Cold Warriors: Buffalos and Wolves

“If the buffalos strategy was full proof there wouldn’t be any wolves.”

                                                                                    -Jeff Turner

Cold Warriors: Buffalos and Wolves take place in Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Canada, a park five times larger than Yellow Stone. Jeff Turner is a wildlife photographer and the creator of this naturally beautiful work.

A wolf pack is at the heart a family, and the “Delta” pack is the core of this documentary. The main focus of Canadian wolves is hunting buffalo to maintain their group health, approximately one buffalo a week will ensure this. With the assistance of a helicopter Turner is able to follow the Delta pack over their daily 30 mile hunting range. The pure instinctual nature of the wolves is a fascinating marvel of nature; wolves must be in peak form to hunt buffalo. The alpha male is the driving force of the pack, the strongest and most brazen, his leadership and intuition ensures his packs survival by providing meat and thus a healthy litter of new pups.   

The transformation of seasons from winter to spring brings about many changes, opportunities, and offspring. With new litters of both wolves and buffalo, each has a new reason to fight harder for survival. Watching the large female wolf scout out the herd’s new calves was like watching a mother at a grocery store; the calmness of both predator and prey was unnerving. The wolves fight to kill the calves to feed their pups, while the buffalo fight the wolves to save their calves, in situations like this it is hard to know who to root for. It is the never ending vicious cycle of nature and a clear example of Darwin’s survival of the fittest.

The pack structure is amazing to watch, from the interactions between the mother and newborn pups to the “teenage” wolves and their alpha male father. The pups truly act like little siblings to their older bothers and sisters, constantly playing and annoying them like in human culture. The alpha male can be compared to human political structure, where the strongest lead because “the people” feel that it is in their best interest. In terms of the Delta pack the white alpha male takes charge of all situations, be it leading a black bear away from the den to heading the hunt.

Nature is a constant struggle to survive, to find sufficient food and reproduce. This struggle is made even harder when our modern human world begins to encroach on their once protected and isolated land. The Alberta Oil Sands, the world’s third largest crude oil reserve is now just upstream of the National Park and the occupants living ranges. The factory emissions, full of air toxins have tripled in the past few years due to the rapid expansion of the industry. The water downstream of the Oil Sands has been recorded containing double the amount of toxic substances then those upstream. These statistics in hand with the industry are expected to double in the next few years, leading to even greater damage to the ecosystem. Measure must be taken to ensure that the delicate balance of nature is not destroyed by the greed of man.  

Why America Should Not Legalize Marijuana

First let me begin by stating that this is not an argument about whether or not marijuana, compared to other drugs is especially dangerous. My partner Kinsey will discuss the health problems in more depth. But after smoking a few joint with friends on the couch the only immediate danger is killing off every last munchie in your house and forgetting to prepare your communications project due the next day.

This debate must focus on whether America needs another easily accessible, commercialized and habit-forming drug in its already overmedicated society.

I can tell you right now, WE DO NOT.

Let us weigh the price of legalization against the detrimental cost to our countries future, our youth.

If marijuana were legal it would greatly increase the chances of the drug falling into the hands of children. Items like cigarettes and alcohol are banned from kids, this is because the majority of kids don't exhibit the same reasoning, responsibility, and judgment of an adult, they do not think about long-term health consequences.

Their undeveloped bodies are not equipped to handle the intake of these substances. This is even truer of the chemicals found in marijuana. Developing brains and bodies can be dealt serious blows by the use of marijuana. People, any time you make something legal, you increase the accessibility to children. All too often kids and teenagers get their hands on alcohol or cigarettes. We CAN NOT let the same thing happen with marijuana.

I’d bet we have all heard the age-old health class line “Kids marijuana is a gateway drug which leads to harder, more dangerous highs”, whether you took this warning to heart is irrelevant the statistics show its truth.

 One study found that kids 12 to 17 years old, who use marijuana during this developmental stage are 85 times more likely to use cocaine than kids who did not use pot, in addition 60% of the kids who smoke pot before the age of 15 move on to cocaine later in life. Furthermore Yale conducted a similar study, which can be found in the Journal of Adolescent Health, showing that alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana use is associated with an increased probability of men, 18 to 25 abusing prescription drugs. For women of the age, only marijuana use is linked with a higher likelihood of prescription drug abuse.

Since Holland has made cannabis legal, not only has marijuana use increased but Heroin use has tripled in that same time frame. Plain and simple marijuana is a gateway drug, and this gateway should not be legal to use.

When discussing the legalization of marijuana, a valuable comparison can be made to gambling. Once the government became a beneficiary of legal gambling they began to encouraged and promote gambling, overlooking it as a problem behavior.

Legalized gambling has not reduced illegal gambling in the United States; in fact, it has only increased. Legal gambling comes with taxes and is regulated while illegal gambling is not. Legal gambling sets the stage for illegal gambling just the way legal marijuana would set the stage for illegal marijuana trafficking to thrive. The gambling precedent suggests strongly that illegal drug suppliers would flourish by selling more potent and tax-free marijuana products outside of the legal market.

Legalization of marijuana for either medical or general employ would increase marijuana use rather than reduce it and this would lead to increased rates of addiction and long term use among youth and adults. Laws and regulations are made to protect the wellbeing of its people, legalizing marijuana contradicts this preconception, damaging our public health and setting back the progress of our nation.

Reducing marijuana use is essential to improving the nation’s health, education, and productivity. 

                                                                 

       Ever since a child my parents have told me that I should become a lawyer, that my perseverance and passion to argue was relentless. I had a lot of fun preparing and presenting this debate, even though I am for the legalization of marijuana. The research I did opened my eyes to a collection of facts and statics that I have found shocking, and made me think twice about daily smoking. Reflecting back I should have prepared a more solid conclusion rather than a slue of negative cannabis facts, however I feel that Kinsey and I built a strong case. I wish we were able to vote before and after the debate because I truly believe my side swayed the majority of the audience. 

      In terms of my up and coming presentation I plan on focusing again on my passion, the great outdoors. I am currently doing research on the Monkey Wrench Gang and history of the national parks.