Illegal Drugs vs. Psych Ward Drugs The definition of drugs ranges from supposedly positive to automatically classified as negative. But who is to say which drug is bad and which drug is considered good. In the movie entitled "12 Angry Men" the director Terry Gilliam used this film to bring about an idea that I had to rethink. This movie was released on the 27 of December in 1995, this movie's genre is often questionable but for the most part it is an Action, Thriller, Sci-Fi. The two characters that the drugs affected the most were the main character James Cole played by Bruce Willis and another important character Jeffrey played by Brad Pit. Our society often contradicts themselves when it comes to distributing and using drugs correctly. Gilliam furnished this movie with many interlocking themes. But the claim here would be the use of illegal drugs in our society today vs. the use of drugs in a psych ward. Just to briefly summarize before I begin, the main idea of this movie is James Cole comes from the future travels to the present to find information and data on the origins of a deadly virus that will nearly kill everyone on Earth. In the process of getting sent back in time James Cole gets admitted into a mental institution, being that he is a man that claims he is from the past coming to save everyone else. While in the psych ward he meets another major character Jeffery. Jeffery gets aquainted with Cole as he gives a tour of the institution. Jeffery often gets out of hand and it is made clear to us in the movie that the doctors use the drugs to control the patients. In a scene where Jeffery is having a conversation with James he again gets out of hand and is threatened with a needle filled with drugs. A drug that wou... ... middle of paper ... ...rallel of drugs being compared in one statement. A lot of drugs can be refered to as the time zone he was in a the use of drugs at this time, or it can be meant literally the way the doctors administered drugs to him to control his actions. Either way drugs were used to control the patients. So the word drug is considered negative for its negative meaning but our society uses drugs as a way to control a situation that is not to their liking. But control seemed to be what everybody wanted, so the use of drugs was utilized in order to gain the necessary control. Drugs will always be viewed as bad, with the few cases of useful. But useful drugs, are drugs that are used to help a patient not a drug used to control. Our society has authority over everything as it stands right now, and whether you like it or not the have control over our actions by using a single drug.
In one portion of the documentary, we see an excerpt from one of President Richard Nixon’s speeches on how he feels about America’s ongoing battle with drug abuse. In the speech, he declared that this so called “war” with drug addiction needed to be handled while proclaiming that drug abuse was “America’s public enemy number one”. Years later, the war on drugs has only become even more of a controversial issue in the United States with the consequences spanning and reaching particular groups and hinting that they are more so involved than others.
The film gives a historical overview of how the mentally ill have been treated throughout history and chronicles the advancements and missteps the medical community has made along the way. Whittaker recounts the history of psychiatric treatment in America until 1950, he then moves on to describe the use of antipsychotic drugs to treat schizophrenia. He critically summarizes that it is doctors, rather than the patients, who have always calculated the evaluation of the merits of medical treatment, as the “mad” continue to be dismissed as unreliable witnesses. When in fact it is the patient being treated, and their subjective experience, that should be foremost in the evaluation. The film backs up this analysis with interviews of people, living viable lives in the town of Geel, Belgium. I would recommend this film to anyone interested in the history of medicine and specifically to those examining mental illness. It provides a balanced recounting of historical approaches to mental illness, along with success stories of the people of Geel, Belgium. And although I had to look away during the viewing of a lobotomy procedure, I give credit to the power of the visual impact the footage
Drugs have been influencing the ideas, culture, and music of America for ages. Illicit narcotics have left the Union in a state of immense debt. Anti-drug policies have been dumping billions upon billions of dollars in prevention, punishment, and rehabilitation. From the roaring twenties, to the prohibition, drugs have always been fought (Bailey). Most times, the drugs start off as medicines and end up being harmful (Morris). Perhaps, the most prominent and influential eras of drug use in America are the two decades of the 60’s and twenty years later, the 80’s. It may very well be that these two decades molded America into what it is now.
Second, the court must conclude that involuntary medication will significantly further those concomitant state interests. Third, the court must conclude that involuntary medication is necessary to further those interests. The court must find that any alternative, less intrusive treatments are unlikely to achieve substantially the same results. Fourth, as we have said, the court must conclude that administration of the drugs is medically appropriate, i.e., in the patient's best medical interest in light of his medical condition. The specific kinds of drugs at issue may matter here as elsewhere. Different kinds of antipsychotic drugs may produce different side effects and enjoy differen...
