Medical Marijuana

In the article, Medicinal Marijuana on Trial, from the New York Times, I found myself rather intrigued. The article points out that medical marijuana is legal in 11 states, and seven more are trying to leagalize it, but the federal government has named marijuana as an illegal substance. Therefore, if a doctor prescribes marijuana to a patient, but the federal government finds out that the patient is growing or smoking the marijuana, the patient can have serious charges filed against them. This then brought me to ponder if marijuana was made legal, for medical reasons, would it be covered by a patients health care provider? If so, how would the patient receive the marijuana seeing as how the substance is illegal to grow? Would we then be buying marijuana from the black market? There are some strong internal conflicts between state and federal government that is making this issue so hard. Studies have been done, and it seems that the findings that been somewhat inconclusive. Marijuana seems to have a slight positive effect on patients with epilepsy or multiple sclerosis, it has showed that it lowers the occurance of seizures, allievates nausea, increases appetite, and helps the patient to sleep. It has also been recommended for patients with cronic pain. The researchers worry that the marijuana may have negative effects if smoked in excess, five times a day, every day for five years or more, leading to a higher risk of developing psychosis and schizophrenia. The real question is does the possible negative effects outweigh the potential benefits? Is the opportunity cost of allowing select citizens to use marijuana going to outweigh the enormous amount of backlash that the government will take for legalizing the drug under certain circumstances? Does the health of citizens mean enough to the government to warrant them the most amount of time here on Earth, with the least amount of pain?

You can find the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/health/policy/29mari.html?pagewanted=1

Star Parker

Penn State's Young Americans for Freedom, sponsered Star Parker last Wednesday. Star Parker, the president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education spoke about her experiences with the current welfare system. Ms. Parker herself had used the welfare system to support her and her daughter. Star criticized the way that the system is setup. In the system if you have more than $25.00 in your bank account, your benefits are cut. With the system running this way, it is discouraging people to save any money. If you have a job, your benefits are cut, and why would anyone want to work and make the same amount of money that they were receiving just because they are on the program. The program is lacking in incentives. The way that it is setup, it makes no sense for someone on the program to want to try and work, when they can obtain the same amount of money sitting at home on the couch. Star Parker advised that the system needs a change. "The answer to poverty is freedom and personal responsibility," she also added the need for school vouchers, and hard limitations on the current system. She gave a very intelligent and informed presentation, and I am glad that Penn State hosted such a great speaker.

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2005/03/03-17-05tdc/03-17-05dnews-14.asp

Cheesecake

Over spring break I was lucky enough to enjoy lunch with my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. We went to my great grandmother's favorite restaurant, The Laurel Cafe, and we all ordered our meals. My great grandmother absolutely loves their pumpkin pie, so we all knew to save room for dessert. I looked over the menu and found my most favorite dessert in the whole entire world, cheesecake. I was ecstatic that the restaurant served cheesecake, especially because it is rather hard to find on a college campus, and I gave the waitress my order. She brought out a rather large slice of cheesecake and I started to eat. The first bite that I took was amazing, I hadn't had a good slice of cheesecake in so long. I continued to eat and I noticed that the cheesecake became less fulfilling. I was experiencing diminishing marginal utility. Although when the waitress brought me my delightful dessert I thought that bigger was better, because I would be able to enjoy more of it, I soon realized that after it was half gone it was no longer the delectable I had thought it to be. The marginal utility of the cheesecake dropped enormously and I soon found myself questioning whether I should finish the dessert. I considered the opportunity cost of the high calorie dessert and whether it would be worth it, considering the added calorie intake. I realized that yes, I would be eating some extra calories, but it was spring break, and even though the marginal utility had diminished, it was still cheesecake, a dessert I don't see all that often. Alas, the plate was cleaned.

Working over Spring Break-Minimum Wage

As spring break is approaching rather fast, I am thinking of the week of work I will return home to. I called my boss, back home in rural Wellsboro, PA, and asked to be put on the schedule for the upcoming week. I was thinking about my hourly wage of $5.25 and wondering if the government were to raise the minimum wage if it would affect the smaller rural communities. The company that I work for is a small company with a about twenty to twenty-five stores in New York and Pennsylvania. In most of there stores it is rare to find an employee working above $5.50 an hour with the exception of the salaried manager. I don't know of any employee who has received a raise from my company unless they were promoted to manager or assistant manager. If the government were to raise the minimum wage there is no way that the company would be able to pay all of their employees and would be forced to close a portion or all of their stores. It is very hard to find a job in my area that will pay anywhere close to the starting price of jobs in the State College area. I know that Wellsboro has a lower cost of living and that is why people are able to live off of the lower wages they make. Since the lower cost of living allows people to make less money, an increase in the minimum wage would wipe out small business, especially in areas with a similar situation to Wellsboro. This is why I fear a raise in the minimum wage, for the small business owners in areas with low costs of living, that can not afford to pay their employees up to two dollars more an hour.