In the article, “Brain Gain” by Margaret Talbot, it illustrates the growing underground world of neuroenchancing drugs. In her article, she writes about how more and more people are taking neuroenhancers to improve their cognitive functions. People are taking neuroenhancers because they feel pressure to compete and perform well in this stressful society. Talbot’s articles shows how this society has become so obsessed with efficiency and is so competitive that users are making justifiable reasons to take these neuroenhancers. These neuroenhancers are drugs that supposed to be used by people who suffer from cognitive disorders like A.D.H.D. The use of neuroenhancers for competitive gain is wrong on so many levels. The use of neuroenhancers is unethical, and cause philosophical problems. There are also physical risks for using neuroenhancers.
The use of neuroenhancers for competitive gain, not for treatment of a disorder is unethical. Neuroenhancers like Adderall and Ritalin are used to treat people with disorders that disrupt their normal cognitive functions and are suffering from serious cognitive disorders (Talbot 2). Now more and more “over-committed people” are taking these drugs to become “higher functioning and more committed” (Talbot 2). They are taking these drugs to make the impossible to the possible. Also, these drugs are used by people who wasted their time too busy partying and engaging in activities that are “detrimental to their performances” (Talbot 2). They are too busy participating in other activities that they neglect their academic work. These students are cheating and using these drugs to get a competitive advantage. It is totally unfair for students who doing their assignments with neuroenhancers. Also, it ...
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...is society has changed. Giving a hundred percent is not good enough anymore. Now people need to take drugs to get ahead. Thanks to these societal pressures there are demands for drugs like Adderall.
Neuroenhancers are not the answers of our problems. Neuroenhancers are dangerous at so many levels. It causes physical, mental and philosophical harm. They are used by lazy people who have poor time management skills and who doesn’t want to do hard work. This shows how much our society has fallen. It resorted to drugs to make life easier. No one wants to make sacrifices or put hours of hard work. They want everything delivered to them. They don’t care what are the neuroenhancers are doing to their body. They feel the award is worth the risk. Hopefully users will realize what are they doing and stop using neuroenhancers before they are suffering from permanent harm.
Prescription and pharmaceutical drug abuse is beginning to expand as a social issue within the United States because of the variety of drugs, their growing availability, and the social acceptance and peer pressure to uses them. Many in the workforce are suffering and failing at getting better due to the desperation driving their addiction.
In this article Aguirre talks about the possible benefits of having a raised minimum legal drinking age. She talks about the fact that lowering the drinking age would create a safer venue for young adults to drink. She also says that a lowered drinking age would limit the amount of binge drinking, which would also limit the amounts of deaths caused by binge
Lowering the legal drinking age would create problems such as infringing on the mental and physical development of the young drinker. As a respected author, Matt Nagin puts it, “The late teens and early twenties are formative years where character building, leadership in the community, and scholastic excellence should be emphasized. Alcohol detracts from all of these.” In other words, Nagin believes that the teen years are an imperative time of growth in a person’s life. Scientists have proven that the brain is not fully developed until the age of twenty five. If Nagin’s argument is correct, and I believe it is, then people should understand that scientists have proven the negative affects that alcohol has on the development of the brain. Alcohol has the power to kill brain cells and damage growth hormones. By making alcohol legally accessible to an eighteen year old, we are literally poisoning his or her brain.
There has been an increase in the Misuse and Abuse of prescription drugs to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). the number of children on medication for ADHD has grown from 600,000 in 1990 to 3.5 million in 2013 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But although there is an over-medication of ADHD drugs, there is actually and under-medication since not all the right people are getting medicated. Many individuals lack insurance or are insured with health plans that do not cover the outpatient prescription drugs they need and cannot afford.10 Therefore, Individuals covered by various health plans and programs, and those who have no prescription drug coverage, pay significantly different prices for the same medications. As the demand for ADHD drugs grows, higher prescribing rates and increasing drug prices result, which creates problems for these number of Americans who cannot afford the treatment they require.
Stolzer, PhD, J. M. (2007). The ADHD Epidemic in America. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 9, 109-116.
One of the most concerning cons is that alcohol consumption interferes with the development of the brains frontal lobes which controls emotional regulation, planning, and organization. Some potential risk factors are addiction, reduced decision-making ability, memory loss, depression, violence, and suicide (Minimal Legal Drinking Age,1). Lowering the MLDA allows public establishments to continue to sell alcohol to people, even if they are obviously intoxicated. “About half of drivers arrested for driving while intoxicated or killed as alcohol-involved drivers in traffic crashes did their drinking at license establishments.” (Minimal Legal Drinking Age, 1) which gives an increase chance of more crashes in heavily populated areas with bars, nightclubs, and other alcohol-selling locations. Studies have found that keeping the MLDA at 21 reduces traffic accidents and fatalities by 13%. (Minimal Legal Drinking Age, 1) Lowering the MLDA to 18 would increase the rate of binge drinking under the age of 18, if MLDA was lowered. (Minimal Legal Drinking Age, 2) Lowering the MLDA to 18 would also give middle schoolers and high schoolers easier access to alcohol. Many believe that 18 year olds are not responsible enough to handle alcohol consumption and is more susceptible to the influence of alcohol. (Pros and Cons of Lowering the Drinking Age,
In “Brain Enhancement is Wrong, Right?” the point being conveyed is that using stimulants to enhance performance should not be used because stimulants are unethical. The author intends to reach out to researchers, professors, and college students as the predominant demographic. The usage of drugs to enhance abilities occurs during time when individuals have stressful tasks a head of them. The use of the stimulants depends on when the person needs to focus. Benedict Carey targeted individuals in the academic field because those are the people who are using stimulants to amplify their abilities.
