Category: Free Essays

Culture, Gender, and Religion at the Limit of Human Rights in Africa.

The essay will focus on how culture, gender and religion limits human rights in Africa and how the three come into conflict which leads to discursively construct each other via cultural. It will also cover the potential and limitations of the women’s rights as human rights in which, attension will be paid to Islamic law-sharia and some of it cases in Nigeria. The essay will also relate international human rights documents like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, African Charter on human and people’s rights, protocol to the African Charter on Human and people’s Rights of women in Africa, and Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam(sharia law) and conclusion.

Legal Pluralism in Human Rights Law:

The plurality of norms and values that exist in different African cultues and societies is also reflected within the human rights system itself. The human rights system embodies both individual and communal rights. The tension relationship between the principle of a group’s right to self determination and cultural identity, asembodied in the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and Article 16.1 of the Women’s convention, which puts an obligation on the states parties to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relationg to marriage and family relation. In the African context is whether the protection of group rights such as culture and religious identity of ethnic group, constitutes a justifiable reason for differential treatment of women and men in African. There has always been great arguement when interpreting the convention in relationa to African States parties, it should be born in mind that African and Western cultures apply different values and norm(Grannes 1994:28) This is because the implementation of Women’s convention has proved to be particularly problematic in the area of personal and family law, where it comes into conflict with religious and customary laws and practices.

Human Rights in African

Over decades now, Africa have been ranked by international Human Rights organizationas like Human Right Watch, Ammesty International and International Crimenial Court as a continent where human rights violations are at it apex especially islamic countries, the violation of women’s basic human rights are mostly done in the name of culture and religion. [1] After the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 in which pursuit of equal rights for women through international law has been fair from reach. The principle says that everyone is free and equal in diginity and eveveryone is entitled to rights “without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex…” was started in Articles 1 and 2 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights [2] , African Charter by the Organization of African Unity (now African Unity) in 1986, Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam by the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 1993. Anthropology as an academic discipline has embraced a predominantly ethical relativist stance toward the idea of human rights as a legitimate universal concern for all cultures. In the past years the rising prominence of women’s rights as human rights has challenged this point of view. Within the context of the global women’s human rights movement, feminist anthropologists are in the forefront of this challenge, striving to uphold anthropology’s important focus on cultural context, while at the same time paying deep concern for harmful pracetics against women, with female genital mutilation in African no exception, which may be argued to be morally objectionable outside of any given culture. “Human Rights” is a very difficult phrase to define. One’s idea of humanity varies in every culture especially in African societies; discrepancies are often found even within a singular culture.

Gender,Culture, Religion and social Causes a Barrie to Human Rights in Africa:

Violence continues to affect lives of millions of women in African in all socio- legal, economic and educational classes. This is cuting across cultural and religious barriers, which impeding women from taking full participation in societies. One of the greatest barriers to women’s economic advancement is violence they face on daily routine. Not only does such violence impede women’s ability to live full and productive lives, it also hampers their contributions to family, society and economic development. Violance aganist women is one of the most visible consequences of economic, social, political, legal and cultural inequalities that exist between men and women in Africa, as a result the continent is laging behind the rest of the world [3] . Given the subordinate status of women in Africa, women are most exposed to ill treatments, physiological abuse, and physical violence, such gender violence is considered normal and enjoys social sanction.

African continent is rich in cultural relativity(culture of discrimination) and norms, as a result it has showed a vital barrier to the implementation of the universal human rights act.

A universal agreement among certain human rights provisions is not likely to occur, specifically when dealing with islamic countries in African where transition to more equal rights is most problematic, where elements of Sharia law governing the behaviour of women remain active. In extreme examples in Northern Nigeria, these ancient laws still declaims that adultery is a crime when only carried out by women, and makes it impossible for a man to be convicted of rape. In certain circumstances, conforming to human rights would signify a fundamental change in societies that the elite is not willing to undertake, fearing a potential change in the balance of power while the cultural norms remains unchanged.

Violence against women in Africa comes in several forms discrimination, rape and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), which the World Health Orgnazation (WHO) defines as ‘comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons’.

The practice is mostly carried out by traditional circumcisers, who often play other central roles in communities, such as attending childbirths. Increasingly, however, FGM is being performed by health care providers and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a person’s rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death.

Despirte global efforts by World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to combat the wild spred of FGM, it still remains donominant in Africa as a cultureal partices, which lives about 92 million girls age 10 years and above are estimated to have undergone FGM and three million girls are at risk annually [4] .

The reasons behind female genital mutilation in Africa include a mix of cultural, religious and social factors within families and communities.In most African countries where FGM is a social convention, the social pressure to conform to what others do and have been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate the practice. Traditions in African believes that FGM is often considered a necessary part of raising up process for girl(s), and a way to prepare them for adulthood and marriage life, it often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behaviour, linking procedures to premarital virginity and marital fidelity and is also associated with cultural ideals of femininity and modesty, which include the notion that girls are clean and beautiful after removal of body parts that are considered male or unclean. The Africa Traditional Reglions (ATRs) is the only religion that fully support to the practice, practitioners often believe the practice has religious support, other religious leaders take active positions with regard to FGM: some still promote it, some consider it unimportant to religion, and others are still kicking against the idea.

Potential and Limitations of Women’s Rights as Human Rights

Social and economic indicators for African countries consistently show that women bear the greatest brunt of hardship because of disciminatory lwas against them, efforts to modernise this discriminatory laws have been frustrated by deep-rooted cultural barriers that runs in opposite direction with developments . Women in Africa contribute in numerous ways to the national development of every country. They are responsible for nearly all household duties , starting from food productions and processing exercises. Often, women tend to be viewed not as individuals, but as part of the male-headed household with some unique needs of their own related to their preceived roles, if given the rigts they can be at the front line of major global issues.

Women organizations in Africa and around world such as Formum for African Women Educationalist (FAWE) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) have been actively involve in using different approaches in seeing the the rights of women as stated in various international human rights docuents be met,their efforts are far from reach in Africa.

Sharai Law:

The word sharia means “the path to a watering hole”. It denotes an Islamic way of life that is more than a system of criminal justice. Sharia is a religious code for living, in the same way that the Bible offers a moral system for Christians. It is adopted by most Muslims to a greater or lesser degree as a matter of personal conscience, but it can also be formally instituted as law by certain states and enforced by the courts. Many Islamic countries have adopted elements of sharia law, governing areas such as inheritance, banking and contract law.

Sharai Law in Nigeria -Case One:

Safiya Hussaini, age 35, was sentenced to death by stoning in October 2002 for allegedly having a child with a married neighbour. She had the child after her divorce, but maintained the father was her former husband and that they were married when the child was conceived. The court convicted her, but Hussaini won an appeal, this time alleging that she had sex out of wedlock before sharia law took effect.

Sharai Law in Nigeria – Case Two:

In 2001, a teenage single mother was given 100 lashes for adultery, even though she argued she was raped by three men. The court said Bariya Ibrahim Magazu could not prove that the men forced her to have sex. Sexual discrimenation is transparent in this case, The Sharai law failed to bring the three men to book for raping, insisted all the blame was put on the woman alone.

Sharai Law in Nigeria -Case Three: In 2002, Adama Unusua, who was 19 and pregnant, was recently sentenced to 100 lashes in public for having sex with her fiance. [5]

International Human Rights Documents and Sharia Law in Africa:

The African continent ratified international and regional human rights protection instruments, human rights violations such as discrimination against women persists widely both in law and practice.The international commettee remains particularly concerned by the currently violations of human rights in Africa especially the ones currently going on in North Africa andWest Africa(Ivory Coast). The persistence of discriminatory laws; lack of perfect harmonisation between statutory and customary laws and the application of Sharia laws constantly increase violence against women, including widowhood rites; and obstacles to access top employment opportunities leades tonor right in decision-making that even affects them.The Shariagoes in oppsite direction with all international and regional human rights documents, expect in the Cariro Declaration on Human Rights in Islam by the Organization of the Islam Conferencce in may 1993, which made provision in Article 2 [6]

Conclusion:

Increase in the violation of huma rights in Africa is at it apex point, both the international and regional commeteer need to pay much attension to this issues, especially the violation of fundamental rights which are clearly speelts in all human rights documents with execption to Articule 2(c) p 4 of the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights.Women’s rights must be respected by eliminating all form of discrimination against them, so that they can see themselves as partners in development in African.

Immigration is a topic that not every individual would like to discuss, but its an issue that we hear and see every day. There is a high increase in immigrants entering the United Kingdom from European Union countries. Immigration is a subject that’s difficult to collect detailed data from as there is a lack of official statistics or evidence. As already mentioned, there are many immigrants from European countries but there are also immigrants entering London from many other countries (non-european). This depends on various reasons, as some may enter a specific country in order to escape from danger in their existing place or to claim asylum. So how do we know if immigration good or bad for the UK? I have conducted an ananymous interview and will use it to critically reflect on the journal article ‘Immigration and Social Cohesion in the UK’. The article mainly focuses on the negative aspects of migration in regards of population dimension. In this essay I will mention a few benefits that have been brought into London through immigration. I will make arguments in regards of economical and social benefits to the area. I’ll be arguing against the journal article and will announce positive aspects and my own view of migration. I will use the answers given by my interviewee and also use some external secondary data.

What is immigration? People who move from one nation to the other without being citizens to that specific national state are called immigrants. This is the movement of immigration (ImmigrationAssist, Undated). Immigration is an arguable topic in London as there are both, positive and negative aspects to it. I think that there are more positive aspects to immigration in London rather than negative aspects. London has become a popular place of immigration. People started migrating to London after the second world war (Migration Information, 2009). Immigrants are viewed as people who take over on jobs and houses and leave nothing for the existing citizens (Interview, Line). Criticisms of immigration to consider is that social solidarity gets weaker and secondly that immigrants do not adopt the culture and values shared in Britain, but rather express their own values within London. Immigration is viewed as a cultural eraser. Moreover the UK has a policy framework which prevents racial discrimination and therefore allows minorities to be visible within the country. Immigration levels have been constant from 1990 onwards (The Guardian, 2001). However, today London is receiving an unimaginable rate of immigrants.

Recently, there have been great arguments if there should be a limit introduced to immigration in London. Before attempting to give your own opinion it is important to consider both; negative and positive aspects of the topic. To announce it more accurately I think that it is difficult to maintain both sides at an equal level or to make a fixed statement for or against the matter. We, as the public have opinions about the limitation on immigration so do politicians. Let us consider some if these views. One of the main view is that the country is getting over populated. One of those over populated places in Britain is London. At present times there is a population number of 65 million people within London, however predicitions claim that within 70 years the population number will rise up to 108 million people (BBC, 2011). This means that immigrants will need houses to live in. The government is therefore building as many houses as possible. This means that the government is spending alot of money on resources. We’ll end up having less countrysides but a higher level of pollution as houses increase. If there was a limit set to immigration, the government wouldn’t need to spend money on building houses (Policy Network, 2013).

Not everyone has the same view about immigration, every individual has a different thought about it. Some of us certainly believe that it is better if we closed our borders in order to decrease the level of immigration (Gov.uk, 2013). But what do we gain from limiting the number of immigrants entering the country? The common perspective of immigration is that immigrants enter the country in order to obtain social benefits, which my interviewee also thought of (Interview, Line). However, immigrants do not possess the knowledge of the native language that is being used in the country, as they come from a different culture with different religions and different languages. These differences can lead to serious problems, such as violence. Dishonest immigrants enter the country in order to sell drugs or to carry out illegal activities. This is not a subject to be concerned about in London as much as it is in the United States.

On the other side, people view immigration as something positive, as I do. Immigration allows the society to be more diverse in terms of culture and religion. It is important to know the differences between various cultures, as it builds knowledge and may erase the issue of racism. Some believe that jobs are the country’s private property, whereas others claim that immigration is a key to spread a better economy to less developed countries. Immigration can therefore be announced as a tool that helps to overcome world property. Immigrants are known to be the most hard working and intelligent workers within the country. It’s an advantage to them as immigration allows to express talents and skills to another country (Independent, 2009).

Previous census results show that London has completely changed. The results clearly show that the number of immigrants entering Britain has gone up by 3 million. However, politicians claimed that this was not an issue to worry about. Moreover the 2011 census shows that London is now a place of multiculturalism; which means that the amount white population has decreased to a very low level (ons.gov.uk, interactive, 2011). This has also been mentioned in the dailymail, “It is believed to be the first time that British whites have become a minority in any region of the UK” (Dailymail, 2012). This certainly means that the country has a very low percentage of white population, however the population size seems to increase as the years go by. This is an outcome due to immigration. However, it is important to take into account that immigrantion is a not a bad thing itself. Immigration introduces many advantages to London, which can be gathered from the talents and ideas that have been brought into the country through immigration.

It was stated that English is a language that was made up of many foreign languages in Britain decades ago. Through immigration we see an increase in population and culture which has a positive impact on the society. Economically, the increase in population expresses the filled job positions within London, which allows an increase in tax input and therefore benefits institutions such as schools. However, a House of Lords report stated that immigration does not benefit London at all; “Minister Liam Byrne says migration has added A?6bn to the economy…” (BBC article, 2008). It does lead to a greater economy which is shared with a greater society which leaves us with nothing. My interviewee, stated that it is not fair on the existing population, as they work very hard to achieve. I certainly go against her saying as people don’t move out of one country to another just for the fun of it but for various reasons. The reasons could be the desire for a better living, such as good educational and job opportunities. It’s not easy to adopt a new athmosphere, and to seperate from family members and friends.

