Drug legalization

"That's all fine and well, but if you notice, my statistics were the result of an annual governmental study, so I am not so sure that these results should be necessarily "discounted". And your attempt to discredit the 40% is also irrelevant, because that too was referring to arrestees from that one particular study. And as far as regulating drug use so as not to sell to the mentally ill, we should probably only be selling it to them as medicine. Medically marijuana can be an amazing drug, and has helped people with things ranging from OCD, ADHD, ODD, PTSD, tourrettes, etc. [1] And yes, considering that over 6 million people have been arrested on marijuana related charges between 1992 and 2001, needless to say it would reduce crime rates. [2] But as for other narcotics, legalizing it would in no way decrease crime rate, other than the obvious amount of people arrested for possession, sales, and manufacturing. And as far as selling to people with a criminal record, what makes you think that this would make marijuana any less obtainable to known criminals? It just means they can't go out and buy it for themselves at the local convenient store, which isn't what they were doing before anyway. " The fact that this study was conducted by the government in no way ensures it's accuracy, but it doesn't matter because I never denied the study. All I did was demonstrate that because about 33% of the country has smoked marijuana (see citing in last argument), they are overrepresented in arrests by a mere 1% when those charged with possession, sale, or manufacture are discounted. And I agree with you about the medical marijuana, but the subject of this debate is not medical marijuana. And as for your arguments about those with a criminal record and others who could be banned from buying, no, they could not buy drugs elsewhere because illicit drug salesmen would be completely driven out of business by the government. The remaining customers would be too few and too far spread to support the illegal sale of pot. "Marijuana is legal in Queensland, Australia. Where do you think the government will be looking when deciding whether or not to legalize marijuana? Governor Schwarzenegger has even said that he believes it is important to examine effects of legalization in other countries. [3] And I doubt that regulating the narcotic or any narcotic would decrease crimes committed while being on these substances, all of your arguments are mere unsupported speculations. " No, as a matter of fact marijuana is not legal in Australia [1]. And I agree with you and Governor Schwarzenegger on the effects of legalization in other countries, which is why I looked at the Netherlands. In America, where these substances are illegal, we have a higher marijuana prevalence, a higher heroin prevalence, a higher cocaine prevalence, a higher incarceration rate, and a higher homicide rate then in the Netherlands [2]. Now, it would be idiotic to assume that the legality of pot is the cause of all of these statistics, but as you yourself said, there is a correlation between drug use and crime, and when drugs are legalized, crime goes down. "It isn't. While you could in fact decrease the number of illegal sales in general, there would still be illegal sales of the drug. And these failed buys aren't necessarily crime, they consisted of either the buyer not having enough money, the seller not having enough product, or there not being an ideal meeting, and did not end in violence and arrest. These questions were simply asked to people arrested. " So if the failed buys don't end in violence, then why do you care? What's the point of this argument? According to you, all of the failed buys only resulted in the buyer not getting drugs. "Like I said in the previous round, marijuana is a complex drug, that has yet to be fully understood by researchers. I noted that it was known to strongly increase the chance of cancer, I did not say it caused it. And you can hardly prove that it doesn't cause cancer, with what is left to discover about marijuana. " In this and his other arguments on the health value of marijuana, my opponent is partially correct. Marijuana is a complex drug, and it is hardly understood well. However, as he himself will admit, there is a fair amount of doubt as to pot's affects, and marijuana has been linked to many health problems as well as benefits. The arguments surrounding it are comprised as much of myth as truth, and much that we believe about it is not true. "I can't see how it would empower people any more. People that sign themselves into rehabilitation to my knowledge have no legal actions taken against them. " It doesn't matter whether those in rehab have legal action taken against them, what matters is the stigma that exists against drugs. If people are addicted to drugs, then they believe that coming out about it will garner legal action and negative consequences, whether true or not, which is why many choose to remain addicted. -Closing Arguments- My opponent seems to believe that drug regulation would not work if drugs were legalized. I propose a simple system in which anyone wishing to consume drugs would go to a pharmacy or other government run building, where they would present an ID and go through sufficient checks to ensure their legality, at which point they would go to a bar-like room in which you would consume the drugs while being watched over by a sober government employee or employees. That way, no drugs leave the pharmacy, and no crimes are committed. It is a system modeled on the Netherland coffeehouses. Lastly, my opponent and I have presented our arguments and outlined our points. I believe that a carefully regulated system of legal drugs would be a safe and easy way to curtail gang revenue, ensure drug treatment, recieve economic bonuses from the taxed drugs, and end the wasteful spending of the war on drugs, as well as ensure people their liberties, something a conservative like him should be in favor of. My opponent would have you believe that because there is a drug-crime correlation, and because drugs are bad for you, we should not allow their legal retail. I thank my opponent for this stimulating debate, and I thank all of our voters for helping to decide it. [1] www. health. nsw. gov. au [2] www. drugwarfacts. org