be a real dolphin - or real whale - but instead one of the stuffed variety. Pillow Pet, in fact. I have a few friends, but they have all been dispersed around the house. My only consolation is the mother's penguin Pillow Pet, which has been stolen and stuffed behind my owner's bed. If only she could have stolen the brother's frog...that penguin goes on with incessant blabbering all throughout the night. Yet mMMFMFffFFFFMMMMF

Ahem, excuse me. My owner decided to grab me by the nose and change my location. Thankfully I am not in the most uncomfortable position at this moment, just merely being used as a lap desk for a MacBook. The only downfall of this duty is the rectangular imprint the laptop leaves on my stomach. But the feeling itself is somewhat pleasurable - the soft whir of the internal computer system, the tapping and clicking of keys, the warm metal sinking into my blubber. Ah, yes. I am unsure what you, fair reader, have been through, but this is the life.

Flying Turkeys - Ben Grossman

I spend my Thanksgiving pretty much the same every year. My grandparents come to visit from California and my aunt and uncle visit from Chicago. We eat a lot of food(my favorite is mashed potatoes and gravy) then watch ridiculous amounts of football. This year we watched enough games for the rest of the year.

I personally love Thanksgiving. I mean whats there not to like, its just eating food, spending time with family, and relaxing. A cool thing about this year was that on Wednesday i got to go see Big Hero 6 with a bunch of friends which i had been dying to see since it came out. Wednesday isn't Thanksgiving but i'm going to count it as part of it since its during the break.

The worst Thanksgiving memory i have was when my other aunt, uncle, and cousin visited us from California. Pretty much everyone got sick and threw-up all over the place. I think that was the last time they ever visited for Thanksgiving.

Brave Little Toasters - Ben Grossman

Hey i'm a Nintendo 3ds. I start each day plugged into my charger. Then my owner unplugs me and sticks me into his backpack. I want to go back on the charger but i can't say anything since i don't have a mouth. I'm then pulled out when he gets into the car. I hate being in the dark pocket of his backpack so i love it when he pulls me out. We arrive at school and all that joy is sucked away as i'm shoved back into the pocket. I usually don't get used again until lunch which is very sad. Sometimes hes not doing anything in a class and i get pulled out before. During lunch hes usually so engrossed in playing me that he forgets to eat. I'm not complaining because that's most time out of the pocket. The next time i get pulled out is when we get back home and hes finished all his homework. I don't always get played though, its usually that stupid laptop that gets used. By the end of the day i'm usually tired and i just want to sleep. He plugs me in and i get to repeat the same process again the next day!