Just like any other place, London expresses that it contains racism to some extent. Even though we think that legal immigrants are treated fairly, there are still people who discriminate others as they possess different values and norms. The BBC news magazine announces, “for the most part legal immigrants are treated fairly but there are still racists out there, just cause someone is speaking a different language they start discriminating them…” (BBC ‘Does Britain’s sense of fair play attract immigrants?’, 2010). Illegal immigrants, however are treated not as fair as legal immigrants. Yet they are illegal residents, but they are here for certain reasons, such as the ideology of having a better life. This shows that “London is a place of opportunity and freedom” (BBC ‘Does Britain’s sense of fair play attract immigrants?’, 2010). The article also mentions that when people see someone from a different ethnic group, they tend to assume that they are illegal immigrants, when in reality they could be legal UK citizens.

The view is that London has economically benefited from immigration as the ‘new workers’ (immigrants) agree to take over on low paid jobs, which the existing population may not desire to opt for. Another reason is that the new workers allow the defeat in skill shortages within London. A recent home office research (Glover et al, 2001) states that there has been very little attention in force towards migration within the United Kingdom, “Immigration has been a market driven response to supply and demand, rather than policy-driven.”

There’s no solid solution for the increase of immigration in London, but there are some ways that could be used in order to reduce the amount of immigration. We already have security barriers at all British borders, although they are not strong enough. As I have already mentioned a method is to make those barriers stronger to prevent the high income of immigrants, this means that borders should be checked more frequently and strictly. There are actions taken at the border crossing, “The final set of recent immigration policy changes are designed to reinforce security at the border…” (Focus Migration, undated). The British police should be more aware of illegal entrance into the United Kingdom, and should therefore check immigrants if they have the correct documents to enter the country. The police should also be able to arrest those who enable immigrants to cross countries illegally. My interviewee stated that the government should take some action to decrease the amount of immigration, by providing a lower amount of benefits.

To conclude, it seems satisfactory to state that there are social and economic benefits and disadvantages to the UK through immigration, as migrant workers who recently entered London have brought such changes. The pressure on public services has been held responsible on immigration, moreover it is the government that was unable to set additional income into such services while obtaining the advantages of economic growth and greater tax profits. It is very difficult to follow an ‘open-door policy’ (the scheme of allowing equal business opportunities to all countries) without supplying any help to the community to deal with a greater population level. Immigration can be beneficial if the rate of immigration is maintained to a certain level and if the government fulfills the needs of the population. UK Borders should only be opened up to those who are hard working and who are in real danger. It is for certain that the immigrant population within London will change our lives by creating more diverse alterations to the country.

Word Count: 1,854

Interview transcription: Carried out on 12th April 2013

Q: Hi, how are you?

1. Alicia: Hiiii (big smile on face), not too bad actually, it’s just the weather that’s irritating.

Q: Let me just quickly explain what this is about, I will interview you and see what your opinion about immigration is. I’m doing this for an academic purpose and will use this interview for a critical reflection on an artical. I will not collect any personal details from you, as this interview remains anonymous. Is that okai with you?

2. Alicia: Yep, deffoo.

Q: Do you mind if I take a maximum of 15 minutes of your life?

3. Alicia: Haha, that’s not a problem. I don’t mind helping people you know.

Q: What’s your favourite town within London?

4. Alicia: Wembley.

Q: If you were to come from Wembley today, why would you get here, all the way from Wembley to Stratford?

5. Alicia: I like shopping, and Westfields is wow, it has a variety of shops. I don’t mind travelling, 6. it’s way better than sitting at home, hehe.

Q: How would you get here?

7. Alicia: I took the train. I drive but don’t own a car yet. I’m still looking for a part time job, coz I 8. don’t want my parents to get me a car. If it’s something for me then it should be from my 9. own money.

Q: Okai that’s a sweet idea. Would you be able to list any difference between Wembley and Stratford?

10. Alicia: Erm, no.

Q: Why not?

11. Alicia: Both places are pretty much multicultural. Erm, you can see people from everywhere, 12. erm you know like, ehhm, you see asians, whites and blacks, sorry I’m not trying to be racist 13. here, just answering the question.

Q: Interesting, do you prefer this country to remain multicultural?

14. Alicia: Yehh, curse I do. It’s cool how we connect with people from different backgrounds. 15. Not only Wembley and Stratford but all over London. I would say that London has people 16. from all over the world.

Q: What do you think, could be the reason for multiculturalism in London?

17. Alicia: I’m actually not sure you know. Erm (pause), I’m really not sure, maybe coz there are 18. better welfare services here..I think.

Q: Would you say that immigration has an impact on multiculturalism?

19. Alicia: Oh yh, actually that’s something to think about. Personally, I’m from Germany. I was 20. born there and spent 13years there. Originally I’m of a Pakistani background. I think there is 21. something about the government that makes immigration easier, coz in Germany you rarely 22. meet any people from different places. Immigration must be the reason, there must be 23. many people like me who migrated from other places to the UK.

Q: What do you think about immigration?

23. Alicia: Erm, it actually doesn’t matter of where you’re from, but it’s good to do it legally 24. rather than illegally…hehe (quiet laughter).

Q: Why do you say that?

25. Alicia: Well, illegal residents will of course call their children or relatives over and will opt for 26. benefits and free food and all that. It’s so not fair on us, coz we might end up being in a 27. position of hardship.(Quite tensed, forehead creased)

Q: What do you mean by hardship, do you mind expanding?

28. Alicia: It’s just you know, there is always a time where we might end up not getting 29. jobs…..erm, basically we’ll be jobless. We grow up in this country, and do everything legally, 30. and you know work hard to get into a decent job. That can’t be taken away from us by illegal 31. immigrants. It’s seriously not fair on the ones who work their bottoms off. (Smile faded, head still creased…pretty much into the questionnaire)

Q: But don’t you think that people may settle here due to their personal reasons?

32. Alicia: Well yeah, erm I know some people who came over coz they have some war or some 33. sort of problem going on in their place.

Q: Don’t you think that they work really hard too, to remain in a safe place?

34. Alicia: Hmm… (seems tensed)

Q: Do you think that immigration and population growth go together?

35. Alicia: I think so, the more migrates we have the higher the population will be.

Q: Is that something bad or good?

36. Alicia: I’d say bad, coz we’ll run out of houses to live in haha, I’m kidding, but as I said we’ll 37. experience hardship.

Q: So don’t you think that there are any good aspects to immigration?

38. Alicia: There are, as I said we connect to people who are of a different background. I would 39. say…(little pause), say that immigration makes us learn different cultures. Erm, it’s kinda like 40. getting to know different values and life styles, we’re basically learning…erm increasing our 41. knowledge. There could also be an opportunity to learn different languages.

Q: So you’re saying it allows cultural exchange?

42. Alicia: Er yeah, hehe.

Q: Is that the only positive aspect or do you have more to add?

43. Alicia: I would say that London is more welcoming than Germany. Erm immigration shows that the country is treating people fairly, whatever their background. (Big smile)

Q: That’s a really nice thought.

The aim of writing this paper is to share the prevalence of the child labour and to highlight the importance of this issue. Moreover, this paper will also discuss and analyse the factors leading to child labour. The intent of this paper is also to recommend some strategies in order to reduce the burden of this issue in the society.

Prevalence of child labour

Globally, 215 million of childrens are involved in child labour worldwide (International Labour Organization, 2010). Out of which, 90% of childrens are victim of child labour in developing countries from Asia and Africa (Rena, 2009). Specifically, 3.8 million of childrens are performing labour work in Pakistan (Sahir, 2010). The labour work varies from simpler task like begging to the more complex task like drug smuggling. According to International Labour Organization, it was reported that 69% of childrens are involved in agricultural work, 22% in household work and 9 % in industrial work (Vandenberg, 2007). This result reveals that a large number of childrens are contributing in different entities of labour market regardless of their age and the type of work they do, which is against the notion of basic human rights.

Importance of the issue and Reason for its selection

Though, child labour is not a new issue but still it has always been remained as a controversial and highlighted issue in every country. Childrens are considered as a future for the country growth, a twinkle light for the parents and a hope for the whole family, but what when these lights and hopes are shattered off. Child labour is one of those crimes which takes away bright future from the childrens at their early stages of life and ruins their life completely. It also adversely impacts the society as a whole. Therefore, it is important to discuss and point out this issue.

The reason for selecting this particular topic for my assignment is to understand and discuss the determinants responsible for child labour. Secondly, this issue has always been remained core to my heart since the time I have looked the innocent childrens, doing slavery for the benefits of the others. Moreover, the consequences of child labour are extremely devastating and therefore, I think that there is a need to address this issue by writing this paper. Through this paper, I got the opportunity to share my views along with the support of literature on child labour.

Analysis on determinants of child labour

Child labour is not the result of a single cause; however, there are several factors that give rise to child labour. These factors include poverty (economical factor), lack of awareness and poor educational opportunities (social factor), cultural taboos (cultural factor), natural and man-made disasters (environmental factor) and gap between laws and its implementation (Lego-political factor). Now, the upcoming part of this paper will shed light upon each factor leading to child labour.

Poverty and child labour

Poverty is one of the major determinants for child labour. Globally, 878 million of people lives in poverty (Chandy & Gertz, 2011), whereas, 22% of poverty is commonly found in developing world (The World Bank Group, 2008). There is a direct positive relationship between child labour and poverty. It is considered that continents like Asia where ratio of poverty is high, child labour exist more commonly. Families who are deprived of money make children as a source of their income. This phenomenon lead childrens to start working at their early stages of life and ultimately they get away from their basic education. In this way, it causes further increment in poverty rate as the next generation also remains poor due to lack of education and ultimately child labour reaches to its peak (Udry, 2003).

Global recession and inflated poverty particularly in the developing countries makes life miserable and raise a question that how to survive and how to fulfill the basic needs. Therefore, due to deprived conditions and lack of resources, families do not have many choices left with them. At that time, the only choice family have with them is the availability of human resources and that is their children. Thus, they direct their children to work with the aim of reducing the burden of poverty and to meet the essential needs of the family. Once, when childrens start earning reasonable amount of money, few of the greedy family members enforce childrens to continue with the same labour work for the rest of their life.

In addition, poverty also makes someone to act unethically and to do injustice for the survival. For instance, it is commonly observed that people who are poor, sold their childrens for the sake of money or in the exchange of fulfilment of their remaining loan agreements. Then, the culprit buyers of these childrens misuse them, like, for drug selling and they also enforce innocent childrens to do hazardous work. Thus, poverty seems to be one of the powerful factors for emerging public issue of child labour.

Poor educational system, Lack of awareness and child labour

Child labour also exists when there is poor educational system and weak infrastructure of schools. This makes people to think that instead of wasting money on educating their children from the low profile schooling system, it is better to utilized the time of their children for labour work and earning money (Grootaert & Patrinos, 2002; Sahir, 2010). Inefficient educational system also fails to raise awareness among family about the importance of education and how it can bring happiness & success in their lives. If educational system will promote the awareness about the importance of education, then this can lead to drastic decline in the rate of child labour as education is the only way which can change the mind set of people. In this way, more educated children will have better working opportunities instead of doing hazardous labour work.

In some of the countries, there is a big hindrance to the access of educational opportunities due to lack of funds and unavailability of school in the local areas. Therefore, childrens get deprived of basic education and ultimately they involve themselves in labour work.

Moreover, it is commonly observed that due to lack of awareness, few family members prefer to educate only their male child with whatever resources they have, as they think that the male child will help them in their older age. On the contrary, female child are degraded and considered as burden on the family, which makes her away from the educational system and enforces her to keep doing labour work all the time. Hence, lack of awareness and limited educational opportunities with poor schooling system gives birth to child labour.

Cultural taboos and child labour

Some cultures have belief that childrens are the gift from GOD. This socio-cultural norm leads to increase in number of childrens within family and hence increases overall population. However, this is the fact that increase number of childrens in family also brings extra expenditure and this situation leads to survival problems, particularly when there is just one bread earner in the family. Therefore, in order to balance the family income & expenditure proportion, the family expects their children to work and become equally hand holder for raising their family income (Sahir, 2010).

In some of the cultures, it is also expected that children should always be obedient to their elders and follow their orders in every circumstances, without any question or any argument. Therefore, this norm takes away freedom from the children and enforces them to do work guided by their elders.

Furthermore, it is also noticed that society creates huge discrimination between children on the basis of race, colour, gender and mental functioning. In particular, some societies do not give respect to mentally retarded and disabled children and misuse them for labour work. Thus, societal beliefs and socio-cultural norms are also significantly contributing for increasing child labour.

Natural Disasters, Man-made disasters and child labour

Globally, natural disaster on earth like floods and earthquake are the cause of massive destruction and ruins everything where it happens. The impact of this destruction is so intensive that it causes severe economic deflation and left families with nothing, but only with the hope. Therefore, families then see their child as a hope for restoring their life and for financial stability. Due to these devastating circumstances, families intend to involve their child in labour work. At times, this enormous disaster also results in loss of earning members or makes them disable, therefore, then children themselves feel responsible and starts working to fulfil their family needs.

