Psychology And Society Essays - Smoking, Tobacco, Drug User

Psychology And Society Psychology is the scientific study of human and animal behavior. It is made of theories and tries to prove why we behave the way we do, our mental processes, our emotions, and our actions. In this writing assignment I will discuss why some people choose to behave so outrageous that we see it as abnormal self-destructive behavior and why others try to fit in this society and follow the rules. In the United States there`s people from all over the world from different cultures and traditions. I will give my personal opinion on some of the issues and controversies in our country. My first issue is about drugs. Many people feel that certain illegal drugs like heroin, marijuana, and cocaine should be legalized. I think it`s a crazy idea, people feel that is they legalize it at first we would buy it but then we would get bored and the use will decrease, but how many lives will be lost? Is it worth taken a chance? I don`t think so, tobacco is legal and people don`t get tired of smoking, so if they legalized these drugs more and more people will get addicted. The effects of any drug depend on several factors like the amount taken the user`s past drug experience, the manner in which is taken, and circumstances. Heroin is a highly addictive drug derived from morphine, which is obtain from the opium poppy. It is a downer that affects the brains pleasure systems and interferes with the brains ability to perceive pain. Heroin can be injected into a vein or a muscle, smoked in a water pipe, inhale as smoke through a straw or snorted as powder via the nose. Cocaine is a powerful central nervous system stimulant that heightens alertness, inhibits appetite and the need for sleep, and provides intense feelings of pleasure. Cocaine`s short-term effects appear soon after a single dose. Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette or in a pipe or a bong. If you have a job and you are selected for a urine test marijuana will show up. The short-term effects of marijuana include problems with memory and learning, distorted perception, loss of coordination, increased heart rate and anxiety. The long-term effects of these drugs include slowed and slurred speech, constricted pupils, droopy eyelids, impaired night vision, sedation, coma, addiction, convulsions, heart failure, paranoia, hallucinations, delusions, loss of interest in sex, marijuana even contains some of the same, and sometimes even more of the cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco. These drugs can hurt you and those who surround you. I don`t understand why would anyone go through the risk of dying of overdosed and just the fact of addiction is a nightmare that many choose to live every day of their lives. Drugs bring me to my next issue which is why some people think that alcohol and tobacco should be illegal. Let me start by saying that millions of lives would be safe if smoking and drinking was illegal. Is it fair for innocent people to die because of a drunk driver or because of second hand smoke? How much do we value the lives of others and our own?. You don`t need to drink much alcohol before your ability to dive becomes impaired. The more heavily you drink, the greater the potential for problems at home, at work, with friends, and even with strangers. One of my family member was an alcoholic and I know that they face a lot of problems like arguments with the family or friends, loss of employment due to absences or decreased productivity, committing or being the victim of violence and also alcohol can cause a range of birth defects, the most serious being fetal alcohol syndrome F.A.S. (physical abnormalities, mental impairment). Children born with alcohol-related birth defects can have lifelong learning and behavior problems. Some problems, like those I mentioned above, can occur after drinking over a relatively short period of time. But other problems such as liver disease, heart disease, certain forms of cancer, and pancreatitis often develop more gradually and may become evident only after long-term heavy drinking. Women may develop alcohol-related health problems after consuming less alcohol that men do over a short period of time. Some drinkers develop alcoholic hepatitis, or inflammation of the liver which can cause death if drinking continues. If drinking stops, this condition often is reversible. Alcohol also causes cirrhosis which is not reversible and causes death unless you stop and you`re chances of survival improve considerably. Moderate drinking can have beneficial