Legalization of Marijuana

Burden of proof is on Pro.My RefutationsNegative Effects and Positive EffectsI am morphing my opponent's two arguments for one full refutation."There will be little to no negative effects to the country/society from marijuana's legalization.""There will be a plethora of positive effects resulting from marijuana's legalization."This is completely flat wrong. My opponent divides this into several lettered catergories and I will broadly attack these because some of my refutations attack several of them at once. First, my opponent says that marijuana is not addictive, but lets look at history. Back in the 1800s when most drugs were legal, marijuana was clearly very addictive. Then there was the experiment in Alaska. There law restricted anyone under 19 from not using marijuana. The result was of disastrous proportions. Parents and other relatives simply gave it to their children. Its not that hard for our youth to be under the influence when there very parents or older brothers are using it. [1,2]Alcohol's addictive rate is 10%, but illicit drug users can get addicted by a rate of 75%.Another argument is that legalizing drugs would lower crime, but this has also proven to be false. Many studies have shown that half of all violent crime offenders were under the influence of drugs, most notably marijuana, when they committed their crimes. In some cases there is a far majority of crimes that are committed involving the influence of marijuana. It also increases the number of DUI's by a wide margin. It rose as high as 40% for adults and 70% for juveniles in California and that is clearly a disaster. Taxation also creates a rise in the black market. [3,4]We also have to mention the economic factors. Because the black market will receive a boom from marijuana users, tax revenue will not increase. More DUI's means the possibility of more deaths. More deaths means less population growth which means less economic growth as population growth leads to urbanization and ultimately benefits the world. Current legal drugs actually cost over $100 billion in productivity and alcohol causes $13 billion. Tobacco has similar negative effects. [4]Prohibition has FailedMy opponent's arguments here are strage. Murder is illegal too, but that doesn't mean people are still murder. In fact, some of those people that are murdered might be killed by drug users. You never know. In fact, read this after alcohol was legalized again: "Following the repeal of prohibition, alcohol consumption increased. Prohibition did not end alcohol use, but it did succeed in reducing, by one-third, the consumption of a product that had wide historical and popular sanction." [1] Government's Place "John Adams, who helped draft the Constitution and later became our second president, declared, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly moral considerations. Our elected representatives are therefore bound to legislate morality." [1] ConclusionI have proven that my opponent's points on legalizing marijuana are wrong that it would create a negative effect on society. Crime has decreased from marijuana prohibition and it is government's place to legislative morality.Sources1. "Speaking Out: Against Drug Legalization." Justice.gov. Department of Justice, n.d. Web.2. "The DEA Position on Marijuana." Justice.gov. Department of Justice, Jan. 2011. Web.3. "Interpersonal Violence and Illicit Drugs." WHO.int. World Health Organization, n.d. Web.4. Maginnis, Robert L. "Legalization - Myths and Facts." Sarnia.com. Sarnia Online, n.d. Web.