marijuana legalization

Harm I didn't disagree with the comment marijuana is less harmful than alcohol because it is; however, this is not a good argument for two reasons. Firstly, if this is the only requirement to be legalized then the logic must follow like this, marijuana is less harmful than alcohol, and drugs less harmful than alcohol should be legalized; therefore, heroin, crack, marijuana, etc. should be legal. Unless my opponent supports the legalization of all drugs less harmful than alcohol then he is logically inconsistent. Further, I would like to point out this is not diversionary since it is just following through his reasoning of legalizing marijuana, and if he does not like the results then he should drop the argument. Secondly, it assumes that I am for keeping alcohol legal, which I am not. Research The claim that "scientific researchers unfortunately cannot easily study cannabis" is unfounded and unsourced. There have been many studies such as the one by Patrik Roser, PhD, MD which found that "These data suggest that Delta (9) -THC may lead to acute impairment of attentional functioning and working memory"[1] Also, I want to know where he found that marijuana has "curative/preventative properties for diabetes type II" because not even the word diabetes appears in the article he supposedly got it from. [2] Prohibition He is right that prohibition didn't stop people from consuming alcohol, and that is because prohibition didn't ban consumption or even the possession of alcohol . It only banned "sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcoholic beverages" [3] Even though national prohibition may have led to increased crime it doesn't address the fact many states had prohibition laws staring with Maine in 1851. [4] When prohibition was repealed it didn't stop states of counties from having prohibition, and even today there are still dry areas. Prohibition of alcohol and banning of marijuana are not the same or can be related since one, alcohol, didn't ban the possession or consumption which made enforcing the law more difficult. Further, just because cartels do terrible things doesn't mean we should turn them into a legitimate business. Polling You have also committed the Bandwagon logical fallacy "You appealed to popularity or the fact that many people do something as an attempted form of validation. " [5] Just because a majority believes it should be legal doesn't mean it should. State laws I am unsure the point of this paragraph. I am might have missed the point. If my opponent would please clear up onto what he was saying it would be much appreciated. Gateway Drug My opponent does not deny that it is a gateway drug; therefore, my argument stands. Also, he goes on to say if marijuana is banned because it is a gateway drug than other drugs like alcohol and tobacco should be banned. How is this not what he considered diversionary. When I follow his logical through on being less harmful than alcohol that is diversionary, but when he follows my logic through that gateway drugs should be banned that is not diversionary. To me this just seems logically inconsistent. I do support smoking and alcohol bans so I am logically consistent. Health My opponent does not deny any of the health issues I mentioned earlier. These well known and document short-term effects like distorted perception, loss of coordination, trouble with thinking and problem-solving, and increased heart rate. [6] There is also the problem of second-hand smoke. Even though no one may have overdosed on marijuana it has contributed to people's deaths. Also, like I said earlier there are many studies on the effects of marijuana. Sources: [1] . http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov... [2] . http://www.cnn.com... [3] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [4] . http://www.state.me.us... [5] . https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com... [6] . http://alcoholism.about.com...