The World of Hallucination(Persuasive essay)

<Persuasive Essay>

Joanna Pak (ESL 101)

6 May 2015

Prof. Tami Barker

The World of Hallucination

Even though nine out of ten aspects of something are good, one can have a problem.  If this happens, it is not beneficial.  Numerous data and study researches are showing how beneficial marijuana is so far.  Nevertheless, many people still disagree about marijuana’s legalization. In the U.S.A., still only two states, which are Washington and Colorado, have legalized marijuana for recreational use, and twenty states have legalized it for medical use.  After marijuana was legalized in Colorado, 120,000 people have become approved medical users. (www.mic.com) It is not only Colorado, but in the world, the countries which have legalized marijuana have many problems too, especially with teenagers and children.  Since marijuana causes several problems, government should stop its availability.  Marijuana should not be legalized because it could cause health problems, illogical thinking, and expensive cost problems.

First of all, marijuana should not be legalized because of the health problems it causes.  If marijuana becomes legal, everybody will be able to use it, especially young people, including teenagers.  If people smoke marijuana from when they are teenagers or younger, it will take a heavy toll on their brains.  Smoking marijuana damages the brain and causes memory loss, low impulse control and learning problems.  At first, the symptoms do not appear all at once, but they gradually start to appear over time.  As a result, many people who smoked marijuana cannot concentrate on studying, work, or anything.  Besides, marijuana contains 50-70% more cancer-causing substances than tobacco smoke. (http://www.drugfreeworld.org) Marijuana not only causes lung cancer, but other kinds of cancer too.  Some people insist that marijuana helps people to relieve many illness symptoms, but there is no hard evidence of that yet. 

Another one of the reasons that marijuana should not be legalized is marijuana makes people think illogically.  Marijuana causes hallucinations.  Of course, alcohol causes hallucinations too, but marijuana is carried or hidden easier than alcohol.  Even if the government restrains marijuana smokers to not carry marijuana to some places, it would be hard to control them.  If marijuana smokers smoke everywhere and anytime, it could cause a car accident, disturb study or work, or ruin relationships.  Also memory damage affects logical thinking too.  When THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol), which is one of the ingredients of marijuana, enters the body, it targets the memory part of the brain. (www.foxnews.com) Because of this, marijuana smokers start losing their memories gradually. 

The last reason is marijuana smokers have to spend a lot of money to buy marijuana and pay their medical costs.  Recently the cost of an eighth of an ounce of marijuana is between $35-$70 after taxes, and the average price is $65.  The average amount of marijuana used is one fourth to one eighth of an ounce a day. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com) Therefore, marijuana smokers spend a lot of money to enjoy only that time.  Besides, marijuana smokers have to pay their medical costs because smoking marijuana can cause lung cancer, brain impairments, schizophrenia, and anxiety.  Particularly, if the marijuana smokers have Medicaid, the government has to foot the Medicaid bill.  Of course, they pay tax for the marijuana, but their medical cost is more expensive than the tax which they would pay.

As was stated above, marijuana causes health problems, makes it difficult to think reasonably, and wastes a lot of money.  Many people say that marijuana is not as dangerous as alcohol or cigarettes, but the obvious fact is marijuana has bigger problems.  Everybody has the right to enjoy life, but instead of solving marijuana’s issues regarding its safety and cost problems, the government should not allow use of marijuana.

Fight the Fat(Cause and Effect Essay)

ESL 101

Cause and Effect Essay

Joanna Pak

4 May 2015

Prof. Tami Barker

Fight the Fat

             Today, the weight-loss industry is expanding rapidly and enormously.  For example, diet pills, weight-loss programs, and low-calorie foods are various ways to lose weight.  Despite having all these things, obesity is increasing.  According to an article in The New York Times (www.NYTS.com), 95% of people who have lost weight regain it and sometimes even more within a few months or years.  In other words, losing weight is very difficult.  Then why do obese people try so hard to lose weight?  Many people think that they are just trying to have nice-looking bodies.  In fact, obesity causes many negative effects such as health problems, low self-confidence, and money loss. 

             One of the important reasons obese people want to lose weight is that obesity causes many health problems.  Many obese people have high blood sugar, and high blood sugar levels damage organs and vessels.  When the pancreas is damaged, it does not produce enough insulin.  As a result, obese people get diabetes easily.  Besides, when too much nutritional fat (e.g., cholesterols and triglycerides) enters the body, fat molecules in the blood are accumulated, making blood vessels narrower and sometimes blocking them completely.  This can cause blood supply to the heart to be insufficient, leading to heart pain or a heart attack.

             Also, obesity lowers self-confidence.  For example, when obese people walk in a public area, they become self-conscious about their looks.  To tell the truth, obese people attract people’s attention.  Even when nobody is watching them, obese people think that everyone is watching them.  Moreover, when obese people go to narrow places, like a subway, a plane seat, or an elevator, they may feel guilty for taking up extra space.  The second example is when they buy their clothes.  When they go shopping for their clothes, they hardly find their size or obese people look ugly.  Usually, many clothing stores only sell up to two extra large sizes, so many obese people do not want to go shopping because they need a bigger size than what they clothing stores sell.

             Lastly, obese people spend a lot of money.  First, most obese people enjoy eating out instead of cooking at home, but restaurant food usually has high calories and is expensive.  For example, if somebody makes a steak, when they prepare it at home, it costs around $10-20, but when they eat out at a restaurant, they have to pay over $15-200.  Secondly, obese people spend a lot of money to eat, because obese people eat a large amount of food.  Also, they prefer meat or greasy food over other foods.  That kind of food is much more expansive than others. Besides, they need extra medicine costs, special-clothes costs, and special-car costs.

             On top of reasons like health problems, low self-confidence, and the costs of being obese mentioned above, various reports are saying how important it is to lose weight.  Many obese people say that losing weight is like a war.  Experts recommend that obese people exercise and eat smaller portions.  Additionally, getting a gym membership and getting training from a trainer, attending loss weight management programs, or watching weight loss programs like Boot Camp and Extreme Weight Loss will help them.  However, losing weight requires constant effort.  Even though losing weight is hard, if obese people take small steps, they will live healthier lives.