BeIR/webis-touche2020 huggingface dataset:
Marijuana

Your pointing only at the bad purposes that marijuana has, The purpose in my perspective that marijuana has is not for recreational purposes but I see it as the drug cartels weakening and sick patients pain ease through the process of their illness. There are many benefits to legalizing marijuana and there is an article that I will provide. http://www.alternet.org... And in the article there is a potion where it says that marijuana has many purposes. "Outside of the obvious benefits of hemp -- can be used as a bio-diesel, burns cleanly, makes soil stronger, sturdier paper, etc. -- organic and sustainable practices for growing marijuana would bring in tons of revenue for the states, clear up the environment, and save the government $150 billion on policing and courts, since 47.5% of all drug arrests are marijuana-related." Marijuana is an organic drug and has many aspects that could bring in money as stated in the article and it can clear up the environment. With that being said leads us into our conclusion and gives you time to think about all the beneficial aspects marijuana has as to legalize it.
Marijuana

I was analyzing your first point of the third argument and I would like to point out that you said the drug cartels will not be pushing marijuana up the boarder which will completely cut off the marijuana smugglings but what if the user does not want to pay taxes for their drugs and the drug dealers still want to make their money the drug cartels will still push up marijuana. Now what if pushing up marijuana is cut down because it's legal now, the drug cartels still aren't going to be happy because they lose a tremendous amount of profits in marijuana. Drug abusers still are fixed on cocaine and heroin etc, and once the government caves in for legalizing pot people are just going to push for more. Which this has to do with a theory of once you give someone a little treat they just push until the other caves in and provides them with more. The main reason as to why I bring this up is because I fear that if we legalize marijuana the drug cartels will want to push more of hardcore drugs. To answer your question in your debate you asked "So answer why shouldn't we make marijuana legal" And my answer for you is this: http://www.nytimes.com... In the New York Times they believe that the drug cartels will not be down played which is similar to my fear above. "For one thing, if marijuana makes up 60 percent of the cartels' profits, that still leaves another 40 percent, which includes the sale of methamphetamine, cocaine, and brown-powder and black-tar heroin. If marijuana were legalized, the cartels would still make huge profits from the sale of these other drugs." Now to hear someone's words other than my own it is shown that 40% of the cartels will still sell major drugs. So the violence will not stop maybe they will even have to push harder and overcompensate for the loss they are in the process of having marijuana legalized. But cartels derive a growing slice of their income from other illegal activities. Some experts on organized crime in Latin America, like Edgardo Buscaglia, say that cartels earn just half their income from drugs." Another thing I want to point out is that the cartels will still be there even with marijuana legalized they will still have other jobs to fulfill. My next point I want to bring up is that marijuana is a plant and if you smoke this plant you get a high sensation that causes you to be happy but look at what this small plant is causing. You could get arrested for possession, You could become forgetful and ruin you hippocampus. Also this little plant is causing more harm that good because of the violence levels down at the boarder. Now this is just an assumption but what if people are gatewayed into the drug path and they themselves become violent and may cause more disruption in our society. I look forward to looking into you next round and see what points you bring up and than after your next round we will enter our final round which is the sum up of why we should keep this plant illegal because of all the harm it does.
Marijuana

To address your point on the Drug cartels I would like to prove that if we do make marijuana legal those instances would not happen because people would not have to put their funds to an illegal source if it is not meant to be legal. Also if pot becomes legal in the future people will be able to concentrate on work and their personal lives that is just a prediction and we can not clarify that. In your argument you explained something about if people are high all the time the economy will look bad. If marijuana is legal to sell in stores the government can tax the price of it and use it towards their funds. http://www.npr.org... In this article it says that the states will save a ton of money and people would not have to worry about going to jail. "And he calculates the savings from not having to enforce state and federal marijuana laws — in arrests, prosecution and incarceration — at $12.9 billion a year. Excluding additional expenses, such as the public health cost of marijuana, or the cost of administering the new law, Miron figures that legal pot creates almost a $20 billion bonus." If we start taxing this substance it is proven that the states will also save in tons of revenues. "With the spiraling drug mayhem in Mexico, some Latin American leaders looked at legalizing marijuana as a way to deny the murderous cartels a portion of their profits. When it was banned, marijuana was the greatest source of income for Mexican traffickers. Now that it's cultivated domestically and sold legally, surely that has crippled the cartels." That statement was also in the article and it ties into your Mexican cartel discussion which shows that if legal it will be beneficial to crime and medical purposes. So answer the question why shouldn't we make marijuana illegal?
Marijuana

