All recreational drugs should be decriminalised.

Good argument Pro! I will attempt to answer your points and provide my arguments against legalization of recreational drugs. 1: Freedom Of course we live in a "truly free country", yet there is freedom with responsibility or consequences from one's choices. Just because recreational drugs are attainable does not mean that society needs to condone it. And decriminalizing recreational drugs does give society's blessing that it"s is no big deal. Recreational drugs are NOT healthy for society. What good were our predecessors if they did not try to make it better for the future generations? Don't we want a better future for our children? 2: Drug addiction is a health problem, not a crime This is a false argument, outside of being hooked on morphine/pain-killers from a serious accident, drugs are a choice. Because of knowledge of drugs and its outcome is so commonplace, it is a choice. Recreational drugs are a crime for a reason. Drug addiction would be the inevitable outcome especially with ease of access. And recreational drugs WILL LEAD to major health problems which burden everyone therefore by banning it, society can curb it. [1] 3: Black market Almost every time when anything is forbidden, a black market is created. Levis jeans were forbidden in the former USSR. [2] Alcohol was prohibited and yet it was appealed with Amendment 21. Alcohol, a legal recreational drug albeit, doesn't remain in one's system as long as the illegal recreational drugs do. To endorse and decriminalize recreational drugs means that society approves of recreational drug usage. Again, drugs are bad. "An LSD trip can have long term psycho-emotional effects; some users cite the LSD experience as causing significant changes in their personality and life perspective." [3] "There is no 'safe' frequency of use for cocaine. " [4] I won't go into the gory details with every drug because the knowledge is out there for anyone to see: mental disorders, dental horrors, kidney failures et cetera. Until people develop a moral spine and not purchase things off the black market, there will always be a black market. Why not spend more time on building up the things that shield against drug usage, like family ties or encourage people to have a marriage and family tax breaks? It is easy to tear down but harder to build up. I digress, sorry. There has to be a line, my opponent states that drug users are not murders or rapists, so it's only a little bit breaking the law. If one doesn't draw the line & enforce the laws (which are not currently done) there were be no respect and lawlessness. 4: Drugs are easier to get hold of than ever before Before what? Drugs were accessible at the dawn of the US. In 1890 the US Congress, in its earliest law-enforcement legislation on narcotics imposes a tax on opium and morphine. And only in 1909 was the first federal drug prohibition passed in the US outlawing the importation of opium. [5] I believe the morality of the people have changed. 5: The War on Drugs simply isn't working I concur with Pro's last point, which the War on Drugs is not working. Therefore the answer is enforcement or stronger enforcement of the current laws not abolishing of the drug laws. It is rather silly to declare war on an inanimate object, e.g. War on Terror, because it allows grand sweeps of ambiguity by the politicians without holding them to any real accountability. I suggest a COMPROMISE: we let the individual states and the people therein, make the decisions to decriminalize recreational drugs, Amendment X. [6] Let's keep the federal government out of it since they cannot be trusted. In that way, if pot heads want to be around easy access to pot and other like minded persons, they can have their utopia and flock to that state. And people who do not want to be surrounded by drug addled persons can move to states where recreational drugs are outlawed but don't be surprised if they enforce harsher penalties. Right now however - Many people are without hope and want to escape reality. There are many forms of escapism and one of them is recreational drug usage. Life is hard but why make it harder on yourself or one's you care about and future generations. If you want drugs for recreational use, go to another country. Recreational drug usage will lead to habitual usage and eventually empty out one's bank account, fry your brain cells, waste your life and leave one destitute, dead or a burden on society. Don't decriminalize recreational drugs. 1 http://www.drugabuse.gov... 2 http://www.levistrauss.com... 3 http://listverse.com... 4 http://www.webmd.com... 5 http://www.pbs.org... 6 http://constitutioncenter.org...