Legalizing Ecstasy essays

Legalizing Ecstasy essays Have you ever believed in something your entire life, only to come to terms that your belief is miss-informed? Recently something like that happened to me. For a speech class I had to do research on a popular drug called ecstasy, used at raves and underground parties. My first take on the drug was that it was very unstable and that it could eventually lead to death. Obviously you believe most stuff you read in the news, and so I took the news to heart about ecstasy. The problem was that the source of my information was really unsubstantiated rumor. I used to believe that all drugs were bad no matter what but in fact, after extensive research on ecstasy, I discovered that there is therapeutic value in that the drug helps patients of therapists open up more during sessions. I believe the DEA should lift the ban it has placed on ecstasy. Obviously you are taught from an early age that all drugs are bad and using them is only for the bad and scary people of the world. But research has shed new light on the popular drug ecstasy. Ecstasy was developed and patented in the early 1900s, but it wasnt until the 1970s that it came in to the hands of a therapist. About to retire from a life long career in therapy, he was convinced by a friend to try the drug. The following day he abandoned his plans of retirement and went on the road, touring the United States, introducing this new drug to therapists. During this time he spoke to over 4000 therapists and convinced them to at least try the new experimental drug. Almost all of them decided that it was of use and started implementing it in their sessions. At this time there was no consequence for using or possessing the drug. It wasnt until 1985 that the DEA got word of this new drug and put it into a Schedule 1 category ban, the category for non-medicinal and non-researchable drugs. Use of ecstasy all but disappeared in the U.S., until recently. In t ...

Word Choice Program vs. Programme - Get Proofed!

Word Choice Program vs. Programme - Get Proofed! Word Choice: Program vs. Programme The Atlantic Ocean is quite big. And with such a large amount of water between the US and the UK, we shouldn’t be surprised that there are differences between us. One of those differences, it seems, is that British people like to make spelling more complicated than it should be. There are lots of examples of this, but the one we’re looking at here is â€Å"program† and â€Å"programme.† Despite the extra â€Å"-me† at the end of the British version, these words essentially mean the same thing. But, at the same time, the British use â€Å"program† and â€Å"programme† in different ways. Defining â€Å"Program† In American English, we use â€Å"program† for all senses of the word. As a noun, this includes: A series or group of activities (e.g., a training program) A broadcast (e.g., a television program) Software (e.g., a computer program) A pamphlet outlining an event or series of events (e.g., a theater program) It can also be used as a verb, where it usually refers to programming a computer. We sometimes talk about â€Å"programming† a series of events, but this is less common. The British Way The extra letters in â€Å"programme† come from French. Weirdly, this is a newer spelling than â€Å"program† (unlike other words where the American English is a simplified version of the British spelling). It seems the British just decided the French spelling looked better during the nineteenth century. Even weirder is that British English uses â€Å"program,† but only in relation to computing. As such, in England, you can install a â€Å"computer program† on your laptop, but you watch a â€Å"TV programme.† So if streaming a TV show on your computer, you can watch a programme via a program in Britain. There are signs â€Å"program† is catching on in other contexts lately, but â€Å"programme† is still the standard version. In summary: British people are weird, especially when it comes to spelling. Program or Programme? Unless you’re writing for a British audience, you should use â€Å"program.† Even places like Australia and Canada, which do use British spellings in some cases, favor â€Å"program† for this word. The only other exception seems to be New Zealand, where â€Å"programme† is still common. But unless Britain and New Zealand conquer the world soon, we don’t see this spelling catching on elsewhere! It must be something about living on tiny islands.