Although drugs are used in an illegal aspect for the most part, there are accounts of medical research to prove the positive effects on some patients with long-term diseas...
According to the drinking age ProCons.org, lowering the drinking age will invite more use of illicit drugs among 18-21 year olds. It is more likely that they will use other illicit drugs. Lowering the minimum drinking age to 21 would increase the number of teens who drink and therefore the number of teens who use other drugs knowing the effects of this situation, and understanding what can happen. Young adults cloud face many more problems than just . Drinking is one step forward to many more drugs. According to drinking age ProCons.org, the minimum drinking age at 21 reduces traffic accidents and fatalities were reduced, 100 of the 102 analyses ( 98 percent) in the 2002 meta-study of the legal drinking age and traffic accidents found higher legal drinking age associated with lower accidents.
Legal drinking age varies by many countries. In U.S.A, There has been a lot of debate when it comes to the legal drinking age here in US. When it comes to law. There is always an opinion, some are for it and some are against. When it comes to the legal drinking age being 21 we are totally against it. Many people still say the government should prohibit using alcoholic drinks at the age of 18. Legal adults deserve to be treated as such it is time the arbitrary drinking age of 21 Was lowered to 18, because there is no evidence that the National Minimum Drinking Age Act is effective or protects the people it is intended to protect . The Notional Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed in 1984 in an attempt to decrease the number of drunk driving related accidents. The act threatens to decrease a state’s budget for high way construction and maintenance if it sets its drinking age under 21. According to Cuccoli , “ Keeping the drinking age at such a low age is leading to more cases of binge drinking,” (Cuccoli). Mothers against drunk driving reports that the number of alcohol related fatalities involving a vehicle decreased from 26, 173 to 16, 885 between 1982 and 2005.
...ring the legal drinking age would cause more car accident among young adults. Majority of the population require a personal care to transport. Most of the American kids learn how to drive at around the age of 16. Whether the legal drinking age is 18 or 21, alcohol-related traffic fatalities are a big issue in the states. In 2010, alcohol-impaired driving crashes killed 10,228 people, accounting for 31% of all traffic-related deaths in the United States. What would it be when more young people are going to drink after lowering the legal drinking age? According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2,121 people in 2006 ages 16 to 20 died in alcohol-related fatalities on U.S. roads, but in 1984, the figure was 4,612. By the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimation, about 800 lives are saved a year when raising the drinking age to 21.
Despite the problems that would arise, many people are beginning to feel that the drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen. Studies have been made; however, no hard evidence suggesting lowering the minimum drinking age would help have surfaced. Although there are countless studies of how alcohol has many harmful effects on teenagers, there is a great deal of negative criticism about what if the drinking age is lowered. Some would say the morally right decision is to not allow teens the chance to hurt themselves. Everyone is entitled to having his or her own opinions and beliefs. However, the overall health of the youth of our country seems a little more important than some personal belief. The drinking age should not be lowered due to the fact drunk driving, juvenile delinquency, and alcohol-related medical issues related to teens will increase.
In any case, all three of the devices that Johnson has argued seem to be working. They create TV shows that are popular and have incredibly high ratings. It is even seen in relatively new shows such as “Game of Thrones”, which is wildly popular with viewers among all ages. While I may not agree with the idea that these devices actually increase cognitive faculties, there is still plenty of research to be done in order to determine if it is true or not.
Underaged drinking has effected many people especally those who are consuming large amounts of alcohol at an age younger than twenty-one. The government has the ability to raise not only awareness about the dangers but also can raise the drinking age nationally to a more safer age. At the age of twenty-five, not only has the brain developed correctly but it can also decrease chances of disasters and car crashes in the United States.
Copious amounts of teenagers already drink illegally. So, why not just make it legal? Teens drink because, naturally, humans want what they can't have. "If you can't have something, you are drawn to it" (Engs). Also, alcohol is a self-medication; it "fixes" anxiety, depression, alienation, and/or despair (Dailey). Because of this, many teenagers could transform into regular, heavy drinkers. Alcohol is a part of college, and high school, culture. In college, alcohol is everywhere, easier to get, and harder to get caught with. Believe it or not, parents of teenagers may allow their children to drink. Possibly at special occasions, or maybe regularly. However, once your parents approve, it automatically appears to be socially acceptable. It may also be a part of their religion/culture. Once again, making it seem socially acceptable.