Student+Writer+Profile+Valentine

Brad Valentine ENGL408 Tuesday/Thursday 11:00 Student Writer Profile

For this assignment I interviewed my brother Cameron. Cameron is a junior at Churchill High School in Livonia; he is a B student and doesn’t have much trouble writing. For this interview I focused on asking him questions regarding his writing process and what he thinks of himself as a writer (where he excels and where he thinks he needs improvement.) Cameron told me that the only writing he ever does is for school assignments and that he usually follows the same basic steps when he does his writing. What he normally does after receiving the assignment and reviewing it is that he doesn’t think to hard about it. He said that if he thinks to hard about a topic or research idea that he never comes up with a good one. Instead he just goes about his daily life and usually he will stumble upon something that interests him. He said this usually happens when he is watching TV. An idea will pop into his head about what he can write about. He then will jot the idea down on a scrap piece of paper just so he doesn’t forget it. Then over the time before he starts writing the paper he will write down notes on the aspects of what he wants to cover in his paper. This is his most basic and first form of pre writing he does. Cameron is quite the procrastinator and usually doesn’t begin writing the paper until a day or two before it is due. Once he actually sits down and starts writing the first thing he does is outline what he wants to cover and in what order he wants to cover it. He does this using topic sentences and then bulleting key ideas below them. He structures his outline as he would the paragraphs in his paper. He then goes to the computer and writes the actual paper. He admitted that he rarely writes more than one copy, he claims he is usually satisfied with the result of the paper the first time he writes it. After finishing the paper he usually emails it to me so that I can proof read it for him and make any suggestions and point out things I would change. I proof read the paper for him and then email it back to him. He usually makes the changes I suggest without asking why, and then turns the paper in to his teacher. I asked Cameron why he never asks me about the changes I suggest to him and he said because he knows I’m a pretty good writer and he trusts my judgment. I also asked him why he rarely revises his paper after the first thing he writes he said because he hates writing and usually gets a C or better when he doesn’t revise and that is ok with him. I then asked him if there is any way that he could think of to make writing a more enjoyable process, and his answer was great and made a lot of sense. He said that if he was given more interesting topics that were personally relevant to him he probably wouldn’t hate writing as much. Cameron and I also had a discussion on why he doesn’t write for his own enjoyment. He said that writing isn’t really a creative outlet for him. He said he is not very good at creative writing but he knows that he can write formal papers and essays pretty well and know that if he tried harder and revised more he could do that even better. He said that as far as writing goes that is all that will be necessary in his life. I understand that, and honestly think that is ok. Not everyone is a writer and enjoys the act of writing; they will obviously not choose a career that requires loads of writing. As far as a creative outlet is concerned, there are plenty of creative ways for people to express themselves some choose writing other don’t. In Cameron’s case he prefers playing music. Cameron Valentine Mack Comp. 5 22 March 2012 Legalizing Medicinal Marijuana
 * Attached is a sample essay Cameron wrote for his 11th grade English class.

Suffering is one thing that no human being should endure. Suffering can be out looked in today’s society, even though there are many types. Medicinal marijuana can cure most suffering, physical and mental. Three reasons why medicinal marijuana should be legalized are; it eliminates suffering, has very small side effects that do not harm patients, and used to cure disorders and other medical conditions. Pain is one of the worst feelings in the world; it wears you down physically and mentally. People have many different remedies to cure pain, but one of the most argued remedy is marijuana. Marijuana has been known as a remedy since 1617 (bookrags.com), some of the symptoms it cured were headaches, menstrual cramps, and toothaches (bookrags.com). Even though these symptoms are basic, the facts point to legalization of marijuana should be a definite must. As time went on in the United States physicians prescribed new drugs to cure pain even though they seemed to be hurting the patient more instead of helping the patient. These new drugs are clearly not the answer for curing pain and suffering in today’s society, the answer is medicinal marijuana. “ The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms cause by such illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS—or by the harsh drugs sometimes used to treat them. And it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day. “(Elders). Joycelyn Elders, MD shows the obvious reasons why medicinal marijuana should be legalized and prescribed. Elders, also being a former U.S Surgeon General has experience with drugs that are known as “pain killers” these drugs may cure pain but not as well and as safe as marijuana. There are many key components in marijuana that makes it a great pain reliever one of the major elements is tetrahydrocannabinol also known as THC. This is the most popular known element in marijuana, the reason being it serves a great purpose in giving the patient the relief they need. “There are really no other medications that have the same mechanisms of action as marijuana. Dronabinol (marinol) is available by prescription in capsules, but has the distinct disadvantage of containing only synthetic delta-9- THC which is only one of the many therapeutically beneficial cannabinoids in the natural plant. (Carter). There is more than just one element why marijuana is successful in relieving pain. No matter what the element is marijuana is the obvious key to relieving pain, and that is a major reason why it should be legalized for medical use. Side effects are the most influential part of patients taking a drug. Side effects range from headaches to death, and everything in between. Commercial drugs have harmful side effects and sometimes can be defective. Addictiveness is a huge side effect for all drugs. Humans tend to have very addictive ways, such as nicotine, and caffeine. Marijuana, however, is very low in addictiveness. “For some users, perhaps as many as 10 per cent, cannabis leads to psychological dependence, but there is scant evidence that it carries a risk of true addiction. Unlike cigarette smokers, most users do not take the drug on a daily basis, and usually abandon it in their twenties or thirties .Unlike for nicotine, alcohol and hard drugs, there is no clearly defined withdrawal syndrome, the hallmark of true addiction, when use is stopped.”(Blakemore and iversen). There are not very many health risks of smoking marijuana; the main side effect is short term memory loss. This is something a terminal ill patient would be able to cope with if it had the ability to calm them down and relieve their pain. There is a side effect in every drug but some are easier to cope with then others. There also are no dangerous health risks of marijuana, which the average American knows. This is a great example why marijuana should be legalized. “There is very little evidence that smoking marijuana as a means of taking it represents a significant health risk. Although cannabis has been smoked widely in Western countries for more than four decades, there have been no reported cases of lung cancer or emphysema attributed to marijuana. I suspect that a day’s breathing in any city with poor air quality poses more of a threat than inhaling a day’s dose—which for many ailments is just a portion of a joint—of marijuana.” (Grinspoon). Whenever a person hears smoking that automatically assumes it is going to end with lung cancer, which in fact it helps patients with lung cancer (science daily). The struggle with marijuana has been around forever and still seems to fight until it is legalized. Users do not over smoke the drug either, Grinspoon said a day’s dose it a portion of a joint, while cigarette smokers smoke a pack a day. Even though we are not comparing the same drug we are comparing that cigarettes are illegal while marijuana is not. “ The active ingredient in marijuana cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread, say researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies.”(Science daily). This showing another great point that marijuana has a negative point of view on people while in fact it has a positive outcome when the drug is used. Marijuana for medical uses should be legalized for the many ways it helps patients rather than hurts them like other drugs.

