The U.S Government should legalize recreational marijuana.

Justified LawPro claims that I am taking Mill to the letter of the law. This is not true, the concept he presents is a criteria to determine if a law is just. A ban on marijuana meets this criteria. Pro says “This debate is intended to act as a policy change debate. So an idealist position is not valid…” This is amusing as my opponent opened his arguments with a quote from a philosopher. Clearly this debate is as much idealism as policy. Pro says “The quote I provided from Mill was to demonstrate a basic concept of when autonomy ought to be limited.” This further shows that my opponent started his arguments with an ideal and so arguing ideals is as valid as any other argument here presented. We can conclude that the status quo is just.Pro says “So, as much as Con would like to turn Mill’s quote against me, it simply doesn’t apply to marijuana. It only deals with “direct harms”, not potential harms.” The harms I listed are not potential harms, they are real and documented as shown by my source last round. This aside, lets take a deeper look into the likely harm that will result from the legalization of Marijuana.The harm extended:Last round I demonstrated the harms that exist. Pro said “I accept that marijuana causes harm to a certain degree. However, I don’t believe this potential harm outweighs the benefits of freedom, taxation, safety, and job creation.”"There is the Denver man who, hours after buying a package of marijuana-infused Karma Kandy from one of Colorado’s new recreational marijuana shops, began raving about the end of the world and then pulled a handgun from the family safe and killed his wife, the authorities say."[1]You tell me, Is this man’s dead wife more free? Is this man’s family more safe? Is this harm hypothetical? Pro welcomes this result as a resonable cost outeighted by benifits. In addition to the well documented harm associated with Marijuana use, we can see that legalizing it is likely to increase harm. The result of legal tobacco:The sad truth is having a legalized drug that causes harm, like tobacco, is it leads to a large industry that profits off people addicted and suffering from their product. Where jobs created… yes, what is the cost!?“Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including an estimated 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day.” (2)“If smoking continues at the current rate among U.S. youth, 5.6 million of today’s Americans younger than 18 years of age are expected to die prematurely from a smoking-related illness. This represents about one in every 13 Americans aged 17 years or younger who are alive today.” (2)The result of legal alcohol“excessive drinking was responsible for 1 in 10 deaths among working-age adults aged 20-64 years. The economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption in 2006 were estimated at $223.5 billion, or $1.90 a drink.” (3) By allowing harmful substances like alcohol and tobacco to be legal, our society has monetized a human life. Profits are made and jobs created but society pays the ultimate price in life’s lost. The same would be true if we legalized Marijuana. This is why the status quo should remain intact. The harms of legalizing a harmful substance far out-weigh the benefits of legalization. Conclusion:Pro accepted the burden of proof in this debate. Thus far we see that a law outlawing marijuana is just. Pro has argued that outlawing marijuana and allowing other substances like cigarettes and alcohol is not reasonable. I agree. We can see that the legal status of these substances has not negated the harm they bring. In many ways it has expanded the harm. Corporations can now profit of the addictions and lives of consumers. While this creates jobs, it costs lives. Marijuana is harmful, both to the consumer and those around them. Because of this harm, and the added harm that would come from large corporate backing Marijuana should remain illegal.(1) http://www.nytimes.com...(2) http://www.cdc.gov...(3) http://www.cdc.gov...