legalization of marijuana

I am arguing for the legalization of marijuana in the U. S. A. , and my opponent will argue CON. I will start by rebutting my opponent's opening arguments, then provide a few of my own: "Statistics show that the death toll of marijuana consumers is at a very low state compared to the deaths of cocaine and tobacco consumers. Despite the fact it may not cause death, marijuana has been proved to have had many medical effects on people. " This is partially correct; the death toll of marijuana consumers as a primary cause of death is not low, it's zero. This is because it is extremely non-toxic. All drugs are toxic to some degree, their toxicity being dependent upon their 'therapeutic ratio', also known as the 'effect-to-death ratio' or 'therapeutic index'. Put simply, if a particular drug, say alcohol, has a therapeutic ratio of 8, then 8 times the quantity necessary to give you a buzz is required to kill you. [1] Cannabis (regardless its consumption method, though smoked marijuana is the weakest) has an indeterminate therapeutic index, as it is just too high to measure. It does exist to be sure, but it is in the order of thousands. This is a nice scientific way of saying "you can not die from marijuana". [2] My opponent's assertion that marijuana causes adverse medical effects in those who consume it cannot be denied, and I'd be a fool to try. But this is not a reason in and of itself to make something illegal, as I'll explain below. "For the United Sates to make a drug that has had many negative effects on our society an accepted product for our people is quite frankly, one of the worst mistakes our country has made. " When considering the legality of something, the Government takes a large number of factors into consideration, but no more than harm to society. We've seen alcohol made illegal in many countries in the past, and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM reversed the decision after a short period of time. [3] Nobody would be silly enough to suggest that alcohol is good for individual consumption, as the list of diseases and personal problems which may arise from alcohol use is undeniable. Is that to say that the Governments who reversed prohibition law were not looking out for the best interests of society? Of course not. Prohibition was repealed more often than not because it didn't work; that is, alcohol consumption didn't drop a bit, and in fact increased in America. Now let's take a look at Cannabis. You said yourself that "Marijuana has been one of the most commonly illegal drugs to be consumed by people through out the world", and this is despite its illegality. This is despite the fact that hard-working fathers are imprisoned for smoking a plant, possibly turning them into ACTUAL criminals, i. e. criminals who actually negatively impact on society. Despite the fact that billions are spent every year on a war on drugs, which is being won by a bunch of drug-addicts, showing how ineffective the 'war' really is. My point here is that although smoking marijuana may negatively effect the individual, it has no negative bearing upon society, which is where the Government's interests lay. ==== I will now provide a few arguments of my own: 1. Legalizing marijuana for purchase in stores would ease the recession immensely. My opponent is presumably arguing in the best interests of society, yet nobody could deny the recession as the biggest threat to our society at present. Even if we presume only a quarter of Americans smoke weed daily, and only a gram a day. These are very conservative estimates. Let's pretend the Government wants to charge $10 a gram (making for a $280 ounce). With 300,000,000 Americans, we've got 75,000,000 smokers spending $10 a day, with a large majority of the profit going to the Government. Conversely, every day marijuana remains illegal, that immense amount of money goes to drug dealers and gangs. 2. It is hypocritical of the Government to allow (even endorse) alcohol consumption, yet imprison pot smokers. Alcohol kills, pot doesn't. Alcohol causes fights, pot diffuses them. Indeed, we could set up a table of all negative effects a drug may produce for the consumer's life (socially, mentally, physically), and compare alcohol and marijuana for each effect. Alcohol would, hands-down, come out worse than marijuana in every one. This is as bad as a Government who allows and endorses stabbing yourself with a knife, but not with a pin. It's ridiculous and embarrassing, and our grandchildren will look back in awe at the stupidity with which we handled this drug's interaction with society. 3. Marijuana being illegal ruins more lives than it saves. As with alcohol, those who enjoy a smoke every now and then run the gammit of society from the homeless to doctors to Presidents (Clinton, Bush Jr. and Obama having all admitted smoking in the past). There is no section of society to victimize for marijuana use, so everybody is victimized. Prison has the ability to TURN people into criminals, whether they were criminals beforehand or not. Imagine if Barrack Obama had been caught and arrested for pot possession, and imprisoned. Where do you think his life would be now? Certainly not leader of the country, and we can parallel this down to the doctors, lawyers and teachers who like a smoke every now and then. Smoking pot won't ruin their lives, but being imprisoned for smoking pot will. Hence, major law fail. [1] - . http://en.wikipedia.org... [2] - . http://www.fcda.org... [3] - . http://en.wikipedia.org...