Should marijuana be legal or illegal

1. Marijuana affects mental health A recent Northwestern University study found that marijuana users have abnormal brain structure and poor memory, and that chronic marijuana abuse may lead to brain changes resembling schizophrenia. Cannabis use is associated with poor outcomes in existing psychosis and is a risk factor for developing psychosis. Meta-analyses have noted a doubling of the risk of psychotic outcomes in regular cannabis users, and earlier onset (by 2.7 years) among cannabis users who develop psychosis. There is increasing evidence that the association between cannabis and onset of psychosis is not due to other co-occurring factors. The most plausible view is that cannabis use is a "contributory cause" of psychosis in vulnerable individuals, and that it is one of a number of potential factors that can bring on psychosis (including genetic predisposition). 2. Marijuana affects physical health Marijuana leads to impaired: balance, reaction time, information processing, memory retention and retrieval, and perceptual-motor coordination. It also leads to hallucinations and changed perceptions of time, sound, colour, distance, touch and other sensations, as well aspanic reactions; vomiting; loss of consciousness; as well as restlessness and confusion. It also causes deficits in verbal learning, memory and attention. Marijuana is extremely harmful to health. It is also a known fact that cannabis smoke contains many carcinogens. Researchers in Canada also report that "ammonia levels were 20 times higher in the marijuana smoke than in the tobacco smoke, while hydrogen cyanide, nitric oxide and certain aromatic amines occurred at levels 3-5 times higher in the marijuana smoke". The negative effects of marijuana are so serious that the American Medical Association said that "cannabis is a dangerous drug and as such is a public health concern. ", opposing marijuana legalisation. When even medical experts and researchers take such a stance, who are we to deny the harmfulness of marijuana? 3. Marijuana has a large and negative impact on people's lives A study of 129 college students found that, among those who smoked the drug at least twenty-seven of the thirty days before being surveyed, critical skills related to attention, memory and learning were seriously diminished. A study of postal workers found that employees who tested positive for marijuana had 55% more accidents, 85% more injuries and a 75% increase in being absent from work. In Australia, a study found that cannabis intoxication was responsible for 4.3% of driver fatalities. Students who use marijuana have lower grades and are less likely to get into college than nonsmokers. They do not have the same abilities to remember and organize information compared to those who do not use these substances due to consumption of marijuana. Recent studies out of Australia and New Zealand analyzed data on close to 4,000 people, comparing those who had used pot with those who had not, and the results were staggering. Researchers found that frequent pot use by teens is linked to a greater likelihood of incomplete education, suicide attempts, and damage to brain development. In addition, they found that certain cognitive functions can suffer permanent damage as a result of frequent use. 4. Economic costs Marijuana users are a factor in healthcare costs, which are paid for by taxpayers. With the legalisation of marijuana, there would be more marijuana users, and thus an increase in healthcare costs. Because they are accessible and available, our legal drugs are used far more than our illegal ones. According to recent surveys, alcohol use is used by 52% of Americans and tobacco is used by 27% of Americans. Marijuana is used by 8% of Americans. Difference between these? Legality. When RAND researchers analyzed California"s 2010 effort to legalize marijuana, they concluded that the price of the drug could plummet and therefore marijuana consumption could increase. Take the Netherlands as an example. Independent research reveals that in the Netherlands, where marijuana was decriminalized and sold openly at "coffee shops," marijuana use among young adults increased almost 300 percent after a wave of commercialization. Alcohol is an excellent forecast of how marijuana would cost us. Federal excise taxes collected on alcohol in 2007 totaled around $9 billion; states collected around $5.5 billion. Combined, these amounts are less than 10 percent of the estimated $185 billion in alcohol-related costs to health care, criminal justice, and the workplace in lost productivity. With marijuana being more harmful than alcohol and thus resulting in more complex, expensive treatment, the burden imposed on society could be great. David G. Evans, the Special Adviser to the Drug Free America Foundation says that "The argument that we can tax and regulate marijuana and derive income from it is false. The increased use will increase the multitude of costs that come with marijuana use. The costs from health and mental wellness problems, accidents, and damage to our economic productivity will far out strip any tax obtained. Our economy is suffering. The last thing we need is the burden that legalization will put on us. " 5. Promotes growth of the underground market With the legalisation of marijuana, marijuana would be taxed upon, and thus illegal drug trade would have every incentive to remain and grow. Kevin Sabet, the former Senior Policy Advisor to President Obama's Drug Czar says that "Today's thriving underground market for tobacco is a good example of this. The drug trade is so profitable that even undercutting the taxed price would leave cartels with a handsome profit. Producing marijuana en masse at home is also much easier to do than with tobacco or alcohol. We can expect a thriving grey market. " Rebuttals: 1. "Marijuana is one of the best found drugs in the world its the best thing that God has ever made. " How can a harmful substance be the best thing that God has ever made? Also, this debate has nothing to do with religion. Drugs that harm a person instead of healing a person are not good things. If so, how can marijuana be "the best"? 2. "Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. " As quoted from the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, "In this verse God gives food to mankind consisting of the seed-bearing herbs and the fruit of trees. By comparison with Genesis 9:3, we see that the writer believed that, until after the Flood, mankind subsisted upon a purely vegetable diet. It may be asked how, if this were the case, man had the opportunity of exercising his dominion over fish, birds, and beasts: if he did not wish to eat them, neither would he wish to kill them. The truth seems to be that, according to the P version of Hebrew tradition, the first generations of mankind were intended to live, without bloodshed or violence, in an ideal condition, like that predicted by Isaiah (Genesis 11:6-9), "they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. " The prophet"s words, "a little child shall lead them," imply a dominion over the animal world which does not rest upon force. " The Pulpit Commentary and Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament share similar interpretations, thus proving Pro's use of the Bible verse wrong as he interpreted it wrongly and presented it so. I look forward to seeing Pro's arguments and rebuttals. References: Degenhardt, L and Hall W, 2012. "Extent of illicit drug use and dependence, and their contribution to the global burden of disease", The Lancet, Vol 379 January 7. . http://www.sciencedaily.com... . http://www.drugfreeworld.org... MacCoun, R. & Reuter, P. (1997). Interpreting Dutch cannabis policy: Reasoning by analogy in the legalisation debate. Science, 278(3): 47"52; cf. de Zwart, W. & van Laar, M. (2001). Cannabis regimes. British Journal of Psychiatry, 178: 574-5 . http://learnaboutsam.org... . http://www.usnews.com... . http://biblehub.com...