illicit drugs should be legalised

My case: 1) Users of drugs harm other people involuntarily. a) In a new study, reported in the July issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, researchers found that of U.S. drivers who died in a crash, about 25% tested positive for drugs.[1] This is in a country that prohibits the use of illicit drugs. If drugs were to be made legitimate and available for everyone, it will follow that the amount of people who are killed by other drug users will skyrocket to alarming levels, not that they aren't alarming already, the further amount of tragic accidents that will kill innocent civilians will be a cause for further alarm.b) Babies exposed to legal and illegal drugs in the womb may be born premature and underweight. This drug exposure can slow the child's intellectual development and affect behavior later in life. [2] Pregnant drug users hurt their offspring, which they have no right to do.c) Parents' drug abuse often means chaotic, stress-filled homes and child abuse and neglect. Such conditions harm the well-being and development of children in the home and may set the stage for drug abuse in the next generation. [2] It also emotionally scars the children and impairs their right to freewill using a normal mindset. Other mental injuries result in depression and suicide, which occurs due to the child being subject to such a negative environment thanks to the illicit drug use of the parents. 2) Users of drugs harm themselves involuntarily.This argument stands in pre-emptive refutation of an argument which I think my opponent will use. 'People choose to take drugs, they are allowed to choose that.' Well, wrong. Freedom of choice only occurs when it is 'free.' When someone takes drugs however, it is usually because of other influences that have forced them to try. Most people who smoke, take drugs and abuse other substances eventually regret it. [3] So that means that their decision that they started off with did not reflect on what they actually wanted, which resulted in the regret factor. In other words, if a decision leads to regret, and the person wished he/she picked the alternative, then we are obliged to force them to the alternative to begin with, and not allow them to have regret. On the bottom line, people who take drugs don't want to hurt themselves, but they are willing to hurt themselves if they get a pleasurable experience from it, which ties into my next point.3) People take drugs thinking it will make them happy. We should stop drug use due to this misconception.People take drugs for a multitude of reasons, but every single one of these reasons boils down to a single fact. People take drugs to be happy/happier. But what is it that drugs are doing? Dopamine is a the neurotransmitter responsible for the 'thrill' that happens every time you consume drugs. Dopamine is released from the transmitter and collected by the receptor resulting in the feeling of pleasure. However, when you take drugs, large quantities of dopamine are released and two things happen.a) Your body adjusts to the sudden increase of dopamine and becomes tolerant of the neurotransmitter, meaning dopamine does not make you as happy as you use to beb) The dopamine transporters are ruined by the drug and more drug is required to stimulate the release of more dopamine, which further kills the transporters. This always results in tolerance to the drug, where user starts wanting more and more; and addiction, where due to the tolerance, the body cannot function properly without the drug and demands that more drugs be available.In short, drug use is a very ineffective method of attaining happiness due to the fact that it results in the inability to be happy. The fact that most drug users take it for happiness means that they are not aware of the implications of their decisions, which as I pointed out before results in regret.Concluding, people who take drugs harm others, harm themselves (against their will) and do so because they are subject to misguided or incorrect information. Furthermore, I challenge my opponent to propose a model in which drugs can be legalised where teenagers cannot use drugs. Teens have a flawed risk vs reward system of judgement due to an underdeveloped frontal lobe. We cannot allow drugs to be available to teens due to this impairment of free choice. So how do you legalise it without them getting any?Reminder: My opponent must post arguments as well as rebuttals in order to fulfill BoP and to confirm the resolution. [1]http://www.progressiveic.com... [2] http://www.dosomething.org...[3] http://www.cancerresearchuk.org...