The legalization of Marijuana will cause more harm than good.

Next, I'll repeat his contention in brackets and provide my argument directly below; [The legalization of Marijuana would increase the amount of highway fatalities. ] I agree with the Con's statement: "The prohibition of Marijuana is a deterrent for many adults, and teenagers with jobs"; however, I do not agree completely. The prohibition of Marijuana is just as big of a catalyst as it is a deterrent. With that said, declaring an increase or decrease in users would be hard to define considering that all statistics of this category would be nothing more than a guess. Also, within this contention, the Con states "Possession of Marijuana alone carries hard penalties, and adds a felony to your record;" This is false. Just for example, being caught with one and a half ounces or less is considered a misdemeanor. [1] Therefore, the penalties are not strict at all. Given the circumstances, I could guess just as well as anybody else that the legality of Marijuana wouldn't stop any people that really want to try it from doing so. Often, cops dismiss cases involving small amounts of Marijuana. The main point that the Con wanted to get to in this all was the part containing: "drowsiness, disruption in attention, an altered sense of time and space, relaxation, disorientation, hallucinations, and delusions. " After checking the source, the effects were all there, minus drowsiness. So we throw drowsiness out of the picture and what do we have left? Disruption in attention - a disruption in attention can occur at anytime. Disruptions in attention are quite common considering that the average attention span of a human is 20 minutes. [2] Now we have an altered sense of time and space. I'm assuming that being in an 'altered sense of time' is referring to the common effect of time seeming to slow. If that's the case, then wouldn't driving be easier? In fact; "Several studies have failed to detect any increased accident risk from marijuana at all. The reason for pot's relative safety appears to be that it tends to make users drive more slowly, while alcohol makes them speed up. " [3] Next on the list is relaxation. This isn't even a legitimate issue considering that people encourage you to relax while driving. They even create videos that guide you to your "relaxation paradise". [4] After that, we have disorientation. I've never heard of anybody under the influence of Marijuana becoming disoriented; however, I would not like to totally dismiss this. I would rather you give me a specific example or study. As for the hallucinations and delusions: it is widely known that both of these 'concerns' are extremely minute. Many ponder upon the belief that Marijuana is even considered a hallucinogen. Even in the best case, the debate is on how the legalization of Marijuana would do MORE good than harm and vice versa. In that case, with or without the extremely mild hallucinations, you're still on the downhill. [The legalization of Marijuana will lead to more littering, and second-hand smoke. ] Within your whole first statement(s) about second-hand smoke I find many fallacies. First of all, previously, we discussed the parameters of this debate which included the second-hand smoke laws of tobacco. In any case, this wouldn't be a problem; however, if you still wished to discuss it, bring up the points from Marijuana second-hand smoke, not that of Tobacco. The second half of your second contention includes assumptions of how Marijuana and Tobacco users are the same in the sense that they both litter. I'll take this more seriously when you can bring up specific facts about that of Marijuana users. We can't assume the same for both users. I don't feel the need to post any other points other than the refuting I did on his points. I have a lot to include, but I'll save my points for some of the closing rounds and possible upcoming topics. I'd like to thank both the Con and the readers for following this debate. I hope the best for the Con in his upcoming round. Sources: [1] . http://www.norml.org... [2] . http://www.cs.utk.edu... [3] . http://blog.norml.org... [4] . http://www.ehow.com...