Besides this, man-made disasters like terrorism or war is also equally responsible for giving rise to child labour. In the situation of war, need for human resources arise drastically and therefore, childrens are then used as weapon and are enforced to participate in criminal activities. In this way, childrens are not able to live a normal happy life and thus they become the victims of child labour (Sahir, 2010).

Inefficient legal system and child labour

In many countries, laws on prohibition of child labour do exist which discourages children to work in their early stages of life, but what when these laws are not strictly implemented. In reality, there is a huge gap between the laws and its implementation. Therefore, immoral employers take advantage of this gap and prefer to hire children for their work as childrens easily get ready to work for the sake of little amount of salary.

Moreover, inefficient implementation of laws also gives opportunity to misuse childrens in dangerous work. In most extreme cases of child labour, male childrens are commonly used in drug dealing, whereas female childrens are enforced to sell their bodies for the sake of money. Thus, incompetent Lego-political system is also one of major determinant of child labour (Sahir, 2010).

Lack of technology and child labour

Innovation in technology is always considered as worthful for business growth

because it helps in increasing productivity, but what happens when there is no access to technological advancement. In such deprived situations, it is commonly observed that childrens are being considered as a valuable asset for the company because childrens are more active, energetic and play a vital role for business growth. This phenomenon then diverts the mind set of children and therefore, they tend to focus more on labour work and adopt this act for their whole life.

On the contrary, sometimes there is an access to technology but still people prefer to hire children for the labour work. On the basis of cost-benefit analysis, employers consider children as a cheap source for their work as compared to investing heavy amount of money on buying technology and its maintenance. Hence, expensive technological resources and its unavailability in certain areas escalate the ratio of child labour (Galli, 2001).

Effects of child labour

The effect of child labour is distressful and tearful. Alike general crime, child labour is one of the worst evil that affects not only one individual, but ruins the whole population. There are several adverse physical and psychological consequences of child labour.

Physical outcomes of child labour include deprivation from education and minor to severe forms of health problems. In one of the study, it was identified that child labour causes eye problem, backaches, skin problems, injuries and respiratory problems. In the similar study, it was also reported that rate of school dropouts inclined significantly with the increase of child labour (Bunnak, 2007).

Besides adverse physical outcomes, child labour is also responsible for psychological detoriation in children. It is noteworthy that children who are loaded with too much work regardless of their age, are often becomes the victim of depression as they are not much capable of handling pressurised work in their early stages of life. This could also leads to low self-esteem among those children because they feel themselves incompetent. Thus, child labour is a very dangerous and immoral act on the innocent childrens due to the adverse effects associated with it.

Recommendations to reduce the burden of child labour

Child labour is a crucial issue; therefore, it is very essential to combat this issue from its root. In this regard, following strategies might contribute to mitigate the causes which are the reason for rising child labour.

One of the Millennium Development Goal is to eradicate poverty and provide basic education. Therefore, access to proper education and provision of funds can reduce poverty and raise awareness, ultimately decreasing the burden of child labour (Rena, 2009). Moreover, to breach the gap between laws and its implementation, it is very essential to keep check and balance from micro to meso level. In addition, strict penalty should be given to the individuals who enforce and misuse childrens for labour work. As a public health nurse, I can address this issue at different forums through presentations and publications, so that effective strategies can be planned and implemented.

Summary

Child labour is one of the major public concerns resulting from poverty, lack of awareness and poor educational system, cultural norms, disasters and incompetent legal system. Therefore, it is very significant to realize the adverse consequences associated with it and take prompt action in order to reduce the suffering of innocent childrens.

In order to discuss ways in which critical social psychology views the discipline differently to the mainstream approach, it is first necessary to define the terms “critical social psychology” and “mainstream approach”, and what they look for, followed by discussing how the critical approach views lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) research. The essay concludes by summarising what the critical approach is and what it questions in relation to the mainstream approach.

According to Allport (1985) social psychology is interested in how the social environment and group interactions affect people’s attitudes and behaviours. The discipline uses scientific methods to understand and explain social phenomena. Two approaches associated with social psychology are the mainstream and critical approaches. Rogers (2011) claims that mainstream uses quantitative methods and is preoccupied with looking for explanations in what makes people, cultures and social groups different, while attempting to discover ‘laws’ establishing why people behave the way they do, which can be generalised to the whole population. This approach is comparable to natural sciences, which use similar experimental methodologies. They use a hypothetico-deductive method which makes decisions by changing one variable and testing a hypothesis, stating there is one true knowledge, both are objective, neutral and value free. Whereas the critical approach uses qualitative methods, seeking better understanding, are not objective and concentrate on inter relationships between the individual and social context. It looks to produce idiographic explications, recognising broader social structures and unfolds the meanings of particular situations.

Gough & McFadden (2001) state critical psychology evolved from mainstream challenges, it confronts social institutions and practices who contribute to inequality and oppression. Lesbian and Gay psychology is one area which has emerged from these challenges.

Kitzinger & Coyle (2002:2) and Clarke, Ellis, Peel & Riggs (2010) define lesbian and gay psychology as an area which is explicit about its relevance to lesbians and gay men. It examines various aspects of their lives, and counteracts issues such as prejudice and discrimination to create a better world. One aspect of many lesbian and gays is family life; there is a lot of prejudice against homosexual parenting. Homophobic bullying is regularly used to demoralize gay and lesbian parents. Clarke, Kitzinger & Potter (2004) analysed 11 documentaries and 11 semi-structured interviews with gay and lesbian parents using discourse analysis. It could be argued parents refuse to acknowledge the reality of their oppression by not being aware or minimising the effects of bullying their children face. Additionally gay and lesbian parents face a dilemma of stake and accountability. By taking wider discourse and analysing the talk of homosexual parents it is possible to see their dilemma. Parents acknowledging bullying and reporting it, could be used to undermine them, however if they refuse to acknowledge bullying this can be used against them by portraying them as an unfit parent, this is problematic as society criticises homosexual parenting more than heterosexual parenting.

Sapsford & Dallos (1996) state the mainstream “scientific” approach has been widely used throughout history, suggesting how we should deal with major social problems at that time. For example Milgram’s (1961) electric shock study was motivated by World War two, studying conditions where people obeyed and tortured others. A great deal of social influence research, such as conformity and obedience were based on perceptions of individuals within society, however critical psychologists suggest social influence should be viewed as social practices in which people engage in as well as the interactions between people. Asch’s (1951) line study is taught in institutions as part of social influence, however Mercer and Clayton’s (2012) claim certain points to consider are how was the ‘social’ represented, there were small samples in each trial, and participants within the group were strangers therefore no relationships were established, this is not a true representation of society. Findings showed the participant conformed to the others, however this could have just been the effect of that situation and they probably would have interacted more and not conformed if they knew one another. Looking deeper into the results only 5% were conforming on each trial, therefore 95% were not, however the way the researcher interpreted and presented the data was biased showing a higher conformity rate than what was actually true.

Rogers (2011) argues the experimental method used by Asch is not the only way to gain knowledge, in contrast to mainstream she claims there are no such things as ‘universal laws of human nature’ that human nature varies and is dependent on time, place and socio-cultural positioning. Critical psychology argues there are multiple views on reality, an example of this is Feri et al’s (2003) British longitudinal study using participants born in 1946, 1958 and 1970, when followed up in 2000 all had different attitudes and behaviour towards relationships. Time and cultural differences had a big impact, those born in 1946 were mostly married by age 31 whereas it was more common for those born in 1970 to be cohabiting and often on their second relationship by age 31. However all participants were British and results of those single or cohabiting may have been influenced by the cultural change in attitudes towards marriage. The fact that this study only looked at British participants solidifies the mainstreams elitist ideological position. Focusing mainly on western white middle class participants and claiming findings are universal. However these participants are the minority population; therefore exploiting and oppressing less powerful social and cultural groups.

Feri et al’s study is an example of social constructionist research, which critical psychologists have adopted the framework. Willig (2001) defines social constructionist research as identifying the variety of ways of how people experience and perceive the world they live in and how it affects their behaviour. Mercer and Clayton (2012) claim research starts at the heart which is society not the individual. Meanings and practices which are socially and culturally organised impact human nature and behaviour, these meanings are constructed and re-constructed through the use of language, which is of central importance in this perspective as researchers listen to how people explain their world.

Kitzinger (1998) states the majority of psychological research before critical psychology emerged regarded homosexuality as a pathological condition; however in 1970 a shift due to protests and violent demonstrations by the gay community against heterosexist views during the stonewall riots marks a significant point in lesbian and gay history (stein 2004). The formation of lesbian and gay psychology investigates reasons behind prejudice and discrimination, while attempting to generate world changes.

Examples of research before the shift was stated by Morin (1977) he reviewed studies on homosexuals, finding 70% of studies focused on whether homosexuals were mentally ill, the causes and identifying characteristics. 82% compared homosexuals against heterosexuals, which have been objected strongly to as it assumes homosexuals have certain characteristics which differentiates them from heterosexuals. Overall homosexuality was seen as an illness that needed curing. Boehmer (2002) argues public health research has ignored LGBTQ populations as they are underrepresented as research subjects. After looking at articles on the MEDLINE database only 0.1% focused on LGBTQ individuals. The majority of these were based on LGBTQ participants with sexually transmitted diseases, focusing on HIV or AIDS, showing not only are homosexuals underrepresented in psychological research but when they are involved it is either comparing them against heterosexuals or whether they are mentally unstable. However a reason for the lack of lesbian and gay participants can be explained by Dunne (1997) he claims there are difficulties in finding these participants and many are recruited through personal contacts. However this sampling method is restricting only providing access to small discrete networks. Another reason Kitzinger (1987) found is lesbians and gays only agree to be participants because the interviewer was also a homosexual. Although having a homosexual interviewer can be good due to making them feel more comfortable and answer more honestly, however it could be bad as the interviewer could be bias in interpreting answers differently than an impartial interviewer might.

One of the first studies to look at homosexual research from a different view point and not just compare the two groups was Hooker’s (1957) paper “The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual” in which self-identified homosexuals and heterosexuals groups participated in several psychological tests, experts had to identify the homosexuals. Results found no detectable difference in terms of mental adjustment. It was of great critical importance that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, as it shows is not developmentally inferior to heterosexualism. Hooker’s work influenced further quantitative measures to assess human personality such as Eysenk Personality Inventory.

Burr (1995) quotes “We are born into a world where the conceptual frameworks and categories used by people in our culture already exist.” Various psychologists including Herek (1987) and Kite (2001) agree views about male gender roles and sexual prejudices are culturally constructed from birth. From previous societal norms men learn what they are expected and not expected to be, for example they should be strong and heterosexual and not seen as weak or homosexual.

Gergen (1973) argues human behaviour changes over time. He concluded social psychological theories are a product of historical and cultural circumstances. Additionally the ‘truth’ and ability to generalise becomes misguided if the information produced only makes sense within specific contexts, for example findings in western culture. Gay marriage has been controversial within society, but has changed overtime. Baunach (2011) examined attitude trends towards gay marriage, she concludes attitudes have significantly liberalised; in 1988 71% were opposed to gay marriage compared to only 52% opposing in 2006. Even though more are supporting gay marriage, findings from a Gallop poll found 64% of Americans did not support equal marriage rights for homosexuals. (Gallup Poll News Service, 2007). Baunach (2011) suggests change could be due to individuals’ altering their attitudes, also later cohorts replacing earlier ones. Findings were replicated across various subgroups of the U.S. Critical psychology is committed to a social justice ideology that attempts to gain knowledge from all social groups and questions objective claims of the mainstream. Therefore they would agree with this research as it looks at all ages and subgroups across a period of time. However data was collected using a poll service, this survey method does not delve deeper into participant’s answers. Firebaugh (1989) suggests social attitudes change gradually as birth cohorts replace older cohorts. Ideological changes are due to long term social and cultural developments. Individuals are exposed to various socialising experiences and different people that may impact on their opinions, those who have greater contact with homosexuals’ increases identification and therefore weakens the prejudice against them.

According to Herek (2000) & Olson, Cadge, and Harrison (2006) younger individuals, females, those who live in cities and the educated are more accommodating of homosexuality and gay marriage. This is supported by Ellison and Musick (1993) who found education and interactions with homosexuals leads to greater acceptance. On the other hand it was found those less supportive are Southerners, Republicans and African Americans. Evidence of this was found by Lewis (2003) he states blacks are 11% more likely to express disapproval of homosexual relations and gods punishment results in Aids. Therefore African Americans are under more pressure to hide their sexuality. However research came from the general social survey (Davis, Smith, and Marsden, 2008) a national probability sample of non-institutionalized English speaking adults, where sample sizes varied over the years. Therefore this method cannot be used to generalise to the whole population as it excludes non English speaking participants and only targets adults leaving out adolescent opinions. Although contrary to the small sample size, the data provided is from the earliest national level sample on the issue.

