The legalization of Marijuana will cause more harm than good.

Before I start I would like to expand on the definition of the word 'harm' as discussed with Con in the comment section as it will allow for more arguments resulting in a more colourful debate. [1]Harm (harm); Pronunciation:/hï¿½rm/ Noun: Physical injury, especially that which is deliberately inflicted. Material damage. *Actual or potential ill effect or danger. * Verb [with object]: Physically injure. Damage the health of. *Have an adverse effect on. * What I've placed *'s around are the definitions I would also like to add to the word 'harm'. The next thing I would like to define is 'adverse'. [2] Adverse (adï¿½verse); Pronunciation:/adˈvərs, ˈadvərs/ Adjective Preventing success or development; harmful; unfavourable. Since I am the one affirming the proposed, I have the burden of proof and will start with two small contentions. Contention 1: The legalization of Marijuana would increase the amount of highway fatalities. The prohibition of Marijuana is a deterrent for many adults, and teenagers with jobs and the legalization of it would increase it's usage. Many employers run a drug screening before employing, and many also continue to run these drug screens at random times; Failure to pass these may result in one not being hired, or the loss of one's job. Possession of Marijuana alone carries hard penalties, and adds a felony to your record; And the punishment for distribution is much more severe. So with felony charges, and possible loss of work, or inability to find work, it's easy to see why the illegality of Marijuana deters people from using it. [3] Some of you may be asking "what is his point in all of this"? My point is that once you take away a deterrent more people that wanted to do it will be willing to do it, and with that comes negative impacts on society. People may not have to, and it may not be the Marijuana's fault, but when you have more people doing it then the rate of it's occurrence will rise. When you ingest Marijuana several effects happen that would negatively impact your driving skills such as: drowsiness, disruption in attention, an altered sense of time and space, relaxation, disorientation, hallucinations, and delusions. All this can lead to a deadly cocktail of chemicals and side effects all produced by one plant, should we really legalize something that will have such negative consequences on society? The amount of highway fatalities is high enough with substances such as alcohol, when you throw Marijuana into the mix it can only get worse. [4][5][6] Contention 2: The legalization of Marijuana will lead to more littering, and second-hand smoke. Marijuana contains tars and many of the same carcinogens as Tobacco, and as second hand smoke is already an issue we face in America today it would no doubt get worse if you legalize the most commonly abused illicit drug. Second hand smoke has many risk to the non-smoker, such as heart disease, lung cancer,breathing problems that include coughing, mucus, chest discomfort, and reduced lung function, lung infections, asthma attacks, and middle ear infections in children. Surely legalization of something that would have such a negative impact on societies health wouldn't beneficial in any way whatsoever. [7][8][9] The Legalization of Marijuana would also lead to more littering, cigarette butts are the most littered item in America, and it's only fair to assume that legalization would lead to the ends of blunts, joints, roaches, etcetera being tossed as well. The tossing of cigarette butts is responsible for triggering fires from residential fires, to major wildfires and bushfires which have caused major property damage and also death. As well as disruption to services by triggering alarms and warning systems. I think it's safe to say that the legalization of Marijuana could lead to more fires that may result in death, and serious property damage, which is also detrimental to society. Furthermore, who knows if legalization would add more toxins to the second hand smoke, or add filters like cigarettes that can take up to 15 YEARS to degrade. I have much more to argue and this was just a starting point for Con to refute. I'm looking forward to his response, and thank you for taking your time to read this. [10][11] [1]. http://oxforddictionaries.com... [2]. http://oxforddictionaries.com... [3]. http://www.legalmatch.com... [4]. http://faculty.washington.edu... [5]. http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov... [6]. http://www.alcoholalert.com... [7]. http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk... [8]. http://www.cancer.org... [9]. http://drugabuse.gov... [10]. http://www.cigarettelitter.org... [11]. http://en.wikipedia.org...