The US Federal Government should legalize the manufacturing, sale and possession of all drugs.

My opponent argues that, contrary as I have stated, that crime would not go down if drugs were legalized. His argument however has many fallacies, and he claims that "of all the inmates in prison for drug offenses, only 27% are in there on simple drug possession charges(1). That leaves another 73% of individuals arrested on drug crimes other than possession, use, distribution or manufacturing charges. "This is simply not true, and easily verifiable on the very same source that my opponent provided. Even though only 27% of offenses were for simple drug possession, it does not mean that the remaining 73% were violent offenses. The source my opponent provided for his argument clearly states that: "in our state prisons, it’s . .. about 27% of drug offenders. In New York, which has received criticism from some because of its tough Rockefeller drug laws, it is estimated that 97% of drug felons sentenced to prison were charged with sale or intent to sell, not simply possession. "Sale or intent to sell are not violent crimes. Furthermore, my opponent claims that drugs are responsible for those "violent crimes, because of psychological effects on the brain . .. And that rate would skyrocket if drugs went mainstream. "This assumption is somehow baseless. Most violent crimes are not committed by drug users, especially in the case of light drugs such as Marijuana, but by cartels and dealers, and unlike alcohol, drugs such as Marijuana and Cocaine are not proven to make people more violent. My opponent then admits that his assumption that illegal immigration would increase as a result of drugs legalization has no factual base whatsoever and adds that "it is a theoretical situation that can only be proven with tests. And these tests would be a waste to attempt to perform as it would require the legalization of all drugs. "If this point cannot be proven, or at least articulated by providing sources, this point remains pure speculation and has no value whatsoever in this debate. My opponent then writes that "I would also like to note that the drug cartels could treat the American sales as a standard business. "This doesn't make any sense. If drugs were legalized, the recreational drugs industry would come out of the shadow and do business in public, with no need of the cartels of smuggling drugs across the souther border. I don't know about anybody else, but if I want a bottle of whiskey, I go to the store to buy it, I don't try to get it from some smuggler that has connections with the Mob in Chicago, because after the end of the prohibition, it is not necessary anymore. My opponent's next point is that legalizing drugs would increase drugs consumption, and therefore DUIs. This is again, simply not true. In the U. S. , 42 percent of surveyed said they had used marijuana and 16 percent had tried cocaine, according to the study published in the journal of the Public Library of Science. In the Netherlands, where people can go to cafes to smoke marijuana, 20 percent have tried that drug and 1.9 percent sampled cocaine. [1]Even though drugs are illegal in the US, they can be easily purchased by pretty much anyone. Every person who goes to a big college or lives in a big city will have probably have already experienced how easy it is to get drugs. The idea that the war on drugs is actually preventing anybody who wants to to buy drugs, is ridiculous. My opponent closes his argument by writing that "the government should regulate what their people put into their body due to economic and social reasons. "I believe that this belief in the right of the government to mingle in the private lives of the people is very disturbing. Neither school or work performance nor economic or health problems are the government's business. Free people aught to be able to choose for themselves if they want to be productive or not and if they want to use recreational drugs or not. More than 300,000 americans died in 2003 for obesity-related reasons [2]. Should the government ban fast food because of this? Of course not, every person knows the risks involved with using drugs or having a poor diet, and it is up to them, not the government, to take these risks or not. Furthermore, my opponent has completely ignored the financial burden that the current policies put on the american taxpayer. Every year, we spend some 44,000,000,000 $ - this is forty-four Billion dollars - fighting the war on drugs, while legalizing and taxing drugs, could provide some 33,000,000,000 $ in tax revenue. If we look at the amount of drugs consumed in the US each year we quickly realize that we are wasting a whopping 77,000,000,000 $ every year because of our failed drug laws. Prohibitionism is not working, is not making us safer, is not making us freer, is not saving us money. It is time to legalize drugs! VOTE PRO! [1]. http://www.bloomberg.com...[2]http://www.surgeongeneral.gov...