To conclude Hepburn (2003) defines critical social psychology as being critical of society, the institutions and practices within it. It questions the assumptions made and its broader influences. Critical social psychology disproves of the mainstream “scientific” approach and believes focus should be on society as a whole not just on the individual. It takes an ideological position in believing there are multiple views on reality, claiming these views and opinions vary from time, place and socio-cultural positing. Mercer & Clayton (2012) state the critical approach is ideologically positioned in there is no one truth; therefore it questions objective claims made by mainstream which uses quantitative methodology. Critical Psychologists argue against this methodology which produces facts and statistics irrespective of politics and values and uses nomothetic approach where findings can be applied universally. They argue qualitative methods are better from recognising broader social structures and seek better understanding of particular situations. However by disregarding statistics and universal facts in favour of using smaller samples and more in-depth answers then studies lose the evidence needed for greater political and social changes to occur. Gough and McFadden (2001) suggest the best way to study social psychology is for researchers to situate themselves within society and develop a critical attitude. The majority of LGBTQ research has relied on western white middle class lesbian and gays therefore there is still a way to go in giving less powerful and oppressed groups a voice within social psychology.

Prostitution may be one of the oldest professions and could possibly be the example of government regulation and discrimination. Countries all over the world have legalized prostitution and are now considering the title of “sex worker” to be just as common as McDonalds Manager. The countries that have legalized prostitution range from Germany to Argentina. However, the United States that claims to exude freedom and dignity has only legalized eleven counties in Nevada. The most convincing argument against prostitution seems to be that legalizing prostitution completely, will contribute to the widespread AIDS epidemic. Researchers have contradicted this theory by proving that roughly half of street walkers in NYC, Washington D.C., and New Jersey are HIV positive, while those who are legal in Nevada are HIV negative. Some might say that this data is perhaps ironic. Another supporting factor for legalizing prostitution is protection. Illegal prostitutes are beaten and abused daily and risk their lives on many occasions. In Nevada legal “sex workers” have the same rights to police protection as the towns preacher. Prostitution cannot be stopped because there is no effective way to close down a market between consensual buyers and sellers.

Evil: Prostitution is immoral and countries that continue to legalize prostitution promote sex trafficking and abuse of women and children. Sex trafficking has been not only seen as derogatory, but also as a contemporary slavery. Women and children that are recruited into prostitution and human trafficking aren’t aware of the life they are destined to lead. These women and children who are trying to lead better lives and escape poverty find themselves in brothels, walking the streets, and pimped out by abusive individuals. The trauma that these women and children face cannot be reversed and often survivors claim that it didn’t feel consensual. Often the adults who survive prostitution/trafficking find themselves compensating pain with alcohol and drugs. These are problems that could have been prevented if prostitution was simply left illegal. If the United States completely legalizes prostitution the nation as a whole will witness the subversion of democracy. This is true because be legalizing prostitution women are left feeling like commodities because of the extreme gender discrimination. Prostitution is consuming and anyone involved can be wounded emotionally and physically.

The above two paragraphs compare and contrast the morality, discrimination, and decency of prostitution as a legitimate profession. This topic relates to sociology because the outcomes of prostitution are all according to societies views and interactions between persons. The strongest theory on prostitution seems to be provided by structural functionalists and the feminists.

Functionalists believe that they’re two reasons why an individual would want to become a prostitute; both reasons involve morality/immorality. The first reason is that society claims prostitution to be immoral, but condemning prostitution actually strengthens many people’s desires and encourages the deed. Society likes to believe sex is meaningful, so if men and women want meaningless sex then who else would they look to other then a prostitute. Another thought is that society believes that oral sex and anal sex is immoral, so if a man wants to engage in these acts, he goes to a prostitute. The prostitute not only fulfills the man, but also secures the moral integrities and purity of his spouse.

Feminists believe that the above theory is the prime example of sexism in society. Feminists also believe that the men who have sexual relations with prostitutes are equally immoral. Extreme feminists tend to believe that is prostitution is legalized it will teach young boys that dominating women is the norm and that it’s a woman’s “job” to please a man. The fear is that the young boys will carry this on into adulthood and spread to upcoming generations. Feminists strive to prove that if society legalizes prostitution individuals will assume that all women can be bought at a price and that men are more valuable than men.

The first source cited (Esselstyne) is valuable because this article examines the pattern of early sexual experience among prostitutes and how it differs from that common to “normal” women. This article will be useful in further research because it compares and contrasts common day prostitutes in the United States. The article also explains why some women actually become prostitutes. This source is credible because it was located through a scholarly search and found on JSTOR. JSTOR is a database where people can search through scholarly journals written by researchers.

The next Source listed is entitled “Prostitution” and is written by William Darity. The source was found in the International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, therefore it relates to sociology making it reliable for further research. The source relates prostitution and gender relations, discusses the variety of prostitution societies experience internationally, and states the trends of sex trade. The source was found through Gale reference library.

Kingsley Davis wrote the next source “The Sociology of Prostitution” which obviously relates prostitution to sociology. The journal questions why prostitution is such a problem in Western communities. Davis compares and contrasts the views of people who approve and disapprove of prostitution. This journal would be most helpful if continuing a longer research paper. The journal is credible because it was found through JSTOR, which is filled with scholarly materials.

The next source discusses child prostitution among boys and girls. This article is written by K.L. Lerner. The article informs readers about the abuse and prostitution forced upon many children in Asian countries. This is relevant to Sociology as well as the United States because it discusses how children grow up believing prostitution is okay and end up infected and traumatized at a young age. The article was found through the Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Richard Symanski researched and wrote the next source entitled “Prostitution in Nevada”. The journal discusses the fact Nevada is one of the very few states that legalizes prostitution or even openly tolerates it. The journal informs the reader about the history of prostitution and brothels and also why prostitution has been legalized in Nevada. This source could really help if doing a longer research paper because the writer could compare and contrast Nevada’s outlook vs. other states around the U.S. The journal was found through JSTOR.

The last source included in the works cited is reviewed by E. van der Meulen, entitled, “Temporarily Yours”. The articles original writer is Elizabeth Bernstein who discusses male desire to consumption. The reviewer van der Meulen describes Bernstein’s take on prostitution as contemporary and highly recommendable. If a longer more in depth research paper were to be conducted a researcher might want to read this book to understand a contemporary view on an age old profession. This review was found through ProQuest, which is a database that allow a reader to search through peer reviewed scholarly journals.

The works cited provided includes sources that can help an individual understand societies view point on prostitution and hopefully help them determine their standing point on legalizing prostitution.

Introduction

Marijuana is also referred to as cannabis, marihuana, or ganja. Herbal form of marijuana is the most common drug, consisting of flowers and leaves which subtend and mature pistillate stalks. Cannabis history dates back to 3rd millennium B.C. In the modern world, the drug has been applied for religious, recreational, medical or spiritual purposes. UN’s estimation in fiscal 2004 revealed that 4% of the adults in the world population, which entails 162million people, use marijuana yearly, while 0.6% or 22.5million use it daily (Smith 50).

Marijuana illegality

Marijuana use is termed to be illegal due to its addictive aspect since it’s rated to be a highly abusive drug. When individuals start to abuse marijuana, they eventually become hooked up and the drug ends up dominating their lives. Marijuana has also been declared not to have an approved medical use. Although the drug has been associated with healings from glaucoma to cancer especially among the Americans, the deal has not been accepted widely enough on international grounds (Connoly 55). Such an argument has therefore rendered the medical value of marijuana an actual controversy. Similarly, use of marijuana has been associated with narcotics like heroin believed to have serious health repercussions once abused. Narcotics had been on regulation under the early antidrug laws. Marijuana has been termed to be an abnormal recreational drug, due to its links to narcotics. In addition, marijuana has been associated with hippies or losers hence rendering it unfashionable lifestyles. Imposition of criminal sanctions to the drug possession acts as type ‘tough love’ for the community. The drug has been associated with the oppressed ethnic groups. For example, within the Americans, it was associated with Mexican Americans. A ban on marijuana was therefore seen as a way of discouraging the community subcultures from developing. Similarly, court cases presented for marijuana legalisation has never been rendered appealing by the advocates. Advocates normally argue on the basis of its medical benefits, creativity promotion and moral progression among others. Particularly, that does not seem convincing since the public image of a marijuana user is that of a loser at risks of either imprisonment or arrest (Smith 194).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Marijuana

Marijuana has physical benefits that are widespread, long-term or far reaching. The drug is known to impact on the automatic nervous system. Such an impact expands the breadth and gives the body a relaxation. Similarly, the drug has enormous healing and health potential which have actually not been realised by the Western medicine. Opposing action of the drug is essential in balancing an individual entire system, which can be understood to be a charged equilibrium. Such a state is defined as a physiological expansion or psychological satisfaction which is responsible for our health. For example, a study by Costa Rican revealed that cancer developments are less within the smokers of chronic marijuana, considered to be cigarettes smokers as well (Smith 46). Psychologically, marijuana’s balancing of the nervous system has an effect on the mind which is energising and relaxing in a simultaneous trend. This means that an individual thinking is more clear and efficient. Also, Marijuana is associated to poses spiritual benefits. Normally, whatever that enlivens is perceived to be a spirit. Marijuana has been found to facilitate the search for universal core values. Together with its ability to enhance the processes of our mind plus balancing of the body, the drug also assists in the understanding of the abiding reality by enhancing an individual consciousness.

However, the drug has its disadvantages. First, the drug facilitates hindrance of shorter memory such that any complex or simple tasks may be quite demanding for the addict to undertake. Similarly, drug abuses result into decayed moral behaviour among users. For example, Marijuana users can be highly involved in risky sexual behaviour such that the HIV spread will be inevitable. For students, marijuana will make learning and study hard and athletes’ performance maybe brought down since movements, timing or coordination will be affected is affected as well. Safe driving will also be affected since concentration, alertness, reaction time or coordination will interfere (Shohov 98). Thirdly, Combination of marijuana use and tobacco smoking will increase the risks of contracting lung diseases. Among first users, the drug can cause panic, anxiety, paranoia or feelings of Impending doom. Finally, short-term effects can also involve distortion in perception, thinking or problem solving lapses plus increased heart rate. Heart attacks are also evident among the marijuana users due to impact on the blood pressure or heart rate in addition to reduction in oxygen carrying capacity in the blood. Effects on the immune system may also reduce the ability in fighting infectious diseases or cancer. A marijuana addict may also experience anxiety, depression or personality disturbances. On pregnant women, marijuana can cause the babies born to show altered responses in visual stimuli, high pitched cries or increased tremulousness. Lastly, long term use of marijuana can cause an addictive potential to the users.

Problems Associated with marijuana

Due to its illegal nature, the drug is associated with jails, courts or prison cases. Scientifically, the drug has been rated to be harmful due to its addictive value. Physiological effects are also problems linked to marijuana use which in addition entails effects on smell, taste or even sound. Distortions on depth perception can result into serious accidents when driving. The drug use has resulted to uncontrolled system in its production to guarantee consumers of a pure product through the use of doctors or pharmacist. Being an illegal product, the prices are very high causing the users to involve in criminal activities in search of good money to acquire the herb. Un-attainability caused by the high prices places the drug in the hands of the mobs, gangs or even drug lords increasing the crime rate. Legalization would mean a widespread access by the general public hence unhealthy babies will be borne due to the perceived increased consumption among mothers (Shohov 118).

Health Concerns/problems

Marijuana causes increased and rapid heart rate, initiating harmful irritation feelings to the respiratory airways or lungs. Cancer causing chemicals are said to be contained within the drug. Within the endocrine system, the drug triggers short term drop within the hormones responsible for development and growth (Smith 25). Similarly, sperm production is lowered among males and hormone balance is also affected, which is fully responsible in control of menstrual cycles among girls. In addition, marijuana affects the brain behavior and function since it affects the chemical balance in the brain responsible for energy, appetite, attention or normal mood. Similarly, effects are evident on the learning, memory processes concentration or forgetfulness. Lastly, marijuana has been found to cause miscarriage or still births among the pregnant women and also developmental problems to the fetus.

Solutions to the problems

Solutions to the problems that come by marijuana use can be achieved through legalizing the herb. Also, public school education should be improved, investment on programs on drug treatment. Some other solutions may involve conducting and investing more time on anti-drug education within schools, encouraging more partnerships between the police and the community. In addition, increased drug interdiction efforts within the borders would also assist plus legalizing all types of drugs. Other solutions would involve revising of our common laws on the marijuana trading in order to regulate the cultivation as well as commercial aspect of the drug (Connoly 33).

References

Connoly, Sean. Marijuana. South Broad St, Mankato: Black Rabbit Books publishers, 2006.

Smith, Sandra. Marijuana: the drug abuse prevention. Princeton, U.S.A: Rosen Pub. Group publishers, 1999.

Shohov, Tatiana. Medical use of marijuana: policy, regulatory, and legal issues. London, UK: Nova Publishers, 2003.

The Legalization of Recreational Drugs

Karl Marx was interested in the plight of the working class; he questioned a government structure in which a small few profit at a cost to the masses (Miller, Schreck &Tewksbury, 2006. p., 190). Marx was critical of the capitalist system because he saw the rich (bourgeoisie) dictating the lives of the working class. This idea has had large implications for many fields of study including philosophy, sociology and criminology. Marx’s criticism on the failings of a capitalist system can be exemplified by today’s drug laws which directly and negatively affect the lower classes while benefiting the upper classes. An argument can be made for the legalization of recreational drugs like heroin using a Marxist perspective; including drug laws that favor the upper classes and stigmatize the lower classes and policy that aids in the creation of a criminal enterprise.

