Marijuana Legalization

Note: As far as my references, I completely forgot to put them at the bottom. I posted them in the comments but if you didn"t see them, no problem. I had them all on the google app on my iPod but it seems that what I thought were new tabs were actually recent pages which are removed after two days. So unfortunately the individual articles are gone but I do still have the list of the websites used. I can assure you that ALL of the information I gave came from these sites and if I find any of the specific links, I will post them. Round 1 sources: Colorado.gov (informational link) m.huffpost.com edition.cnn.com mpp.org denverpost.com m.mic.com cheatsheet.com businessinsider.com http://www.cbsnews.com... drugwarfacts.org washingtonpost.com http://www.columbia.edu... The first thing I"d like to point out is that you did not address many of the points that I gave, brushing them off for lack of sources. While this is somewhat understandable, since I"ve listed my sources and promised to do the best I can getting the specific links, I"d like to see you address them more thoroughly. I have a question as well. What kind of marijuana legalization are you arguing for? Are you arguing for complete freedom, regardless of age, usage etc? Because if that were the case, yes, we would not have legal battles and it would save our country money. But let"s be real. That is never going to happen. Whether you want to argue for it or not, if alcohol and tobacco are illegal for people under 21, marijuana will remain so as well. And that will leave a large subset of the population for whom marijuana remains illegal. This will bring black markets. You"re right, prohibition is what causes black markets. So far, what we"ve seen in Colorado is a restricted freedom. You cannot smoke it in public, you cannot smoke it under 21, and you cannot take it out of state. (Even if marijuana was legal throughout the United States, we would have troubles with Canada and Mexico for whom marijuana is still legal) The black market is still thriving in Colorado. "There"s a common belief that by legalizing it [marijuana], you will get rid of the black market. I can resoundly say that the black market is alive and doing well, " said John Jackson, the president of the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police. (1) Since I have a source for this now, please don"t ignore it. You said, "It's Saying Much. Tobacco And Alcohol are the Most Lucrative LEGAL recreational substances In America,(Excluding Caffeine), and To compare the dangers of those with Marijuana?" You misunderstood me as well. What I was in essence saying, is that it is ridiculous to claim that marijuana should be legal because it is safer than tobacco, cocaine, and heroin. It would seem that you agree, but it was in one of your previous contentions. Since I can"t find my specific reference for my claim that people who use gateway drugs are 322 times more likely to take cocaine, I"ll provide other, similar statistics. Youth alone aged 12-17 are 85 times more likely to take cocaine and kids smoking marijuana before the age of 15 are 60% more likely to end up on cocaine. (4) Therefore, my statement, "If we make marijuana legal, the use of these other drugs will explode" is both logical and statistically correct. An increase in marijuana will cause an increase in harsher drugs. You claim, "I've ever heard a stoner go on a mass shooting, or start a fight. Marijuana is a calm inducing narcotic, not a violent one." Actually, some sources would say that this is a myth of marijuana. Simply because it reduces your stress for a short time doesn"t make it non-aggressive. After the drug wears off, it causes increased anxiety. (2) Also, as a point of interest, the governor of Colorado opposes the legalization of marijuana. He said, "I think if I could"ve, you know, made a magic incantation; waved a magic wand the day after the election, I would"ve reversed the election and said, ""this is a bad idea."" He also said, "All the top neuroscientists said" marijuana could diminish long term memory in teenagers." (3) This supports my claim that marijuana would never become legal for people under 21. Seriously, smoking anything will damage your lungs. I"m sure there are sources out there that would say otherwise, but it just isn"t true. The data you are finding probably says that smoking marijuana won"t lead to lung cancer. This is true, but not all lung damage is in the form of cancer. Sources to support my claim that marijuana does damage your lungs: (most of these sources are mixed. Smoking marijuana isn"t as bad as smoking tobacco, but that isn"t the issue. All of them say that smoking marijuana is harmful to the lungs in other ways than cancer. Even your own source states that the evidence is mixed.) http://www.lung.org... http://thinkprogress.org... http://www.truthonpot.com... http://adai.uw.edu... Medical marijuana is legal already. Colorado only made recreational marijuana legal. The average consumer will not buy recreational marijuana for medical reasons. I already rebutted contention 1. Your facts are based off certain sites but other sites declare the opposite. Again, marijuana has not been studied in great detail and the legalization of marijuana in Colorado is a, "social experiment." We have yet to see the consequences. (5) Contention 2 Rebuttal: Contention 2 is a logically faulty argument. Basically you are saying that because people are being arrested for possessing an illegal substance, we should make it legal so that they will not be considered criminals. Contention 3 Rebuttal: Wait, are you arguing for the illegalization of alcohol and tobacco? How does this have anything to do with marijuana? Contention 4 Rebuttal: Are you arguing for or against the government taxing, regulating, and monitoring marijuana? Final Statements Rebuttal: You state, "Within the Last 20 Years, America has Slowly, but Gradually began to lose the Title of World Power it enjoyed through the Majority of the 20th century." How is this related to the topic? Where are you getting this information? You also say, "We achieved that Through Hard Work, Technologically innovation, Social and Political Equality, and a Diversity of International Peoples. We cannot begin to reverse nor Downgrade Societies Ability to Come together and enjoy there Freedoms." I am struggling to grasp the implications of this statement toward marijuana. We achieved what? Are you seriously saying that keeping marijuana illegal inhibits societies" ability to come together and enjoy their freedoms? I infer by this that you believe marijuana is a right and a freedom for the U.S. If so, where are you basing that belief? My Final Statements: These new contentions you put forth are mostly either restatements, confusing, or off topic. You"re ignoring the fact that marijuana will be illegal for some people, in some places. Therefore, police will still be involved, money will still be spent, and the black market will still thrive. Round 2 Sources: (1) http://www.cbsnews.com... (2) http://addictions.about.com... (3) http://www.mediaite.com... (4) http://www.drugfreeworld.org... (5) http://fordhampoliticalreview.org...