Soft Drugs and Prostitution should be legalized.

I think it completely nullifies your point to change the rules and definitions as you go. Just in case others don't agree with me I will now debate based on your new definitions. Yes I read the drug library article. Now, if you continue past the part about the overdoses you will see that the report goes on to speculate that the cause of the deaths was other ingredients in the heroin. The article states clearly that heroin kills, it just does argues as to HOW heroin kills. As for your other examples, they are invalid. We could argue that McDonald's should be illegal, but that's another debate. We could argue about cars, but an overwhelming majority of traffic deaths are cause by DUI, so that is drug related. Your death rate for marijuana is way off as well, "In 1999, DAWN (Drug Abuse Warning Network) data reported by medical examiners show that out of 664 marijuana-related deaths, there were 187 deaths where marijuana was the only drug reported." "Marijuana use is frequently mentioned in hospital emergency room drug overdose visits. The rate for marijuana is about half that for cocaine, about the same as for heroin/morphine, but is twice the rates for common household painkillers aspirin/acetaminophen and for benzodiazepine depressants such as Xanax and Valium. While marijuana typically had been used with another drug, particularly alcohol and cocaine, in 1999 marijuana use as a single drug did account for 22% of the marijuana emergency room incidents. By way of comparison, single use of cocaine and heroin accounted for 29% and 47% of the cocaine and heroin episodes, respectively." Microbiologist Tom Klein of the University of South Florida reports, "We've tried working with [marijuana smoke], and it's so toxic, you just get it near the immune system and it [the immune system] dies." Marijuana users have been shown to have an increase in neurotic and psychopathic behavior. I have stated the previous arguments since you are now quoting death rates, which I take to mean that you concede that users can be victims. Drug use DOES put others at risk though: Women who smoke marijuana produce children who are 11 times as succeptible to leukemia than non-drug users. Legalization won't help with this. "California decriminalized marijuana in 1976, and, within the first six months, arrests for driving under the influence of drugs rose 46 percent for adults and 71.4 percent for juveniles.[33] Decriminalizing marijuana in Alaska and Oregon in the 1970s resulted in the doubling of use.[34] Patrick Murphy, a court-appointed lawyer for 31,000 abused and neglected children in Chicago, says that more than 80 percent of the cases of physical and sexual abuse of children now involve drugs. There is no evidence that legalizing drugs will reduce these crimes, and there is evidence that suggests it would worsen the problem." You argue that legalization will save taxpayers money: "Health costs associated with legalization would be very high. And legalization would have consequences elsewhere. For example, the Drug Enforcement Administration says legalization of drugs will cost society between $140-210 billion a year in lost productivity and job-related accidents. And insurance companies would pass on accident expenses to consumers.[46] The Institute for Health Policy at Brandeis University found that in 1990 dollars the societal cost of substance abuse is in excess of $238 billion, of which $67 billion is for illicit drugs. The report states, "As the number one health problem in the country, substance abuse places a major burden on the nation's health care system and contributes to the high cost of health care. In fact, substance abuse -- the problematic use of alcohol, illicit drugs and tobacco -- places an enormous burden on American society asa whole." Your statements about the prohibition are also unsupported: "Prohibition was a solitary effort by this country while the rest of the world was essentially "wet." However, most drugs are illegal throughout much of the world. This makes enforcement much easier. History shows that prohibition curbed alcohol abuse. Alcohol use declined by 30 to 50 percent; deaths from cirrhosis of the liver fell from 29.5 per 100,000 in 1911 to 10.7 in 1929; and admissions to state mental hospitals for alcohol psychosis fell from 10.1 per 100,000 in 1919 to 4.7 in 1928.[53] Mark Moore, Harvard professor of criminal justice, wrote: "The real lesson of prohibition is that society can, indeed, make a dent in the consumption of drugs through laws." And also:"The DEA found that during prohibition, suicide rates decreased 50 percent. The incidence of alcohol-related arrests also declined 50 percent." And: "Sweden legalized doctor prescriptions of amphetamines in 1965. During the first year of legalization, the number of intravenous"speed" addicts rose 88.5 percent. A study of men arrested during the legalization period showed a high correlation between intravenous use and a variety of crimes." So there are plenty of victims. Now, prostitution: "Regardless of prostitution's status (legal, illegal or decriminalized) or its physical location (strip club, massage parlor, street, escort/home/hotel), prostitution is extremely dangerous for women. Homicide is a frequent cause of death (Potterat et al., 2004)." "In strip club prostitution, she was sexually harassed and assaulted." This was from an ex-prostitute in legal Nevada. She also said: "Despite the claims to the contrary, legal prostitution does not protect women from the violence, verbal abuse, physical injury or diseases such as HIV that occur in illegal prostitution." and, "My goal is to always protect the rights of women," she said. "We have to ask the women involved and take their answers seriously." The New York Times had this to say: "What is not widely understood is how coercive all aspects of the sex trade are. The average age of entry into prostitution is extremely young. The prostitutes are ruthlessly controlled by pimps, club owners and traffickers. In the case of legal prostitution, they are controlled by their own pimps and the brothel owners — pimps who have been legalized by the state. The women are exploited in every way. Most of the money they receive from johns goes to the pimps, the brothel owners, the escort service managers and so forth. Strippers and lap dancers have to pay for the right to dance in the clubs, and the money they get in tips has to be shared with the club owners, bartenders, bouncers, etc." So, prostitutes, even legal ones, are the saddest kind of victims. The kind who are brainwashed for so long, that they don't realize there could be anything better. If you read Ms. Farley's story, take a deep breath first. Sources: http://www.psychiatrictimes.com... http://www.lvrj.com... http://select.nytimes.com... http://www.drugwatch.org... http://www.sarnia.com... http://www.alcoholalert.com... http://www.dui.com...