Current drug laws are founded upon a history of both racism and classism beginning with the Opiate Act of 1908 (Solomon &Usprich, 1991), Canada’s first law prohibiting the use of a recreational drugs. At the time, the general public was more concerned with negative health and moral affects that alcohol and tobacco were having on society than with the effects of opium (Solomon &Usprich, 1991). However alcohol and tobacco use was common among white upper and middle classes, while the use of opiates was typically a pastime of the Chinese-lower class; “…the moral crusade against opium succeeded because it was directed against Chinese opium smokers and Chinese opium industries; it posed no threats to white middle class vices or business interests” (Solomon &Usprich, 1991). This decision was made without the consideration of any harm the drugs themselves may cause but was based mostly on the benefit to the upper and middle class whites (Solomon &Usprich, 1991). During this period the white lower and middle class and Chinese lower class were in competition within the job market; due to the completion of the railway. This left many previously employed Chinese railway workers without employment and forced them to seek other job opportunities (some of which had been exclusively dominated by white workers). The Opiate Act benefited the white upper classes by imprisoning or deporting Chinese opiate users-thus removing them from the competitive job market. More recent drug laws have continued the trend of selective implementation of drug laws.

“…[T]rends in drug use since World War II indicate that large epidemics among white drug users may or may not bring about more drug policing, tough new penalties or rise in imprisonment. Yet frequently, small-scale outbreaks in drug use among Blacks and Hispanics do elicit a harsher criminal backlash” (Covington, 2004).

Case in point, in 1937 marihuana was criminalized in the United States with the passing of the Marihuana Tax Act (Covington, 2004), at the time the majority of marihuana users were among lower class Mexican Americans. In the 1950’s Marihuana was considered a dangerous substance and was considered akin to drugs such as heroin and cocaine; during this time in the 1950’s the majority of marihuana users were low-income earners and minorities. Flash forward to the 1960’s and 70’s when marihuana use was in its heyday. During this period, marihuana use had transcended its low-class status and was frequently used by members of the young white upper classes (Covington, 2004). If law makers were concerned about the negative effects the drugs could cause, the spread and popularity of the drug should have prompted the policy makers to implement harsher penalties and policies to prevent the use of marihuana; this was not the case. Such policies, after all, would affect the young adults and teenagers of the policy makers and other affluent voters (Covington, 2004) so it was decided in all of eleven states to decriminalize marihuana. It’s ironic then “that the largest drug epidemic since 1914 led to the liberalization of drug laws” (Covington, 2004). Further evidence of the classist implementation of drug laws can be seen during the explosion of cocaine use in the 1970’s and 80’s. During this period cocaine was being used in two forms; crack cocaine and powdered cocaine. Both were different preparations of the same drug, however powdered cocaine was exceptionally more expensive to purchase then was crack and therefore, was predominantly used by more affluent drug users, while crack was used by the lower class drug users. It would be logical that laws surrounding the use of both types of cocaine would be the same, but again this was not the case (Covington, 2004). The cocaine epidemic did not result in harsher laws or even a rise in the number of powder cocaine users or dealers in prison; however “The small-scale 1980’s outbreak in crack led to the passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and 1988 which mandated harsher federal sentences for crack cocaine than for powdered cocaine use” (Covington, 2004).

The Ostracism of lower class minority groups through the implementation of classist drug policies have the same benefits to the bourgeoisie today as they did at their conception. By marginalizing groups through imprisonment and criminal records the upper class ensures the degradation of the proletariat. Imprisonment and criminal records make it difficult for the lower classes to find legitimate means of supporting themselves financially. Many lower class individuals find their only means of income is related to drugs. As a consequence of this, many gangs and organized crime affiliates flourish within the ghettos and other areas populated by low income individuals. A main source of revenue for gangs and organized crime syndicates include growing, producing, importing, exporting and selling illegal substances. Gangs become dangerous when rivals compete over turf. In the 1980’s turf wars between rival gangs such as “the Crips, the Bloods, the Mexican Mafia, the Gangster Disciples and others” raised homicide rates in several American cities because of arguments over turf (Johnson, 2004). In Canada in 1995, a turf war between the Hells Angels motorcycle gang and the Rock Mountain motorcycle gang resulted in a death toll of 25 (“A Bloody Turf War”, 1995) and was the result of a struggle between the two over Montreal’s illicit drug trade (“A Bloody Turf War”, 1995). Again, these issues are primarily the problem of the lower class as most gang members are a part of the lower class themselves and tend to gather together in areas of low income (such as ghettos and public housing). So it’s in these areas that violence typically occurs, putting the lives of the innocent people who live near these areas in jeopardy. Legalizing all illicit drugs would reduce this problem dramatically because drug users would be able to obtain their drugs from reputable establishments. Proof of this can be seen through history; during prohibition for example bootlegging or rum-running became commonplace. “Organized crime took control of the distribution of alcohol” (Prohibition, 2009). As a result of the influx of organized crime, murder rates and reports of theft also increased (Prohibition, 2009). Countries like Canada and the United States must legalize all illicit drugs in order to reduce all incidences of illegal substance selling. It has been shown that legalizing “soft drugs” like Marihuana just leads to dealers-dealing harder drugs like cocaine (Korf, Brochu, Benschop, Harrison & Erickson 2008). Furthermore decriminalization of certain drugs will do nothing to solve the gang problem.

If Canada legalized all illicit drugs they would be better able to monitor the use of specific drugs within certain communities, “it would make it easier to check the strength and purity of the drugs and the way they were administered and to whom they are sold” (Hauge& Ragnar, 2003). Furthermore, the government would be obtaining the revenue for selling the drugs (not the drug dealers) and would be able to use those funds for prevention and education about the harms of drug use (Hauge& Ragnar, 2003). Legalization would reduce the stigmatism surrounding drug users; they wouldn’t have criminal records or spend time in jail for their substance use. This would make it easier for them to gain employment. Legalization would also result in jobs like marihuana and opium production to become legitimate means of employment and could reduce drug related crime.

Legalization of illicit drugs would not solve all the problems our country faces with illicit substances. It would however, reduce some of the negative effects we currently face as a result of drug problems, such as breaking the cycle of biased policy which favor the upper classes. Legalization would also reduce some of the disparities between lower and upper classes and provide legitimacy for some types of jobs. In addition having the drugs available through legal means would eliminate the need for gangs which supply the drugs to the users. Finally it would make monitoring the drug using population easier, and could potentially provide funding for anti-drug education and prevention policies; which if successful could eliminate drugs from our society altogether and that should be the goal.

References

A Bloody Turf War. (1995). Maclean’s, Vol 108,(40)

Covington. (2004). Drugs and the Racial Divide Selective Punishment of Black Offenders. Souls Winter,Vol 6(1), p 4-15.

Hauge &Ragnar. (2003). Legalization of Illicit Drugs: Two Sides to the Coin. Society for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and Other Drugs, Vol. 98 Issue 6, p717-178, 2p.

Johnson. (2004). Mean Streets Once Agiain: Gang Activity Surging. USA Today.

Korf, Brochu, Benschop, Harrison & Erickson. (2008). Teen Drug Sellers-An International Study of Segregated Drug Markets and Related Violence. Contemporary Drug Problems, Spring2008, Vol. 35 Issue 1, p153-176, 24p

Miller, Schreck &Tewksbury. (2006). Criminological Theory A Brief Introduction. Boston MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Prohibition. (n.d). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 02, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition

Solomon & Usprich. (1991). Canada’s Drug Laws. Journal of Drug Issues, Vol. 21 issue 1.

With the development of the technology over the past decade the Robotics has become one of conversational subject areas. As a result of mankinds ultimate innovations and accomplishments regarding to the Robotics, the social, ethical and professional norms have been affected in both positive and negative manner. Therefore, identify and analyze issues which might occur when implementing robot technologies an important and contemporary need.

According to the VEX Robotics, Inc. (2012) the robotics is the science and technology which is used for inventing, accumulating, manufacturing and information processing of robots. With the robots, the tasks which are performed by humans can be automated in order to gain higher effectiveness and efficiency. “A robot is an electronic device controlled by a program and able to carry out tasks of various kinds-it is a machine made to perform that humans might otherwise do” (Wilson, C. 2007). In the current society robots are used in many different areas like education, entertainment, surgery, surveillance, military, farming, factories etc. The robots are capable of performing tasks accurately, high quality, speedily, safely than human beings and also they can perform dangerous tasks without much effort. Thus the robots and related robot technology provide various advantages for human lives and society with its technology.

Currently robots are used to handle sensitive, critical and complex surgeries in accurate and effective manner. The robots are capable of performing surgeries with less pain, miniaturization, decrease blood loss, smaller incisions and quicker healing time. Unlike human surgeons these machines can perform tasks more smoothly with fewer side effects. It is true when there are fewer side effects patients’ lives will not get negatively impacted in the future after having a surgery. With the use of robots the surgeries can be done remotely, anywhere in the world without requiring the presence of a surgeon. This is very useful when handling surgeries where the surgeon and patient are not in the same geographical location. The technology made specialized surgeons to be accessed globally at anywhere in the world. Thus the robot science enhances the flexibility and availability of the medical field.

Although Robots provide numerous benefits for human beings, on the other hand it might lead to create several ethical issues which may affect the patient’s condition negatively. Will people like to get treated from a soulless, emotionless machine? Most of the people will not like to get treated from robots because those machines don’t have any idea or impression about the patient’s situation. Valuable human qualities like sensitiveness and carefulness is unforeseeable from robots. Another main issue is robots will not get trusted like a human surgeon. But in these cases patients are forced to trust on a machine. Thus, trust and freedom ethical principles are getting invaded. Robots are created by assembling heavy metal arms and other metal gadgets. Occasionally patient will get scared after seeing the robot because its appearance is not pleasant and familiar like a human surgeon. The situations like this might impact negatively for the patient’s condition. During a surgery, if machine gets malfunctioned or misused who will take the responsibility? The soulless, emotionless machine cannot take the responsibility like a specialized, well experienced surgeon. Thus moral responsibility and liability ethical principles are invaded. The researchers at the Harvard University has developed tiny organic DNA robot device to destroy cancer cells by sending important molecular instructions to infected cells (Mowatt 2012). This is significant invention in robot technology which can provide greatest benefit for human being by saving thousands of lives. Although these types of robot devices provide remarkable advantages, the technology can be misused. For an example if robot collected data (DNA) is used for further researchers or tests without having permission from the owner might leads to raise several privacy and security issues.

DNA is strictly sensitive and confidential information of an individual where characteristics of a person can be fully exposed by analysing information. According to the Data Protection Act UK 1998 the information must be kept secure and must not be routed in any mode incompatible with the original use. When the data about a patient’s health is used for further researches without their knowledge, the Data Protection Act will get violated.

Under the Public Interest section, British Computer Society (BCS) code of conduct defines to IT professionals that “have due regard for public health, privacy, security and wellbeing of others and the environment”. When robots are used as surgeons, the professionals who design those robots should concern about public health and wellbeing because it will be used to treat humans. Robots actions are very important during a sensitive and complex surgery as human life will depend on the tasks done by robot. Therefore professionals who design robots should accept the professional responsibility of their creation or design.

In present robots are used for military purposes in many countries because it reduces the number of human involvement by saving lives in war. According to the article written by Marchant, G.E. et al. (2011) there are number of robots used for several wars. For an example U.S. military used unmanned aerial vehicles for unmanned air attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries. Further the article mentions that self-directed robots may be able to act more effectively than human beings because they can be designed without emotions, able to act independently, conservatively and also can process more information. When looking at the theoretical perspective according to the Deontological theory killing is wrong as destroying human life, freedom and property is not a right action. But the consequences of the action will be positively impacted on the massive number of people. Because of that from the perspective of Consequentialist theory the war can be a right action.

Although robots provide various advantages for military purposes, on the other hand several ethical principles will raise. War is something about killing people and destroying their property. Human lives and property will get severely impacted though use human soldiers or robots. As a result of that right to life, liberty and security ethical principles are getting invaded. Sometimes war can be very unethical when one party uses military unmanned vehicles and other party use humans as soldiers. The situations like that become a war between humans and machines. The value of the human life will be compared with the value of soulless, emotionless machine. Human life is precious because once it lost we can’t have it back. But once a machine damaged or malfunctioned, it can be repaired or replaced by another machine. Human life cannot be regenerate or replaced like robots and it is valuable gift. When using military unmanned vehicle robots against human soldiers, the value of human life will be degraded in front of those metal machines. Thus human recognition and dignity ethical principles are getting invaded.

The Public Interests section in BCS Code of Conduct mentions that IT professionals should have care for public health, privacy, security and wellbeing of others and the environment. When robots are used in wars human lives, privacy and security will be invaded and as a result of that public interest section of the code of conduct is getting violated. Avoiding injuring others, their property by false or malicious action or inaction is mentioned under Professional Competence and Integrity section of BCS Code of conduct. When robots are used to destroy human life and property in wars, the associated code of conduct is invaded.

In wars, human life and property will be severely damaged and destroyed. According to the Human Rights Act 1998, everyone has the right to life and protection of property. Thus destroying human life and their properties in war will violate the act. The article 5 in Human Rights Act mentioned that everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. When war destroys human lives by depriving people’s liberty and protection that will also violates the Human Rights Act.

