Social Media is a Plague

      Technology is a wonderful thing most of the time.  While working, computers make it easier and faster to get the to-do list done.  But, with the social media explosion that is happening today, things are becoming blurred.  Friends are now at our fingertips and relationships can be formed over networks.  This has created a new and downright scary breed of anti-social folks.  Further driving this breed is text messages and instant messaging through social networks.  Blog sites also fuel this issue which turns out to be an oxymoron considering this is a blog.
      Go back twenty years ago and things looked and sounded much different.  Home phones would ring and dial up took ten minutes to log on to the Internet, but not at the same time.  Do not take this the wrong way but those days are missed.  People would connect in a way that was meant to be more personal.  They did not just "like" a post or a picture.  Communication then was done on a personal level not behind the screen of a phone or a tablet.  Oh how those days are long gone, never to return.
      Fast-forward to the present and things are not as personal as they once were.  Phone calls are close to the dinosaur era now.  Text messaging has replaced a very simple form of communication.  Face it, texting is not easier than dialing a number but it is less personal.  That is where the anti-social part is starting to gain it's ground.  With less and less of a personal connection "friends" are not what they use to be.
      The monster that is social media is destroying personal relationships and friendships more and more each day.  How many phone calls are made each week?  What about outings with friends that are not tagged in a social media post?  The sad thing is, not many!  People have lost the one thing that separates them from animals.  Connections!  Every friendship and relationship requires a connection.  Crime has risen at a rocket pace in recent years and it is believed that social media is devaluing the human connection.  Sure it allows the user to connect with long lost friends and family but through a digital portal that has no emotion.  Once human life connections are lost then what is their value?
      See the problem lies in the false sense that social media is allowing people to connect daily, but it is not.  It actually does just the opposite.  They tend to forget the emotional connection and how important that really is.  They run into a person that is a "friend" on social media but yet hardly speak to them!  Why? Cause where the hell is the human connection?  It is gone and with it humanity as it was once known.  This was not intended to be doom and gloom but look around and be the judge.  Connectivity needs to be restored before it's too late for the human race!

The Legal State of Mind...

How many people have tried Marijuana?  Should it be legalized? The answers to

those two questions are a hot topic. The legalization of Marijuana has become an ever
increasing debate in modern culture.  Both, opponents and proponents are vigorously
campaigning for their sides of the debate.  While both sides make great arguments, there are a
few issues that are not discussed fully.  Tennessee should legalize Marijuana, considering the
history, criminal aspect, and benefits; opponents will better understand the other half of the
debate. 

Opponents to the legalization of Marijuana tend to argue that crime and drug abuse

would rise.   They seem to believe that legalization would lead to an even greater
overcrowding problem with the prison system.  The truth is that just the opposite would
happen with the decriminalization of Marijuana.  According to the Federal Sentencing
Statistics report, drug offenders make up 50.1% of the total prison population.  With 27.6% in
prison for Marijuana charges, it’s easy to see how the legalization would shrink the inmate
population from the beginning. (Miles)

Marijuana has been used as a pain reliever and a stress reducer on most occasions.

The drug that is found in Marijuana is called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC for short.
The effect of this drug may differ depending on the individual user’s tolerance levels.  The
earliest recorded use of Marijuana can be traced to India, over a thousand years ago.(Iversen
18)  The uses of it over the course of history have been mainly for religious ceremonies or
recreational use. 
           
            The criminalization of Marijuana has a torrid past.  During the turn of the century
many states were trying to ban marijuana and its use with little avail.  It was not until 1937
that a federal law was made to ban all forms of marijuana.  The key players behind the 1937
Marijuana Tax Act is very disturbing.  Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon was a chief
financial backer of DuPont Chemicals.  DuPont had just started making synthetic plastics,
like nylon, and was facing stiff competition from hemp farmers.(Turner) Another key
player in the passing of the act was William Hearst, who was a media magnate; he owned a
newspaper, paper mill, and several forests.(Turner) Hearst was also competing with hemp
farmers, so it made sense for a law to be passed so that hemp could no longer be grown in the
United States. 
           
             Even though hemp and marijuana are different plants entirely, the law passed with
ease.  The law did not stop there unfortunately.  During the 1970’s, President Richard Nixon
would weigh in on this issue.  The Nixon administration declared a “war on drugs” in 1971. 
Nixon placed marijuana as a schedule one narcotic, right up there with cocaine and heroin. 
Nixon also beefed up the federal drug taskforce to fight a battle that was falsely started to
begin with.  This is the main reason the debate rages on today. (A Brief…)           

Overcrowding in the prison system has become a major concern as of late.  The

United States makes up 5% of the world’s population but houses 25% of the world’s
population in prisons.  Most of the convictions in the federal prison system come from illegal
drug convictions.  The convictions stem from mainly non-violent drug offenders and even
first time offenders.  The most current data on Marijuana offenders makes up 27.6% of the
total system.(Miles)  That is an alarming number of prisoners for a drug with no known side
effects or related deaths.            

The most disturbing trend is the death tolls related to all drugs, legal or illegal.  In the

United States today more Americans die from tobacco, alcohol, and prescription pain killers
than other illegal drugs.  Drugs like heroin and meth lead the death tolls of illegal drugs
consumed by people.  Those two drugs are considered a schedule one drug based on their
mortality rate.  Not one death has ever been linked to the use of marijuana nor overdoses. (Iversen 158-9)            

With the legalization of marijuana taking place in several states, the benefits are

becoming more apparent.  If Marijuana was decriminalized on a federal level then the
revenue created by the regulation could be endless.  The tax revenue alone could be in the
billions per year based on the current tax rate of alcohol and tobacco.  America has been
facing a slow growing economy since 2008.  Once Marijuana was legal to grow and sell then
the jobs would increase on a national level.  Farmers could grow marijuana and hemp plants
that once thrived in America during the early 20^th century.  Stores would have to open and
hire people to run day to day operations.

After all, the legalization of marijuana makes sense on every level.  The benefits

outweigh the risks.  It is time America rights a wrong and passes a bill that will change the
course of history forever.  With the legalization, prisons would be less crowded with less
drug offenders being prosecuted.  Crime rates would drop because people could buy
marijuana in a legal store front instead of buying from a drug dealer.  And lastly, drug
research for marijuana could be restored in order to find better alternatives to synthetic drugs. 
 (842)