Tobacco

Tobacco is a highly addictive and dangerous drugs that can have many negative side effects on people's health. There are many strong reasons for making tobacco products illegal, but should tobacco be outlawed? I believe that the answer is no. The CDC says that tobacco use is the most dangerous preventable risk that people can take, so making tobacco illegal would make sense. The problem I run into is that when the government steps in to try and control what you do in your life, problems occur. Even if it is in your best interest, its not right for other people to be telling you how to live your life. In the 1920's prohibition went into effect. Prohibition outlawed the sale and consumption of alcohol. People thought this would end drinking problems, but in fact, it did not. The legalization of tobacco is a highly debated subject, but I believe that for the time being tobacco should remain legal.

Conflict Resolution

When conflicts happen, there are many ways of handling them. Unfortunately, a lot of people try to solve these conflicts the wrong way, and things like bullying can occur. The easiest way to solve conflicts is to simply sit down at a table and talk. Both parties should be at the table, and a third, neutral party to ensure that both sides get an equal chance to talk. By just communicating problems to each other and explaining what you want to happen, most conflicts can be resolved.

Vaccinations

There has been somewhat of a controversy over vaccines in recent years. Everyone knows that vaccines work to protect people from disease, but in some cases, the opposite can occur. There have been some studies that suggest that childhood vaccination can cause autism, but these reports have been proven to be inaccurate. For many years now there have been activist groups promoting the idea that autism can be caused by vaccination. Many children have gone un-immunized because of these groups. Recently, a study involving 2 million children was done finally disproving the notion that vaccination can cause autism (http://www.mlive.com/opinion/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/02/editorial_retraction_should_re.html).There are some safety issues to consider before getting immunized. If you have an allergy to eggs, it is possible you could have a reaction to the flu vaccine because it is grown on an egg culture (http://www.acaai.org/public/advice/Fluvaccine_eggallergy.htm). However, if you do not have an allergy to vaccinations then there is no reason to refuse immunization. Vaccines are beneficial to people and on the whole, they have no adverse effects.

Soy Food

For vegetarians and vegans, soy can be an extremely useful part of their diet. Soy contains an incredible amount of protein, and it is the only plant that contains complete proteins, that is proteins that contain all 8 essential amino acids. Because of this fact, soy can be very beneficial to people who cannot get protein from meats, like vegetarians and vegans. However, for all other people who do eat meat, there is no added benefit for consuming soy products. If one can obtain their protein from other sources, soy becomes unneccessary. Some reports even suggeset that soy may have negative health effects. New studies have linked soy consumption to breast cancer, brain damage, and developmental abnormalities in children (http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/soy.htm). Before choosing to eat soy, one must consider all of the benefits and risks, and then make a decision. I personally would choose not to eat soy, because I can obtain protein from other sources, and the risks of soy outweigh any benefits they may give me.

Industrial Farming

Industrial agricultural techniques have greatly increased the amount of food that is produced, but at what cost? Industrialized farming has led to an increase in pollution, and the burning of fossil fuels may contribute to global warming. Also, the use of growth hormones in our food supplies may have unforseen consequences to our health in the future. If these trends continue, factories may cause irreperable damage to our health and the environment. Unfortunately, it may not be possible to reverse these trends, but perhaps that is the cost of living in an industrialized society.