Tracking someone via a robot equipped with surveillance camera can create both positive and negative issues in society. For an example tracking a criminal or terrorism suspicious person by authorized party to expose drug trafficking information and many more illegal activities can be identified as positive effects while secretly spying a person with intent to cause or harm is a negative effect.

On the other hand, the privacy and freedom can get invaded when use robots to track whereabouts of an individual as these robots are capable of secretly spying without user’s knowledge by hiding itself. According to the article written by Hambling (2011), the Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Laboratories has developed a robot which is capable of spying at night, hide itself when hear footsteps of an unseen guard and move again when the road is clear. Using a robot like this for tracking can be very harmful because it cannot be easily detected. When an individual is tracked or monitored by using surveillance robot wherever that person moves will be notified to a third party and that may leads to affect privacy, security and freedom of that individual. When a third party is more knowledgeable about an individual, that person can be easily controlled or blackmailed. Thus individual’s freedom, autonomy and privacy rights are getting affected. Spying or tracking might not only be a risk for the person who is subject to spying but also the people that person interacts or having relationships with. If the tracker has the intention of harm to person’s life, the family, relations and the society around that person might get negatively impacted.

Under the Public Interest section, BCS code of conduct defines that IT professionals should have due regard for public privacy and security. When the unethical tracking is performed through a surveillance robot, the tracker breaks the public interest section of the code of conduct. Avoiding injuring others, their property by false or malicious action or inaction is characterized under Professional Competence and Integrity section of BCS Code of conduct. If the tracker does tracking with the intention of harm to an individual’s life or their property, according to the professional rules the action is guilty. Tracking a person secretly can provide inappropriate ethical, religiously and politically offensive results which may be viewed as the violations of Human Rights Act UK 1998.

Currently robots are used by most industries in their manufacturing processes because it is capable of generating accurate, reliable and high quality products when compared to human workers. Robot’s actions are controlled by programmed computer application or electronic circuit. As a result of that there is a low probability of generating inaccurate outputs unless machine gets malfunctioned. “Due to its mechanical nature and computerized control, a robotic arm can carry out a repetitive task with great precision and accuracy, thus providing improved, consistent product quality” (Bengtson, H. 2010). Unlike robots, human workforce gets tired and bored when carrying out repetitive tasks under long time periods and as a result that the efficiency of generating output will get degraded. When the efficiency of production gets low, the number profits made by company will become low automatically. The mechanical approach and automated control made manufacturing robots more efficient and speedy which redirects business into higher production rate where company can attain competitive advantage than with human workforce. There are some manufacturing industries where humans are required to work at uncomfortable and dangerous environments like defusing bombs, mixing chemical ingredients, attaching equipments under higher temperature etc. But robots will not get impacted by these environmental conditions as humans. Companies can purchase most suitable robots for their working environment and manufacturing process. Thus manufacture will get benefited greatly by reducing costs involve in production process through replacing human workforce by automated robot workforce. When looking at the shareholders perspective, replacing current workforce by robots will leads to make more profits for them as overall efficiency in production gets increased. Thus shareholders are greatly benefited by using robots in manufacturing processes. Consumers will able to experience accurate, reliable and high quality products because of robot workforce.

Although robots will maximise productivity by reducing costs, this might leads to create serious social issues like unemployment, employee relationships and attitudes towards to the work. When current workforce is replaced by robots the employees will become jobless. According to the studies carried out by American Psychological Association (2009), 78% of Americans reporting money as a significant source of stress. The stress created as a result of unemployment will not only affect negatively for an individual but also individual’s family and well-being. The trouble of unemployment can also affect unexpected conclusions for children like sicknesses, distress and depressive symptoms. The unemployment will also create social divide within society by increasing the gap between families with children that both parents are get paid and families with children both parents are not get paid. This is terrible social issue which has indirect relationship on poverty and inequality. When poverty within a society gets increased, there is a high probability of increasing illegal activities like burglary, theft, fraud etc. According to the researches carried out by Carmichael and Ward (2000), there were high accretion in burglary, theft and robbery in 1992, 1993 and 1994 years because overall rates of youth and adult men unemployment get increased during those years. The article illustrate in 1989, 1990 and 1991 the youth unemployment rate varied between 12-18 per 100,000 population and total number of crimes were about 6562.7, 7845.8 and 9213.7. Between 1992 and 1994 the youth unemployment rate has increased and varied between 21.94 -19.5 per 100,000 population and total number of crimes were about 9816.8, 9727.5 and 9234.0. According to the statistics there was a visible increment of crime activities along with the growth of unemployment. It is true there is a fine impact on illegal activities with unemployment and poverty of a society. When human workforce is replaced by robots, there is a high possibility of amplifying illegal and crime activities in the society because of the increased unemployment population.

Robots in a workplace will also create negative impact on human relationships, employee attitudes towards to the work and employer. When human workforce replaced by robots, the faith that the employees have kept on the organization will be dented as employees will began to think the employer only concerned about the efficiency and productivity of the work not the relationships or friendly working environment. Thus employee attitudes towards to the work and employer will get negatively affected. Robots can’t be friendly or emotional like human workers and as a result of that there will not have a pleasant working environment filled with employee relationships. As robots are not able to communicate like humans the relationships and bonds among robots and rest of the employees will remain in a lowest level.

Actually it is hard to justify whether the work or individual life is more important but the employer is always responsible for protecting relationships and job security of employees. What will be the impact when employees are fired from job without prior notice and compensations? The situations like this will create pathetic condition around individuals and their families. However in the social perspective, organisations can validate the importance of the robot workforce relating it to rising productivity, efficiency and minimise the wastages.

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, UK dismissing an employee without giving prior dismissal notice is illegal. The law also give right for employees to complaint the tribunal about unfair dismissal. Therefore employers are legally bound to take the responsibility of dismissing an employee.

Currently robots are mostly used as human companions for elderly and childish people. Assist elderly or disable people, clean household equipment are some of core functionalities of robot helpers. United Stated National Institute of Standards and Technology (US NIST) has developed a robot to help disabled people move around their home. This robot acts as a wheelchair but also gives a helping hand to get out of bed and get on and off other seats. The robots like this are really useful to overcome physical difficulties that are faced by disable people when performing day to day tasks. The Nuresebot, Pearl is another multi-disciplinary, multi-university effort aimed to provide assistance for elderly people at homes. This robot is capable of reminding elders about regular activities such as eating, drinking, taking medicine, using the bathroom, guiding them through their environments, calling for help if they fall and display messages on the screens for people with hearing loss (Carnegie Mellon University n.d.). Elders need more care and attention because they are more vulnerable to abuse and also physical changes in old age reduce the ability to conduct activities of daily living by maintaining independence. Robot helpers or robot companions mentioned above will be a fair solution for taking care of elders and protecting them by being abused. Using robots for taking care of elders and children is very helpful in current busy life styles. Unlike Asian countries, Europeans are not having strong relationships with their parents after get married or being matured. In a situation like that robot helpers would be a best solution where protection of elders is assured.

Although using robot helpers for elders is an effective, opportune solution this will leads to create several ethical issues. Elders will not able to get same experience and exposure like having companion with human being because these robots can’t gossip, share ideas, emotions and communicate like humans. Therefore robots will not able to fulfil the emptiness in old heart like a human companion and as a result of that human relationships will get negatively affected. When using robot companions for children, their personality, behaviour and attitudes will get impacted. The robot will do everything that child command without questioning. Then the child began to think everyone will do everything that command without questioning and he/she can get everything without any interference. Thus robot companions will lead to create drastic negative attitude and behavioural change in child. During the infant and child years, children grow quickly and tend to learn about the environment they are interacting with. Without having a proper guiding adult to teach and guide in to the right path, child personality will also get degraded. Soulless, emotionless and inexperienced robot will not able to teach values and norms associated with human lives. Parents are the most important character in child’s life and they are capable of understanding child’s needs than anyone does. Love, affection and caring are critical requirements for better growth and development in a child. A metal robot is not able to fulfil these emotional feelings which are unique to living beings. Thus effects on human relationships, human personality and changes in attitudes social issues are raised when using robots as human companions or home helper. “Experiences with touch, movement, voice sounds, and chances to see faces and their changing expressions– these seem to be essential contributors to emotional and mental development” (Mercer 2009). Without having these factors, the language development, ability to understanding in the child will be weakened and as a result of that child will become socially isolated.

Robots are expensive and everyone can’t get the technology experience because of its high price. That will create a digital divide in the society, where only rich people can have robot’s experience. According to the Public Interest section in BCS code of conduct, the professionals should support equal opportunities and benefits of IT by including all sectors in the society. When robots are unaffordable and cannot experience for every human being as equal, this will breaks the following BCS code of conduct.

Every technology has associated limits and vulnerabilities which may create severe negative impacts on individuals. Robots are reacting according to the limited set of tasks they are programmed into and any action that is out of the program might not be fulfilled. For an example a human companion that is programmed to take care of elderly or childish person might not be able to respond emergency situations like fire, explosion, theft etc. The situations like above can harm for people who are vulnerable to abuse. Elders are more vulnerable to abuse because physical changes appear with the age, made them to slow respond or inability of responding properly for actions. Children are also vulnerable like elders because they don’t have knowledge or experience to respond emergency situations like matured people. These vulnerable groups may tend to trust on robot machine because it will be the only companion they have to interact in most of their time. If machine gets malfunctioned, the life of these vulnerable groups will be in a danger. Thus the negative implications and possible risks which may arise when adopting technologies like robotics should be much concerned.

The individuals have to face both positive and negative Ethical, Social, Legal and Professional issues related to robot technology. The negative implications of robot should be clearly identified by IT professionals in order to make human lives more comfortable via secure information technologies while protecting ethical, social and legal rights of human being. By analysing and understanding both negative and positive impacts prior adopting technology may assist to reduce several issues which may arise related into robotics. In the conclusion, I recommend organisations and individuals to implement suitable policies when using new robotic inventions in their business and household that is transparent to ensure negative effects of the technology has been controlled and prevented.

In order to examine sociological theories of the body we need to know what sociology is and what its interests are. Sociology therefore can be defined as “the study of the social lives of humans, groups and societies”. Sociology’s main focus is of the social rules and processes that place humans in associations, groups, and institutions. (wordIQ.com, 2010) As can be seen with the definition through sociology’s development it has took a disembodied approach within its research. Traditional sociology has been seen to overlook the body and regarding it as merely as a way of gaining social control. Bodies were seen to lack social interest and when they were included in sociological research it was only the way that we externalise, objectify and internalise the institutes of society that was examined. However the body is arguably central in all sociology studies and over the past thirty years there has been a growing interest in the study of the body. (Shilling, C, 1993) One of the most important sociological debates that have been investigated is that of the relationship between the body and self-identity. Due to a rise in consumer culture there has been a growing increase on the amount of attention that individuals dedicate to their bodies. Consumer culture in the post-modern society that we now live in as placed emphasis on the “healthy” body through the help of the media. Today people are faced with images of the ideal, healthy body that they are expected to have. The rise in the cosmetic industry, the plastic surgery industry and the fashion industry are all products of consumer culture. (Featherstone, M, et al, 1991)

Leder therefore proposes his theory of the dys-appearing body. “Dys” is Greek prefix that suggests illness or a failure to function (dysfunctional). However Leder uses his term dys-appearance when talking about the reappearance of the body. For Leder the body will remain in the “corporeal background” for as long as it functioning properly. When our bodies act in a way that is not normal to us then we will be removed from the social world and will enter the limited world that is our bodies. There are different reasons that this can happen and the most obvious is pain. If we suddenly experience extreme pain we will shift out focus from the task that we were engaged in and all our focus will be on where the pain is coming from and finding a way to stop it. Strong emotions such as sadness or excitement can also make our bodies dys-appear as can unexpected sensations. Examples that Leder provides are when adolescents enter puberty and have their first period, or when a boy’s voice breaks. Both of these situations will cause the body to dys-appear as a feeling of anxiety and a fear of the unknown as common in this sort of situation. (Shilling, C, 1993)

Dys-appearances can range from being acute or chronic, they can be threatening or motivating and they can also be social. Social dys-appearance is where the body re-appears as a result of self-consciousness that comes from social situations. A prime example of this is when a person experiences embarrassment. This could lead to the individual being insure of themselves and will pull the body into the main focus of that individual. Social dys-appearance can be very problematic and can lead to illnesses such as eating disorders. If the person involved feels that their body is not what is socially classed as they “norm” they will try and fix this in order to return the body to the corporeal background. However this can be detrimental to their health if they go to extreme measures to achieve this. This can be seen in the rise of eating disorders in young girls, particularly those that are bullied as they are constantly trying to remove focus from their bodies. (Shilling, C, 1993) (mirror-mirror.org, 2010)

Chris Shilling has an alternative view from Leder with regards to the body and self. Shilling argues that we see the body as a project which can be worked upon and that the body is central to our self-identity. This is the opposing to Leder who sees self-identity as being latent. Shilling agrees with Anthony Giddens and argued that as a result of “high modernity” the body has become an object that can be gained through the increase of technologies and choices available to us. The body is open to the sensation that is fashion and that alone brings the body into great focus and allows for an extensive amount of choices to made with regards to the body. Again this is a differing view point from Leder as according to him the main interest of the body is to return it to the background, whereas choices such as fashion put lots of focus on the body. (Featherstone, M, 2000) (Gimlin, D, 2006)

There are two main characteristics of high modernity that Gidden’s (1991) argues has impacted on the growing idea of the body as a project. Firstly is that there has been a decline in grand narratives such as religion and politics which has led to a rise in individualism. Secondly is that the body is another means in which social control can be exerted. Bodies were generally just accepted in the past, but now the body is examined in terms of shape, size, colour and many more factors. Late modernity has been responsible for the rise in means of which people work on and gain their ideal bodies. Example of these means include, fashion, plastic surgery, diets and body care products. However these means may have negative effects and can lead to problems with the body which in turn makes people focus even more attention on them. If Leder’s theory is one-hundred per cent correct then people’s unhappiness with their bodies would mean that the body would very rarely be in the background. Rather it could be argued that with the amount of attention and time and money that is spent on our bodies it is clear that they are very much at the forefront of our attention. (Giddens, 1991).

