"Should Marijuana Be Legalized?" Response

I recently read an article "Should Marijuana Be Legalized?" written by Tatiana Vik and I couldn't agree more. As Vik points out, legalizing marijuana would bring in so much revenue to the state of Texas and will aid the funding of numerous programs across the state.

As a non-smoker myself, I have seen little harm to ever be done to marijuana. The only problem I see is when my friends get into trouble for carrying an almost harmless drug. According to the CDC, nearly 37,000 annual deaths are at the hand of a legal substance, alcohol. This is could be from car accidents, alcohol poisoning, ect. Also, alcohol is linked to cancer, and marijuana is known to elevate the pain of people with cancer and other severe diseases. So I ask myself. Why is alcohol consumption legal but marijuana not?

If marijuana was legalized, as noted in Vik's article, crime rate would decrease drastically and the influence of drug cartels in the state would also decrease. Isn't this what we want? It is already seen in places that have already legalized marijuana like Colorado and Washinton.

Vik made a very good argument and I agree completely. Marijuana should be legalized in Texas.

Pets in Parked Cars

According to the weather forecast for next week, the only day that will not have a high in the double digits is friday at 99 degrees and the highest temperature will get all the way up to 103 degrees. This summer, especially in Texas, is a very hot one and dogs have already died across the state to heat exhaustion from being left in parked cars. Every year, this is the fate of thousands of animals because of careless pet owners that don't know how to properly care for their animals. Though animals are protected under Penal Code 42.09 for cruel and unusual treatment, Texas should propose tighter restrictions and higher punishments for leaving animals in parked cars.

A pet owner can potentially spend up to one year in jail and pay a $4,000 fine for leaving a pet in a parked vehicle for a long period of time without the windows rolled down. However, studies have shown that cracking the windows does virtually nothing to how hot a car will get. At 107 degrees, a dog can suffer from brain damage and can die at 120 degrees. According to Examiner, on a 100 degree day, it takes just ten minutes for a car to reach 120 degrees even with the widows cracked. That means a dog can suffer from brain damage and potentially die in the amount of time it takes to pick up a few groceries from the store. Dogs are only capable of cooling themselves off through panting and sweating through their paw pads. That does very little when the temperatures have reached 120 degrees in a parked car. If you know you are going to be running errands, leave your dog at home. 

In order to make a change in the state of Texas, State legislature needs to pass stricter laws on the abuse and neglect towards animals and a heftier fine/jail time. There is no excuse to leaving a helpless pet in a hot car especially in a state that gets so unbearably hot. If you see a dog in a parked vehicle, immediately call 911 or animal control. A dog's life may depend on it. 

"Paper of Plastic?" Critique

I read a post titled "Paper or Plastic?" written by Nirmal Mulji. In the post, Mulji goes in depth as to why both paper and plastic bags are harmful to the environment and that in order to "produce serious change," Texas needs to issue a statewide ban on the two options. Though I completely agree that there needs to be change, I highly doubt the state of Texas will go for such a drastic change.

My proposition is that grocery stores such as HEB and Target should start using biodegradable plastic bags instead of regular plastic bags. Though, according to experts123.com, the production of  biodegradable bags will increase cost by about 5%, I believe it is a price we should be willing to pay for the environment. According to Bags By The Numbers, as pointed out by Mulji, "an estimated 14 billion bags are used in the US every year." This is a serious problem.

To reduce the cost of producing biodegradable bags, I feel like it would be beneficial to still inform customers that using reusable bags is the preferred option. However, if a customer does not have reusable bags or forgot them, the biodegradable plastic bags can be used as a last resort. This would lower the amount of biodegradable plastic bags being used in the first place thus lowering the number of bags needed to be produced.