When societies finally become comfortable with reality, they begin to abandon the murderous laws that impede their growth. Currently, the social stigma and legislated morality regarding the use of illicit drugs yield perhaps the most destructive effects on American society. Drug laws have led to a removal of non-violent citizens from society- either directly by incarceration or indirectly by death - that is genocidal in quantity and essence.
“The fact that war is the word we use for almost everything—on terrorism, drugs, even poverty—has certainly helped to desensitize us to its invocation; if we wage wars on everything, how bad can they be?”- Glenn Greenwald. The use of drugs through out the United States has gotten worse and worse every year, and I know that in the U.S. it is both a health problem and a crime problem. But I feel like that we should treat the abuse of illegal drugs as a matter of public health. It should be treated as a matter of public health over a matter of criminal justice because we can help people that abuse drugs and are addicted. Also well be able to get their lives on track so they won’t have to use drugs again which makes dealers go away because no one is buying their drugs anymore.” The origins and nature of the appeal of anti drug claims must be confronted if we are ever to understand how “drug problems” are constructed in the U.S.”(pg.92) –The Social Construction of Drug Scares
A “drug-free society” has never existed, and probably will never exist, regardless of the many drug laws in place. Over the past 100 years, the government has made numerous efforts to control access to certain drugs that are too dangerous or too likely to produce dependence. Many refer to the development of drug laws as a “war on drugs,” because of the vast growth of expenditures and wide range of drugs now controlled. The concept of a “war on drugs” reflects the perspective that some drugs are evil and war must be conducted against the substances
The war on drugs in our culture is a continuous action that is swiftly lessening our society. This has been going on for roughly 10-15 years and has yet to slow down in any way. Drugs continue to be a problem for the obvious reason that certain people abuse them in a way that can lead to ultimate harm on such a person. These drugs do not just consist of street drugs (marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy), but prescription medications as well. Although there are some instances where drugs are being used by subjects excessively, there has been medical research to prove that some of these drugs have made a successful impact on certain disorders and diseases.
It tells the story of a person, family and community in which individuals suffer from mental disorders much the same way as people do in the real world. Not only did I find this movie quite accurate concerning mental illness but I also established some important messages concerning mental illness in today’s society. The film takes into account that mental illness is a part of society and overall has a positive outlook on it. Their illnesses don 't define their identities nor are they even the main point of the story. In coming together, the characters find the mutual support that enables them to approach their struggles and redirect their lives in a more positive direction. To some degree, this film addresses stigma and the fact that persons with mental illness should be allowed to participate in society over being kept in a hospital, in other words, it gives
A drug is a medicine or other substance that has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body. Many people use drugs without realizing how addictive they can become. During the 1960s and 1970s drugs had a huge impact on the people and as years went on they became more and more dangerous to the point where marijuana, and LSDs were becoming popular and the group most affected were teenagers.
Schizophrenia is a disease that plagues many individuals today and though medications can help alleviate the symptoms there is no known cure for the illness. There are a multitude of representations of schizophrenia in the media. This paper will focus on A Beautiful Mind; a film that focuses on John Forbes Nash Jr. Nash was a mentally gifted individual. He attended Princeton and his mathematical work has changed society greatly. In the movie, Russell Crowe played John Nash in A Beautiful Mind. Throughout the movie Crowe did an amazing job depicting the multiple symptoms of schizophrenia. Within this paper I will focus on the positive symptoms, negative symptoms, positive hallucinations, effects of medication, and the time frame of the illness represented in the film.
Typically, almost everyone in the world has taken drugs at some point in their life. Whether it be over the counter medication or prescription drugs. People get sick, they have illness, allegories, sexually transmitted diseases or other aches and pains. As you may already know, there is medication for each aforementioned problem. This is called drug use, which is using drugs for its intended purpose. However, the real dilemma happens when people began to misuse and abuse drugs.
Drugs have often been bad. reputation, but it seems that in every good, there is bad and vice versa. It seems that the The only thing that has so many people divided is fear - fear of the harm it could do or even fear of the good it could do.
From the very beginning of human history, drugs have been used for medicine and recreation, some of these recreational uses have been good while others have been lethal. The first known uses drugs comes from the time of the Sumerians around the year 5000 BC. Thousands of years went by before the next recording of drug use with people in Switzerland eating poppy