However other sociologists argue that despite the opportunities and choices that are now available, aspects such as class and culture can be a main factor in the decisions we make regarding our bodies. Bourdieu (1978) studied Shilling’s theory of the body project in terms of class. He argued that those in the working class use their bodies as a tool and see them as a “means to an end”, whereas those in the middle and upper classes see their bodies as an “end in itself” (Gimlin, D, 2006 p.701). This is due to them having more opportunities to look after their bodies in comparison to those in the working class who use their bodies as a way of gaining capital. This again suggests that a lot of time is spent on (Gimlin, D, 2006).

Means of body management are largely available in today’s modern world. We are inundated with new types of diets, fashions to follow, ways to wear our hair and many more. However the cosmetic surgery industry is one of the most extreme options in achieving body management. With regards to body management Leder would argue that it is purely a means of eliminating bodily disappearance. Whereas Shilling would argue that it is a way of presenting our self-identities and that they are no real reasons for it other than wanting to work on the body. (Gimlin, D, 2006)

According to feminist sociologists, plastic surgery is often seen as oppressive for women and those who engage in it are seen as being victims to the patriarchal ideology. Kathy Davis however conducted research in Holland looking at women who have had breast augmentations and argued that rather than being victims, women see plastic surgery as a means of gaining control over their bodies. Davis argued that surgery “serves as an intervention of identity”. (Jefferys, S, 2005 p.16) That is, it is a means of women creating an alternative sense of self. Davis found that even when surgery wasn’t successful patients were still satisfied with the results. These points all relate to Shillings idea of the body as a project. These women feel that by constructing and changing their bodies they are gaining a moral imperative. In terms of Leder’s theory Davis’ research is also relevant. She argued that it allows for women to become embodied rather than feeling like they are constantly being objectified. By getting breast augmentations women were able to put their bodies back in to the background and avoid any unwanted attention that they were facing. For Leder plastic surgery is a means of reducing suffering that stems from appearances that are deemed unacceptable. (Jefferys, S, 2005) (Negrin, L, 2002)

Leder’s theory of the absent body has faced many criticisms for other sociologists. Shilling offers three main criticisms to Leder’s theory of the absent body. Firstly stating that while his theory of the body project emphasises the relevance of the body has to self-identity, Leder sees the body of being irrelevant to a person’s sense of self-identity. Secondly Shilling argues that Leder underestimates the growing phenomena of the body as a project and the work that people put into their bodies. The third criticism that Shilling proposes is that Leder ignores how social inequalities can influence people’s experiences of embodiment. Leder has also faced criticism from Nettleton and Watson (1998) for the idea that is the body is absent most of the time. This would therefore mean that there are limited amounts of time in which the body can be studied. However Leder recognises this and adds that there are many other time in the day which the body can dys-appear. For example when the body experiences hunger, thirst or tiredness. Leder also acknowledges that there are differing durations that disappearing can occur for. Leder recognises gender differences within his theory, arguing that women may experience more bodily dys-appearance than men. This can be the result of the social situations that women are exposed to and the pressure that is put on them to look a certain way. (Gimlin, D, 2006)

Therefore in conclusion it can be argued that Leder’s theory is accurate in certain aspects, such as the body being able to work successfully without us having any knowledge of it, or that in certain situations whether social situations or in moments of extreme pain or emotions the body does come to the very forefront of our attention and prohibits us from functioning in the tasks that we were previously engaged in. However it is arguably the centre of attention more frequently than what Leder would believe and Shillings theory therefore could be seen to be more fitting in modern day society. It is clear that everyday there is a certain amount of attention and time spent on the body. Whether is it only limited to the basics of having a shower, cleaning our teeth and brushing our hair everybody does it in order to be socially accepted. However there are many people who will take their bodily appearance more seriously and in turn spend lots of time and money achieving the looks that they deem as being socially acceptable. They are therefore using their body as a project and this could also relate to Leder’s theory as many people do this in order to fit in and feel comfortable, therefore keeping their body in the corporeal background. Therefore it can be seen that Leder’s theory of the absent body and Shilling’s theory are not mutually exclusive to each other.

Introduction

Marijuana, also known as “weed”, “grass”, “bud”, or “pot”, is the second most commonly used “recreational” drug in America, behind only alcohol, a legal substance. The drug comes from the leaves of the hemp plant, “cannabis sativa”. It has a high concentration of the drug’s active ingredient, Tetrahydrocannabinols, also known as THC. While many users smoke the leaves of the plant to get “high” (psychologically impaired), studies show that marijuana has many legitimate medical uses. These uses include alleviating nausea due to chemotherapy, improving the severe weight loss of AIDS patients, and treating pain which may not respond to mainstream opoids such as Morphine.

Marijuana has been used throughout history for both medical and spiritual purposes. It has been used to relieve stress, reduce pain, and cure fatigue, however United States Federal Law classifies marijuana as a schedule I substance in the Controlled Substances Act. This act defines schedule I drugs as having three traits:

“The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse. The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.” (Controlled Substances Act 2002)

This act does also define Tetrahydrocannabinols as a schedule I drug, thus making the possession of marijuana illegal under federal law.

However, some state governments have gone against the federal precedent and legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. In 1996, California was the first such state, under Proposition 215. However, even within these states, some counties may choose to not support the legalization. This had led to the arrest of many patients who may have unknowingly travelled into the wrong county.

Outside the United States, the legislation regarding marijuana possession and use is much less restrictive. Parts of Canada and several countries in Europe have legalized the use and possession of marijuana for both medicinal and recreational purposes. The figure below shows several legalization levels for nations around the world. As one can see on the map, a majority of European nations as well as most of South America have decriminalized marijuana use whereas most of the United States are red, meaning marijuana is confirmed illegal.

There are three possible options for legalization, each with its own benefits, drawbacks, and ethical issues for our leaders. The three options are complete prohibition (US Federal Law), legalization of medicinal marijuana (California Law), and the complete legalization.

This paper seeks to not only analyze the three options for legalization (or prohibition), but more so to evaluate the issue’s implications for the ethical decisions of leaders. The issue of marijuana becomes an ethical issue when you consider the fact that prohibition of the drug also prevents patients from getting the aid they need. Leaders of the United States and any other government dealing with this issue need to consider the ethical implications of their decisions.

As discussed in Defining Moments, these decisions can be considered “right vs. right” decisions or decisions where both options seem to be “right”. In the case of marijuana legalization, leaders and lawmakers are considering the ethical weight of allowing patients the medicine they need or completely preventing the abuse of an “illicit” drug. Both decisions seem “right” in their own ways but the options exclusive of each other. This forces leaders to evaluate their own morality and utilize their ethical decision making capabilities to make a decision that, based on all ethical factors, they can consider “right”.

Through the examination of ethical, legal, and economic factors, this paper will reveal that the legalization of marijuana is the most “forward thinking” and ethical option for dealing with marijuana. However, in order to enact this change, transformational leaders who recognize the benefits and drawbacks of all options must be a part of the decision making process. The paper strives to reveal significant insight to the following question. Why do leaders choose to support or oppose the legalization of marijuana? Considering pertinent evidence, what option for the legalization of marijuana is most ethical? And, what type of leadership is necessary to do the right thing?

Leadership in Theory

Leadership ethics and the moral decisions they are forced to make have long been a topic of philosophers’ discussions. The way that leaders reveal themselves through their ethical decisions affects how their followers view them. Additionally, the morals which a leader portrays will be mimicked among much of the population. In this way, leaders have the power to mold the morals and views of those they lead. This power can be either beneficial or destructive to the leader’s power depending on how it’s utilized. Adolf Hitler used this power, for horrific purposes, to create a sense of extreme pride and nationalism which caused them to follow him somewhat blindly.

Plato, a Greek philosopher, argues that leaders must make ethical decisions based on the greater good of the people affected by the decision. That is, rule not with self interest, but the interest of your followers. This frames the analysis of the legalization decisions because, if leaders believe that the use of marijuana can benefit their citizens then, according to Plato, legalization is the morally “right” option. In The Ethics of Leadershipip, Joanne Ciulla provides a passage from Plato which states, “because our bodies are deficient rather than self sufficient, the craft of medicine has now been discovered. The craft of medicine was developed to provide what s advantageous for a body.” (Ciulla, 19) Therefore, if marijuana were proven to be a medicine it would then be considered by Plato advantageous to the citizens. Therefore, providing the ability for the suffering to get this medicine would be “good” leadership.

Ayn Rand would disagree with Plato, however. Rand argues that leaders must rule with their own self interest as their primary motivator. She says, “Accept the fact that the achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness…is the proof of your moral integrity.” (Ciulla, 51) She believes that the pursuit of one’s self interests is indicative of their dedication to their morals and values and that, Rand argues, is the proof of your morality. This frames the analysis of the ethical implications of marijuana legalization, because, as Rand would argue, unless the leaders and lawmakers were somehow benefitting from legalization they should not choose to enact such laws, regardless of what others want and/or need.

However, there is one theory that seems to be key to enacting any sort of change in marijuana laws. The necessity for transformational leadership is vital to the cause of bringing about change. Transformational leadership is a type of leadership where leaders use their power to enact “valuable and positive” change in the people they lead. (Bass) This consideration is important for two reasons. First, in order to reform marijuana laws, transformational leaders will be needed to enact the changes. Secondly, these transformational leaders will be compelled to enact this change if they can see it as “valuable and positive”. So, if you consider this theory with Plato’s thoughts, the medicinal purpose of marijuana would be advantageous and, thus, the legalization of it would be a “valuable and positive” change because it would allow people to get the things their bodies need. So, for the sake of this evaluation, I will examine the presence (or absence) of transformational leaders.

Therefore, the framework for this paper will be the three theories of leadership that I have outlined in this section. For each “option” of legalization, I will discuss the ethical issues that leaders face when dealing with the question of legalizing the use of marijuana. I will also add discussion on each option with respect to each theory; Plato, Rand, and the idea of transformational leadership.

What this paper serves to prove is that, under the theoretical framework outlined in this section, the legalization of marijuana appeals to all three of the theories discussed above. So, under this framework, legalizing and taxing marijuana is the most feasible and potentially successful option. However, during this discussion, I will answer the questions of how each option of legalization discussed in this pertains to the three theories of Plato, Rand, and transformational leadership.

Option 1: Complete Prohibition

The first option I will discuss is the complete prohibition of the possession and use of marijuana for any purpose. This is how a large portion of the United States operates. Marijuana is considered “taboo” to mainstream culture, so its use outlawed. However, cannabis is still the second most used recreational drug in America. (Joy 1999)

Pros

Now, this does accomplish some important goals. First of all, it serves as a mode to limit the abuse of the drug. By criminalizing the possession and use of marijuana, law makers will deter some citizens from using the drug.

Many people do view this deterrence as a good improvement and they cite the harmful effects of smoke inhalation as their justification. One of the most popular argument is the effects that smoking marijuana has on the lungs.

As with inhaling any type of smoke, carcinogens in marijuana smoke can cause damage to the lungs and respiratory system. Tan argues, “Participants who had smoked at least 50 marijuana cigarettes but had no history of tobacco smoking were not at significantly greater risk for either outcome.” (The “outcomes” were respiratory symptoms and COPD) This statement suggests that smoking marijuana has similar effects on the respiratory system as smoking tobacco. Further, he says, “Those who had smoked both tobacco and marijuana had a significantly greater risk of COPD and respiratory symptoms.” (Tan, 2009) Tan is proving is that, while solely smoking marijuana is no more dangerous that smoking cigarettes, combining the two significantly increases the risk of respiratory issues. Therefore, the prohibitionists justify criminalization by claiming that the use and abuse of marijuana has degenerative effects on the lungs.

Another claim cannabis prohibitionists make to justify their stance is that marijuana use has addictive properties, similar to nicotine. They claim that marijuana addiction is a critical issue in the legalization discussion. Their main focus is the addictive effects on youth. In a study by Iain McGregor on the effects of THC injections on the brains and behaviors of adolescent and adult male rats, McGregor found that “adolescent brains are still maturing, and say they seem to be more vulnerable to THC” (“Youngsters”, 2007). The article cites that after the injections of THC, the adult rats avoided the injection area, however, the adolescent rats “showed no such aversion” (“Youngsters”, 2007). This observation, McGregor says, shows that the adult rats, contrary from the adolescent subjects, found the THC “unpleasant”. Since the test was set up to mimic human conditions under heavy cannabis usage, this would suggests that youths are more susceptible to becoming addicted to cannabis since they show no disdain for the effects of the drug. This conclusion is underscored by the fact that, according to the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, adolescent cannabis use is rising. This means that more youth are trying marijuana and, based on McGregor’s results, becoming addicted to the effects of THC.

