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 #2 Drugmakers: No Cold Meds for Kids Under 4

According to Drugmakers: No Cold Meds for Kids Under 4, drug companies are not giving over-the-counter cold and cough medicines for fear of children would ingest them wrong.

I think it might be the rightest thing that has been done recently. After the “melamine event”, somebody decided to do something correct, finally. The measure was approved by many people in the circle including pediatricians, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, Baltimore's Health commission and so on. In addition, the drug makers said they will add a warning to their products that parents should not give children sleeping pills in order to make them feel sleepy. Before this, many children are sent to the hospital because of serious side effects or overdose, so the industry is now trying to educate parents to be more careful.

Now in this century, it is very rare to have business people to have such kind of hearts. In compare with what the milk powder makers had done, the righteous deed is indeed moving. Disregarding their own profits, the drug makers attached importance to consumers` and themselves` health. On the other side, parents should always be cautious with medicines. Giving children adults` medicine is seriously inappropriate, because the dose and ingredients may not be proper. It should already be a common sense, while, ironically, my parents had given me their unfinished medicines before. I knew it is wrong but I could not say no. Fortunately, nothing serious happened on me.