The War on Drugs is unconstitutional, immoral, and a complete failure

1) I'd like to see a source on that number - that sounds insanely high, considering there have only been 5 business days in '08 (as of today). I never argued that if drugs were decriminalized we'd spend this money anyway - I argued that the some of the institutions that provide the resources for the WoD would still be around, especially since the other main institute besides the DEA in the WoD is the FBI. Let us suppose that legalizing drugs drops the price of an ounce of cocaine from $150 to $15 - a factor of 10. In order to collect taxes on it, that ounce must be sold in a venue that will charge sales tax. Somehow I don't see Wal-Mart adding a drug aisle to their stores. The lost taxes from criminalizing drugs is immaterial until you can show that there will be places willing to sell them. I'm not sure what foreign countries have to do with anything - we'd still get the more expensive drugs from them - that's where they grow best. Yet still - none of what you show here provides any evidence that the war on drugs is unconstitutional. 2) "We will have to make due with punishing individuals after the fact that hurt people while under the influence of mind-altering substances." I am utterly baffled as to how it is immoral to act in the interest of society. It is not immoral at all to prevent a drunk from entering a car, to prevent a person high on cocaine to wander the streets, preventing someone high on marijuana from buying a gun. You are arguing it is immoral to prevent the drunk from drinking in the first place. In principle, I tend to agree with you. I think before this point can progress any further, it needs to be split to take into account different drugs. Cocaine affects the mind differently than alcohol - pretending to treat them the same is folly. There is also the fact that the side effects of some drugs like caffeine, alcohol, and marijuana (medicinally) are beneficial. The effects of cocaine and heroin are not. When you have a greater moral good at hand (protection of society) I don't see how it can be achieved through immoral ends. The good of the many outweighs the good of the few or the one. 3) You cannot escape using group values as the basis for laws! Morality and justice are BASED on group values! Muslims believe it moral and just to remove your hand for stealing... You cannot escape the use of group values to interpret your objective morality and justice. That is NOT a road to tyranny - the use of group values in making a decision is the road to DEMOCRACY. 1) No... I provide a result of the billions of dollars that have been spent. 2) You offered a rehab program as a solution for junkies that hit rock bottom - I'm simply adapting that to the junkies that are already in prison. Nobody's perfect... I'm not sure where that came from. 3) I think we agree here, yes... 4) Well most of your argument here got cut off I guess, but in a capitalist economy (and depending on the state) an employer can hire basically whoever the hell they want, whether or not they use drugs. Even if drugs were legal, I still doubt that many employers would hire users... I thank you for another excellent debate! I have a feeling I'm on the losing side of this one, but I also have a feeling it's long enough that not many people will read it and vote based on the topic... In any event, I actually mostly agree with you on this one - my side is a tough one to defend, and you made me work to keep any inch of ground.