Should drugs be banned in United States

Your initial comparison to the US rate was flawed. I stand by that. Thank you for bringing the proper data forth in round two to support your initial claim. That was an interesting stat you had on Portugal though. It's news to me. If you have a source that would be appreciated. Starting with your first smear ... Cartels being legitimized: If you take someone performing a crime and suddenly state that what they were doing is no longer criminal, then what they are doing is now legit. Legitimized. Plain and simple. No assumptions to be made there. They may have benefited in the past by not having any legal competition in their market, but not without plenty of friction and loss to their business. Legitimizing the business they are already in, that they already have established, makes for a much easier move for them than that of the emerging pot farmer in America. Lets not forget, the inadequate regulation we do impose on our growers is still far more of a burden to them than that of foreign growers from countries with zero regulation. That's not factoring in at all the fact that, with legalization, they could just as easily set up here in the states now using what resources they already have at hand. The fact is, they are at an advantage in this market no matter what you do. Legalization does not dissolve drug cartels. "He concedes to the fact that addicts will do anything to get there hands on money for drugs." Not all of them. But under your model there would be more of them in number, yes. "He then makes another statement of 'magnatudes of addicts, more than before.' that is speculation and he came to this speculation by denying the competition and supply and demand economic theories." Then you need to explain the relationship between supply and demand to me with how it relates to addiction. It seems obvious to me that if you increase the supply of an addictive drug and the increase the availability of that drug to be dispersed over a more widespread area that you have effectively increased the addiction rate that comes attached to said drug. Does that not seem at all logical to you? I'm not denying the theory ... I'm telling you that you have a very backwards idea of how that theory works in all of this. Arguing forms of rehab is an entirely different argument from this one, so ill steer clear of that. I will take from that though that you recognize that rehabilitation as a whole will still be needed under your model, and therefore you concede to the fact that supplying the nation with addictive drugs will not take away the need for it. "You than go to sat economic fallacy that drug users just use what they can get there hands on which is again speculation no facts where brought up to prove this." Facts-a-comin' friend: http://top5ofanything.com.... This site shows the 5 most popular brands of alcohol (yes alcohol is a drug and is addictive and was legalized, so its a good representation). 1) Note that only one of these companies is American. This proves my point about the import of product from other areas. Foreign made drugs are poised to still remain the most popular over our home grown stuff. 2) Note that, of these top 5 brands, they are all middle to low grade forms of their particular type of alcohol (you would know this if you have done any drinking ... I can supply price points if your truly deem it necessary). This proves my point that the top used alcohol is not the most innovative or pure stuff in the market. Its the low grade mass produced stuff that is backed by a monster of a company. 3) Note that these brands are almost what you would have guessed would be at the top. Why? Because of the huge amount of money these companies pour into advertising. They are all very well known brands because of it. We can deduce from this that such levels of advertizing will become the norm with legal addictive drugs as well. http://www.drugwarfacts.org... Here's a site loaded with data on all of the drugs you intend to legalize. More things to note: 1) 24% of people why TRY heroin become dependent on it. Basically 1 in 4 people. What do you think the number of addicted will look like when you legalize something that addictive, advertize it's legality across the nation, and decrease its cost through unhindered supply and demand? 2) Section 9 on cannabis addiction. It states, "Many factors besides a drug's physiological effects including availability, frequency and pattern of use, perception of harm, and cost can contribute to cessation outcomes and the strength of addiction." That sounds familiar. All of those factors sound like things we just mentioned in Round 2. Things that you have conceded to coming about through supply and demand. Every aspect of legalization from a market standpoint will aid in addiction rate of drugs, even one of the lower (but still plenty harmful) ones like cannabis. http://www.niaaa.nih.gov... Here's a site loaded with facts about another addictive drug we decided to legalize. More things to note: 1) Alcohol was comparable to many of the other drugs in the previous link. We can predict quite accurately that some comparable ratios of the alcohol related problems in here will apply to other addictive drugs we might choose to legalize. Some worse ... some not as bad ... but all worse than the rates were it non-existent (or at least its use not promoted) in society. 'Logically adding fire to more fire will not create more fire, you need a fuel source." The fuel source is our burning nation. Currently its isolated to a rather small number of the population and predominantly in certain consequently lower value areas of town. You aim to set fire to other areas that currently frown upon drug use by making it entirely legal to be out growing, dealing, and using them in areas they don't belong. Again, I invite you to please show me how your model of supply and demand works to actually reduce the risk of addiction, drug related crime, accidental death, decreased productivity, medical problems, poverty, and moral issues that we all face in the wake of a nation legalizing harmful drugs within its borders. I have yet to see any points made that create a better and safer nation under your proposal. You should probably stop dropping that mic, it sounds broken.