Debate Topic - Recreational Marijuana ought to be legalized nationwide

I shall now present my case. Case One - The problem with illegalized marijuana In many countries across the world we can see that marijuana usage (not just in a recreational sense) is illegal and anyone caught utilizing marijuana can be punished by local law. Now the nature of this law is mainly to prevent the abuse of a psychoactive drug which is shown to be addictive and harmful if used excessively and in the wrong conditions. However this often doesn't happen. If we look at the facts (see source one) the five most powerful drug cartels in the world operate in Mexico and Colombia. Two countries where the usage of recreational marijuana is illegal but unenforced by local law. This law paving way for drug cartels to take control presents a number of problems I will illustrate as follows - One - This has a rapid and dangerous butterfly effect on the governement and public service departments in the country. Mexico's cartel problem has paved way for massive drug rings to form. The money generated from drug rings allows for the financing of other criminal activities. Notably some of these examples include human trafficking, Bribery and corruption in the police force and the government (which allows them to cover up murders and gang-related attacks) and international smuggling. And these figures are on the rise. In Mexico crime rates have soared over the past three years. 28. 5% increase in violent robberies. 14. 3% increase in intentional homicide and 13. % increase in business robberies. The report has also attributed this increase due to the increasingly militarized tactics used by the perpertrators, A trait commonly associated for thugs under the payroll of drug lords. Two - The youth will be more exposed to drug usage more than if it was legalized. The simple fact is that drug dealers and drug lords do not care about the market they are supplying to. Their goal is simplistic and very focused. And that is to simply maximize profit and maintain discretion while doing so. It's very clear that in many developing countries across the world (notably India) enforcability of drug laws is extremely difficult and many members of the youth find themselves exposed to the influence of the widely accessible black market. Three - As hinted in problem one, The strength of the drug cartels in some countries will present incredible problems in another country. Because of the financing behind smuggling rings other countries that have also illegalized marijuana laws will find themselves at risk of massive influxes from the black market. This presents in itself a serious problem for the economy and social welfare. Almost all the negative externalties will be passed on and there will be widespread social chaos caused as a result for no tangible benefit for anyone other than a third party supplying illegal marijuana. Hence, By legalizing marijuana it allows a number of remedies to follow suit. It weakens the power of drug cartels and allows the government to have a stronger grip in tackling internal problems such as corruption and external problems such as the crime rate. While drug cartels specialize in the supplying of drugs other than recreational marijuana, That particular drug itself generates a bulk of the revenue for cartels as its widespread popularity and psychoactive effects are a huge selling point for the drug. Second, It allows the government to properly monitor the process in which legal recreational marijuana is distributed amongst the populace. This allows the government to prevent it from falling into the hands of the youth (as drug dealers will be considerably less inclined to partake in the business due to the fall in the profit margin) and better safeguard them from the psychoactive effects at a young age. Case Two - The similarities of alcohol and tobacco usage Now we're all well aware of the fact that recreational marijuana is only but one of the many things that alter behaviour and cause addiction upon consumption. Alcohol and tobacco are among these. The only difference being that alcohol and tobacco are legal in most parts of the world while marijuana is not. Not only that, But alcohol and tobacco have actually been seen as comparitvely more dangerous in case studies. One such case study (source three) has shown that alcohol and tobacco exposure was proven to be a higher risk factor than marijuana. One such example out of this is the fact that overconsumption of alcohol can potentially be fatal. Howver on the flipside, Overconsumption of marijuana is not known to be fatal on its own. The smoking of pure tobacco cigarettes on the other hand has been shown to be a greater factor to influence the growth of cancer cells and risk other diseaes catching on in comparison to marijuana. The hemp plant in itself has medical benefits. And smoking unfiltered marijuana is not known to cause any notable health effects that can compare to the effects brought on by tobacco usage. Thus we enter a legal loophole. Given that the effects of alcohol and tobacco are perceivably more harmful, It should be only natural that if it was so bad that marijuana had to be illegalized then alcohol and tobacco ought to follow suit. But given that's not the case and probably never will be in most countries, It should only be expected that marijuana is not made the exception simply because of its classification as a 'psychoactive drug'. Case Three - The economical benefits of legalization As most of us are already aware our governments love to tax us every day of our natural lives. They tax us on housing. They tax us for infrastructure development. They tax us to maintain the judicial system and public services. They tax us to finance their annual budget and to appreciate the currency. And of course, They also tax us on the products we buy. The money the government already makes from alcohol and tobacco taxes is quite notable to say the least. In the United States (see source four) $18 billion dollars was collected from tobacco taxes in 2015 and $16 billion was collected from alcohol taxes in that same year. This money goes into the annual budget. It goes into schools, Infrastructure, Hospitals, The works. And the reason is this possible is because the government monitors the sales of alcohol and tobacco through legal vendors. This does not happen with recreational marijuana due to the fact that it's illegal. And all the revenue generated from it goes into the black market and not into the economy at all. Hence the equation is simple. There are incredible economical benefits that can be derived from legalizing recreational marijuana but there are absolutely no economical benefits derived from keeping it illegal. If anything, We're spending more money simply trying to enforce the law by keeping it illegal which often does not work at all in stopping the spread of the drug. Instead of allowing the black market the power of selling the drug, Keep it in the hands of the government. At the bare minimum, The profit margin from legal sales will be incredibly useful in many other aspects of society. Summary In my argument I've laid forward three main principles to support my case that recreational marijuana should be legalized - One) Drug cartels profit immensely of illegalization laws which negatively impact society and the crime rate. Two) Alcohol and Tobacco (both legal utilities) have evidentely been showed to be a great deal more harmful on personal health and yet their status has not been changed simply because they are not labelled as 'drugs'. (This has mainly been the case why many medical practioners have suggested that marijuana isn't really a 'drug' because there are no known effects of usage that cause serious problems on health) Three) The economical benefits of a taxation scheme will not only help rack up revenue for the government to use on society but also help the government monitor the flow of marijuana sales in their own country. It's hard to argue that it would rather be better that we leave the hands of the drug to be sold by black market forces than the government. With that, I hand my floor open to my opponent to present his own case. Thank you. Sources - . https://deserthopetreatment. Com/drug-abuse/cartels/ . https://www. Garda. Com/crisis24/news-alerts/113791/mexico-gang-violence-escalates-in-mexico-city . https://www. Ncbi. Nlm. Nih. Gov/pmc/articles/PMC4311234/ . https://www. Urban. Org/policy-centers/cross-center-initiatives/state-local-finance-initiative/state-and-local-backgrounders/cigarette-and-alcohol-taxes