There are over 50 disorders/dieses medical marijuana cures (medical marijuana cures). This is a huge step in legalizing marijuana; it shows that it cures things such as asthma all the way up to cancer. When 50 disorders/diseases are cured by medicinal marijuana, it helps the economy, the patient, and the overall health in the United States. Marijuana cures AIDS which is a widespread diseases in today’s society and is a “chronic life threating disease” (medical marijuana cure). The benefits of marijuana in curing the AIDS disease are “Reduces neuropathic pain/muscle spasms, Improves appetite and sleep patterns, Reduces nausea/vomiting, and Reduces stress” (Medical marijuana cure). Curing any disease is crucial for a healthy society, but when you can cure AIDS with an illegal drug it shows people it should be legalized. Another disorder on the rise today is anorexia, anorexia is common among teens and young adults especially females. The disorder makes the person not wanting to eat mostly for a good figure, the common side effects are ; Bone loss, sensitivity to cold, yellowed skin and thinning hair. (Medical Marijuana cures). The benefits marijuana has on people suffering from anorexia are increase in appetite and overall increase in mood and behavior (medical marijuana cure). Curing anorexia can have a huge impact on today’s youth also the future children. Medical marijuana is a drug that any person can use at a sensible age, with that being said Medicinal Marijuana can be used to cure Alzheimer’s, which typically occurs in older people. The side effects from Alzheimer’s are ; memory loss that disrupts day to day activities, challenges in solving problems, confusion with time or place, misplacing things and not being able to retrace them(medical marijuana cure). All these side effects can disrupt a person’s day to day activity and are very miserable symptoms. The benefits Medicinal Marijuana offer to Alzheimer patients are huge, they slow down the degenerative process, and can help prevent the Alzheimer plaques in the brain (Medical Marijuana Cure). Medicinal Marijuana has many more positives than negatives in any situation; it solves over 50 medical disorders/diseases. This should be a very effortless topic to side with, Medical Marijuana should be legalized.

Health care is an expanding problem in the United States; we have many illnesses that are treated with harmful, over priced drugs. These overpriced drugs and treatments have led the country to national health care or “Obama care” if Medicinal Marijuana was legalized there would be no need for “Obama care” or any other national health care bills. Medicinal Marijuana has many positives one of them being it relieves pain. Pain relief drugs are in every house hold, you can find a bottle of Ibreprofen, Advil, or Tylenol in everyday citizens’ medicine cabinet. These drugs are not the heavy pain relievers similar to, vicodin and xanax. The heavy pain killers are what do more damage to the body instead of helping it. If these heavy pain relievers were replaced by Medical Marijuana the drug world would be more sufficient in helping their patients. Marijuana also has non detrimental side effects; with these side effects it makes the drug less harmful and more appealing to patients. People are afraid of dangerous side effects and when they see the potential side effects of marijuana are being hungry and become laxidasical then they tend to pick Marijuana over harsh drugs. Another great reason why Medicinal Marijuana should be legalized is it helps cure diseases and disorders, this is a key component to the legalization of Medical Marijuana. Being able to aid patients in any type of health risking situation is a plus to the drug, but being able to cure some of the diseases it can puts the drug highly above the rest. The legalization of marijuana is such a key factor in making the United States a better place to live in, it will help the health of the citizens and keep the economy running, the two most vital roles to keep a country in operation.

Works Cited . "medical marijuana." //top 10 pros and cons//. N.p., 5/6/2009. Web. 23 Mar 2012. .

thomson, gale. "book rags." //marijuana//. N.p., 2006. Web. 25 Mar 2012. .

American Association for Cancer Research. "Marijuana Cuts Lung Cancer Tumor Growth In Half, Study Shows." //ScienceDaily//, 17 Apr. 2007. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

. "benifits of marijuana." //medical marijuana cure//. N.p., 2011. Web. 26 Mar 2012. <http://www.medicalmarijuanacure.com/benefits-of-marijuana/