All drugs should be legalized.

I'll will present my opening argument in this round, as well as my rebuttal. Also, I would like to wish my opponent a (late) merry Christmas! (If that's what you celebrate haha) 1.Freedom of choice: It's our right as human beings to be allowed to do as we please with our own bodies and lives, no matter how detrimental it can be to our health and lifestyle. It's no role for the government to protect us from ourselves. What I do in my home and what you do in your home is no job of the government to keep control of, unless you are initiating direct acts of aggression towards someone who is then being deprived of their natural rights. 2. The cost: The costs of the drug war has skyrocketed. The country is approximately $40,000,000,000+ deep when looking at the monetary costs of the drug war. That's without mentioning the money lost in possible tax revenue and money flowing in the private sector with potential drug sales. 3. Prison population: According to the Justice Policy Institute, "The United States leads the world in the number of people incarcerated in federal and state correctional facilities. There are currently more than 2 million people in American prisons or jails. Approximately one-quarter of those people held in U.S. prisons or jails have been convicted of a drug offense. The United States incarcerates more people for drug offenses than any other country. With an estimated 6.8 million Americans struggling with drug abuse or dependence, the growth of the prison population continues to be driven largely by incarceration for drug offenses." 4. Race disparity: According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, at midyear 2010, "the incarceration rate for females was 126 per 100,000 population. The rate for non-Hispanic white females was 91, for non-Hispanic black females the rate was 260, and for Hispanic women the rate was 133." The disparity also exists in the male population, "The most serious offense for 210,200 people in the US sentenced to state facilities at the end of 2012 was a conviction involving illegal drugs. Of this total: 64,800 (30.83%) were non-Hispanic white, 79,300 (37.73%) were non-Hispanic black and 41,100 (19.55%) were Hispanic." While this may seem like something due to more drug users in those "social groups", the usage rates amongst these races show differently. According to the Cato institute, "The main obstacle to getting black America past the illusion that racism is still a defining factor in America is the strained relationship between young black men and police forces. The massive number of black men in prison stands as an ongoing and graphically resonant rebuke to all calls to 'get past racism,' exhibit initiative, or stress optimism. And the primary reason for this massive number of black men in jail is the War on Drugs. Therefore, if the War on Drugs were terminated, the main factor keeping race-based resentment a core element in the American social fabric would no longer exist. America would be a better place for all." The War On Drugs gives off a bad relationship between law enforcement and citizens, specifically, those of color. Ending the war on drugs would give law enforcement greater opportunities to focus on more violent crimes. Prohibition is moving these drugs underground into black markets and drug cartels. 5. Violent crime: With these drug markets being outside the legal system, it increases violent crime. If a dealer and a user don't quite get along, there can be violent conflict. Unlike legal markets today, those partaking in the drug markets will use violent means to get their way. According to the NCJRS, "The data are quite consistent with the view that Prohibition at the state level inhibited alcohol consumption, and an attempt to explain correlated residuals by including omitted variables revealed that enforcement of Prohibitionist legislation had a significant inhibiting effect as well. Moreover, both hypotheses about the effects of alcohol and Prohibition are supported by the analysis. Despite the fact that alcohol consumption is a positive correlate of homicide (as expected), Prohibition and its enforcement increased the homicide rate." 6. Violence amongst users: CASAColumbia states, "Contrary to conventional wisdom and popular myth, alcohol is more tightly linked with more violent crimes than crack, cocaine, heroin or any other illegal drug. In state prisons, 21 percent of inmates in prison for violent crimes were under the influence of alcohol--and no other substance--when they committed their crime; in contrast, at the time of their crimes, only three percent of violent offenders were under the influence of cocaine or crack alone, only one percent under the influence of heroin alone." 7. Families: While drug usage itself can do a lot to harm a family, it's worse when drugs are treated as a crime rather than a medical issue. Over half of the prison population for drug offenders are parents, which can ruin a child's well being growing up without a mother or a father. Real world examples: Portugal has decriminalized drugs, and the results have shown lowering rates in drug addictions and usage. Several countries such as Spain have followed behind. Rebuttals: 1. Worker productivity: While I agree that worker productivity would take a downturn, that is a responsibility of workplaces. Businesses conduct drug tests regardless of whether or not drugs are legal, because it would lower their profits if they have employees using drugs. It's more economically beneficial for a company to conduct a drug test for their employees than to not. Liberty is inseparable with responsibility, and with this liberty of substance use, comes the responsibility of private business owners to conduct drug policies for employees. 2. Morality arguments: The role of the government is not to legislate morality. The impact of drug usage within a family is between the family members, and the family members only. Simply keeping drugs illegal will not change the mind of someone who's intention is to get high. Sources: http://www.drugwarfacts.org... http://www.drugsense.org... https://www.ncjrs.gov... http://www.drugpolicy.org... http://fee.org... http://www.drugwarfacts.org...