Cons

However, the complete prohibition of marijuana, along with the arguments that prohibition supporters use to justify it, has flaws. One of the largest such drawbacks of prohibition is the matter of getting medicinal marijuana to patients. Additionally, marijuana has been shown to have preventative medicinal purposes. An experiment by Prof. Raphael Mechoulam showed that the use of marijuana can significantly slow the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease. In this experiment, Mechoulam’s team found that cannabinoids not only prevented cognitive decline, but also reduced the inflammation associated with the disease. Inflammation is normal says Gary Wenk of Ohio State University, however, “in some cases, this inflammation gets out of hand and causes serious damage” (“Pot May Help”, 2006). “There is a solid link between chronic inflammation in the brain and the progression of Alzheimer’s” Wenk says, but mentions that the anti-inflammatory properties of marijuana can help to prevent this. However, all of this is null if the drug is criminalized. Those with family histories of Alzheimer’s are forced to accept the onset of the disease because lawmakers deemed the drug “illicit”.

The justification, discussed above, of the prohibition of marijuana is also flawed. For example, the argument regarding the respiratory damage from marijuana is hypocritical. The study discussed above demonstrated that marijuana smoke is equally as destructive as tobacco smoke. Tobacco, however, is legal. So, how can the prevention of respiratory damage be a viable justification if you are not going to prevent the damage from an equally as dangerous substance?

Ethical Issues

These benefits and drawbacks of prohibition are part of the ethical struggle that leaders have to face. On one hand, prohibition does what iss morally right by protecting citizens from a harmful drug. However, the proof of the harmfulness of marijuana is light and many studies show it to be no more dangerous than other, legalized, substances. In 1988, then DEA Judge Francis L. Young said, “Marijuana is the safest therapeutically active substance known to man… safer than many foods we commonly consume” (Armento, 2009). So, if it is in fact safer than most foods and, at the very least, it has therapeutic benefits, why is there a need for it to be prohibited?

Additionally, the attempt to stop the use is failing. Youth usage levels are rising and the use of marijuana is not isolated to those states that have since legalized medical marijuana. In fact, marijuana usage is no regionally exclusive in this country. The map below shows the states with highest reported marijuana usage in the United States. The graph shows a rather even distribution across the countries, with high usage rates in the Northeast, West, and Midwest. This is a demonstration that the prohibition of marijuana is not successful.

In regards to leadership, the leaders supporting the prohibition of marijuana are “playing it safe” and staying with the “status quo.” No signs of transformational leadership are being demonstrated by lawmakers who aren’t striving for change, but instead leading to remain in power. This is despite the fact that data such as the figure above show that the citizens see marijuana as a positive and are yearning for change to the current laws. Transformational leaders would recognize this and work to enact this positive change in government. This means going against the status quo and transforming the legislation into something the people support.

The other side of the ethical debate over prohibition is that it limits the ability for patients to receive the medicine they need. I explained earlier how marijuana can be used as a preventative medicine to prevent Alzheimer’s and in later sections I will discuss, in further detail, the beneficial effects of medicinal marijuana. However, prohibition offers no permissions to patients to obtain the drug. Nor does it allow any judicial allowances to those arrested for the possession or use of marijuana, even if they are using it for medical reasons. Ethically, this is the weakest part of the argument in favor of prohibition.

Let’s analyze this piece using sleep test ethics. In his book, Defining Moments, Joseph L Badaracco discusses sleep test ethics as a means of evaluating ethical decisions. Badaracco explains sleep-test ethics as “a person who has made the right choice can sleep soundly afterward; someone who has made the wrong choice cannot.” (Badaracco, 1997) If we apply this to the idea of prohibition, we can see the ethical issue involved in prohibition. If you had to deny a dying patient the medicine to ease their suffering in order to continue a feeble attempt to control the recreational use of the medicine, would you be able to sleep soundly at night?

These are the issues that prohibitionist lawmakers face when dealing with marijuana in their districts. It seems to be a policy vs. people debate, but at the heart is the a moral and ethical battle between right and right. Badaracco explains these “right vs. right” situations as “defining moments” which are used to not only reveal but shape a leader’s character. How our lawmakers handle the issues of marijuana prohibition will affect how others view their morality.

Option 2: Legalization of Medicinal Marijuana

The second option for marijuana legalization is to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana only. Currently, there are 13 states that have disregarded the federal prohibition laws and have legalized the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes. These states, with the year in which they legalized medicinal marijuana are shown in the table below.

Pros

Marijuana has been used as medicine since ancient times. It has pain relieving and anti-inflammatory properties when smoked. This is because the heat of burning the cannabis activates the THC in the plant which then enters one’s body with the smoke. Through most of the 80’s and 90’s, the United States federal government prohibited the testing of marijuana smoke for medicinal purposes. However, in 2002, the Drug Enforcement Administration granted approvals to scientists for the “limited use [of marijuana] in scientific experiments.” (Hilts, 2002) In his article, Hilts said, that scientists at the University of California will begin testing the effects of smoking marijuana on the limb pain experiences due to Multiple Sclerosis and AIDS.

Scientists have found evidence that links marijuana, specifically THC, with medical benefits, both curative and preventative. As I have explained above, THC has shown to have preventative effects against Alzheimer’s disease in older people. Additionally, it is a drug of interest because it is one of the few prescribed for neurological decay that doesn’t just focus on the symptoms, but instead, the root cause, the inflammation due to age.

However, marijuana also has very significant curative benefits as well for patients. In his review of the “Dying to Get High”, Ellis cites a story from 1992 where a woman was using marijuana “with success…instead of pharmaceutical drugs to control her seizures.” (Ellis, n.d.) The seizures, Ellis said were caused by a car accident 20 years ago and the woman, Valerie Corral, had successfully controlled them for those 20 years with marijuana. Ellis elaborates on some of the other proven medical uses of marijuana. He says, “In practice, this includes nausea and appetite loss in Cancer and AIDS treatments, chronic pain, glaucoma, and seizures related to multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and epilepsy.” (Ellis, n.d.) Studies have shown that intra-ocular pressure can be reduced by 45% through the use of marijuana (Hanrahan, 2006) This reduction is particularly important to the treatment of Glaucoma. The studies also show that cannabis also has “antimicrobial action and antibacterial effects” such as being able to “destroy and inhibit the growth of streptococci and staphylococci bacteria.” (Hanrahan, 2006) These bacteria are responsible for staph infections more common and in severe cases MRSA. The results suggest that cannabis, or specifically THC, can be used to eliminate and prevent staph infections.

Additionally, by legalizing the use of medicinal marijuana, it is allowing more studies to be done, which may lead to more discoveries and cures. But most importantly, your helping the lives of patients with AIDS, Cancer, MS, and other to be made a little less strenuous and easing the suffering from their disease.

Cons

Legalization of medicinal marijuana is a somewhat “meet in the middle” option, meaning that it tries to appease as many people as possible. This option allows for the government to still attempt preventing the recreational use of the drug without denying patients the treatments they need. Therefore, the cons of this option are limited and weakly supported.

Ethical Issues

By legalizing cannabis for medicinal use, you are recognizing that the drug has beneficial uses for the prevention of many serious diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, yet you are still deeming it “unsafe” for recreational use. However, if the drug is being used for preventative measures, then recreational use would actually be beneficial to the population. Granted, abuse may become an issue over time, but so is the case for alcohol, yet that is not currently prohibited. Also, it may be harmful to the lungs and respiratory system, but no more so than tobacco smoke, which is also legal.

Ethically however, it appears to be the moral thing to do. While there are some initial signs of transformational leadership, the changes are not significantly affecting all citizens. Leaders, while changing the laws in their state, are not pushing for the change in the federal law, which legally overrules the state laws. Therefore, in reality, the leaders are acting in their own self-interest, as Rand would suggest they do. They are maximizing their “votes” without taking a firm stand on either side of the argument. This is a way to keep them in office and ensure their own interests. However, they are showing no dedication to their own morals and values, which Badaracco says is how one reveals their ethics, by remaining dedicated to their set of values.

Option 3: Complete Legalization

Complete legalization is the more sparsely used option of the three. Only certain areas of Canada, such as Montreal, and few nations in Europe, such as Netherlands, have completely legalized the use of marijuana for any purpose, medicinal or recreational. This option shows the highest potential for economic benefit by allowing for the taxation while freeing up funding from the War on Drugs.

Pros

Throughout this analysis I have made several comparisons of marijuana to alcohol and tobacco. Marijuana is no more addictive or harmful physically than these two legal substances. So, marijuana could yield similar financial benefits through taxation as cigarettes and tobacco. Currently, tobacco is taxed by federal, state, and local governments which generate revenue for all organizations. Some places, where medical marijuana is legal, have begun taxing medical marijuana to benefit from its legalization. Oakland, CA was the first such city to do so, with support of 80% of the population. Once President Obama promised that the federal government would not interfere with a state’s regulation of the drug, transformational leaders, such as Tom Ammiano of California, introduced a bill to “legalize the cultivation of marijuana and its distribution and sale to people over 21.” (“Puff, Puff, Pay”, 2009)

It seems that in our current economic crisis, any additional revenue would be viewed as a valuable and significant opportunity and some leaders are realizing that marijuana can be one of those opportunities. The California Board of Equalization estimates that, if Assemblyman Ammiano’s bill succeeds, the state of California could generate $1.4 billion in revenue. (“Puff, Puff, Pay”, 2009) The legalization of marijuana would also help to spur a boost in cannabis related tourism. For a state such as California, struggling through the economic turmoil our country has been in, these financial benefits are very appealing. And, if the policy were enacted nationwide, the revenue generated would simply multiply.

Cons

There are some noticeable drawbacks of the legalization of marijuana, but none nearly as significant as the financial gain from the legalization, sale, and taxation of cannabis. One such concern is that of addiction of people to cannabis. A Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration study has shown that the number of cannabis addicts has risen from 12% to 16% since 1997 (“Puff, Puff, Pay”, 2009). While this is not a particularly significant increase, this is a valid consideration when discussing the concept of legalizing marijuana use. This number would most likely increase more if marijuana were legal, however, the significance of this increase cannot be estimated.

Ethical Issues

This option for legalization requires the highest level of transformational leadership. The lawmakers need to realize that the legalization can be a valuable and positive change if executed properly. This positive change could not only allow the medical use of marijuana to cure and ease the suffering of significant diseases but also help their economy.

Alcohol and tobacco are currently some of the most profitable industries for the United States government. Marijuana could generate revenue equal to, if not greater than tobacco and alcohol. This concept plays directly into Rand’s advice for leaders. Creating revenue for their state would secure their place in office as well as possibly affording our leaders some financial gains, such as pay raises and tax breaks due to increased revenue. Therefore, the legalization of marijuana to secure financial gain would be ruling in one’s own self-interest, a concept that Rand is very adamant about.

Additionally, Plato’s theories regarding ruling for the greater good come into play in this option as well. By legalizing marijuana completely, you are giving people the right to choose if they want to use marijuana and what they would like to use it for. Giving people more rights can be considered to be for the greater good. Also, it boosts the economy and creates jobs as retail, manufacturing, and shipping organizations will need to be developed to support the legalization.

Conclusions

This paper analyzed the three options of legalizing (or prohibiting) the use of marijuana for both medical and recreational reasons. It has presented the benefits and drawbacks of both marijuana and it’s legalization/prohibition. It has framed the analysis within the writings of Plato and Ayn Rand as well as against the ideas of transformational leadership.

But what option is “best” or “more right”? In order to answer this question we must think of our criteria, or the framework of the analysis. We must judge each option based on this framework. A table below shows each option and how it pertains to the pieces of our framework.

From this table we see that, each theory helps to support the case for complete legalization. Both philosophers’ views are present in the effects and consequences of this option. Allowing people the right to choose and the right to select their medicine is Plato’s view of ruling for the greater good. The tax benefits that leaders will undoubtedly see (though may never be “officially” attributed to the legalization of marijuana) is Rand’s view of ruling with self-interest. And the fact that they are transforming the values, morals, and ideas of what is “acceptable” of a society for “valuable and positive change” demonstrates their understanding of and dedication to the theories of transformational leadership.

Under these criteria, the prohibition of marijuana completely does not support any of the theories by which we are evaluating.

Therefore, in conclusion, the legalization of marijuana seems to be the best option for dealing with this issue. The legalization would allow the people who need treatment to get it and it could help with the economic crisis which is currently ravaging the world. Additionally, since marijuana has proven to actually have benefits, unlike tobacco and alcohol, it is a positive change in the culture of society. While laws pertaining to marijuana will need to be developed (similar to tobacco and alcohol), the regulation of marijuana use by the government will, in the end, prove to be a very profitable decision.

I think it is the best decision ethically as well. The people, who want to use it, are. The people, who don’t want to use it, aren’t. I don’t feel as though this will change significantly by legalizing the drug. Therefore, the consequences of such a decision are minimal, as its almost a case of realizing the current situation and making legislation to benefit from it.

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