weblog #18 Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work?

In Portugal, the government decriminalizes the possession of drugs, and the rate of drug use among teenagers decreased surprisingly. On the other side, the US has the strictest laws in western countries. In some of the states, there are even the harshest penalties for drug possession and sales in the world. However, at the same time, America has the highest rates of drugs in the world. I think it may be part of the humanity. The stricter government is, the more violence of the law there are. People are just searching for the excitement of breaking the law or the feeling of doing something bad. Once something bad is decriminalized, it is not considered a bad thing, and then there will be no excitement when doing it. That is why Portugal can have the rate of drug use and possession declined.
However, can other kind of crime be decriminalized, such as murder, theft, or robbery? That can be a great topic in a debate court. Moreover, what if nothing is banned? Isn’t it the same of anarchism? Maybe people would say that it is a step back to the past instead of advancement. How to strike a balance between the two kinds of policies is a serious, controversial, and debate-worthy issue.

weblog #17 Does Facebook Replace Face Time or Enhance It?

Facebook is now the most popular friend-making tool in America, or in the world. It is changing the way how people connect or communicate with each other like blogs or msn. I am not a Facebook user so I am not clear with how it works. The things I can talk about may be cell phone, msn, weblog and BBS.
I do not have many friends and I am not an aggressive person, so I seldom calls anyone or message anyone unless I have something important to tell. Weblog is almost the same thing. I have a blog, but I haven’t updated it for a long time, because no one would look at it after all, so why doing all the efforts? At the same time, I do not surf others weblog, because it is no use and it is wasting time.
On the other hand, I have been using BBS for about a year. I have known many people through it and became friends. I think BBS is a thing that once you know how to use it, it is very useful, in every aspect. When I post articles on BBS, I get responses more than on my own weblog, which makes me feel better and that is the reason why my weblog looks like remains now.