In your previous argument you wrote about the fact that Marijuana is not addictive, but my question to you is what is your specific definition of marijuana. On a personal experience I have seen my friends struggling in college from the stress levels and their response instead of fighting through it is "I need a blunt to get through this" it appears that this student or students who follow this specific pattern almost seems as if they need this substance to survive through college. http://www.psychologytoday.com... In the article a survey was conducted and this is what it says, "Based on his review of the scientific literature, between 10 to 30% of regular users will develop dependency. Only about 9% will have a serious addiction." Although I will agree the numbers aren't as significant as other substances the numbers still exist from an non bias source. People who smoke marijuana may become dependent on it and it coincides with the statement you wrote about once the treatment is over they won't have to go back to marijuana but some patients may feel better on the substance that they will be more practical to use it since they had the ok to use it. Marijuana is also known as something called the gateway drug and what that means is using this drug can lead into other hardcore drugs such as cocaine. http://www.nytimes.com... "Two years ago, she checked into the Caron Foundation, a treatment center in Wernersville, Pa. Even there, she said, some other addicts — cocaine and heroin users or alcoholics — downplayed her dependence on marijuana." This quote shows that the other addicts in the rehabilitation center had the same marijuana dependency as Joyce and now look they are addicted to heavy substances such as cocaine and heroin etc. This is obviously a huge problem not only has this one substance caused a gateway path to harder drugs but it affects society in all aspects. Drugs are being pushed up from the Drug cartels and people are funding these people and innocent people in Mexico and across our boarder are getting killed because Police are trying to stop them. So show us how this substance has a major influence on the world and puts many people at risk. So my theory behind this is people should not buy it because it is infact illegal. http://www.naturalism.org... In this study it is about teens using these substances which all the things that go on in the mind after smoking marijuana, we are at risk of living in a dumb country. "Recent surveys, both in Canada and the US, have documented a dramatic rise in marijuana use among adolescents since 1992. This increase has caused much official consternation" Teens are skyrocketing in using this substance which does have the potential to lead to the gateway path. If these people are going to be running the country in the future I personally predict a passing of the substance so that it could be recreational use. Also if my prediction comes true I feel we will have harder economic struggles just by this substance because we are so distracted and it will affect our memory.
Marijuana

People who suffer from cancer are already suffering and if marijuana does help them get through this small amount of pain by providing them with a medicine to help them get through their suffering. http://healthland.time.com... The article shows that they will get their mental disorder 2 years earlier so by this logic the mental disorder will be in the line of occurrence already. Also with moderation this may not happen by the time the patient does defeat of unfortunately lose their battle with cancer. http://online.wsj.com... Ms. DeGidio has never used the drug for recreational purposes only to make her feel better and there have been studies to prove it "Doctors say the studies that have been done suggest marijuana can benefit patients in the areas of managing neuropathic pain, which is caused by certain types of nerve injury" The article states which you can read into it more that she only uses it at night so she's not disoriented during the day And not only is this perfect for cancer patients it is used for a wide spread of medical problems such as this quote which states that nerve injury is relieved by this drug. Also unlike cigarettes cocaine and crack etc marijuana is not addictive at all http://healthland.time.com... The status of marijuana in fact being addictive is out dated and now we can see that it is not addictive which could benefit to the medical patient because once their treatment is over they can get off the substance and continue a normal paced life without strong cravings for marijuana.
Marijuana

Marijuana actually does effect the brain and although you brought up the fact that alcohol does more damage the debate isn't stating which substance is worse. http://dictionary.reference.com... Under the science definition you will see the function of the hippocampus which has to do with memory. The reason for this definition is for the purpose that marijuana effects this exact location in which the mind will not be able to store new memory and will be difficult for doing tasks in the future. http://www.drugabuse.gov... A huge sentence that stood out in the article was "Such short-term psychotic reactions to high concentrations of THC are distinct from longer-lasting, schizophrenia-like disorders that have been associated with the use of cannabis in vulnerable individuals." This is in your relation to using marijuana for medical purposes. If you give medical marijuana to a cancer patient they are weak and their immune system is weak so they will as the article states be vulnerable and likely get a mental disorder. So on top of that I see no reason to give a cancer patient marijuana if it means it is possible to get a mental disorder, we have access to the top medicine why use something recreational illegal. Many people while smoking weed experience negative affects while using marijuana one major effect is having a panic or anxiety attack which can mess with a persons head for a long time. http://www.healthyplace.com... The article also states that, "Marijuana smoking or ingestion of THC increases the heart rate by 20-50% within a few minutes to a quarter-of-an-hour; this effect lasts for up to 3 hours. Blood pressure is increased while the person is sitting, and decreased while standing." If these are the negative effects of marijuana the panic attacks, hard to form memories, and raised heart and blood rate why would someone enjoy this? If marijuana did not cause all these harmful effects there would be nothing wrong with the drug, but I feel that too many people are too busy trying to smoke weed than doing important things such as school work in order to get their grades up and that will help the United States raise their scores in multiple aspects. Also it will get people to put their minds to good use to help what is in store for us in the future. My final point for this round will be the amount of money spent on weed. The average person smokes once a day and they usually smoke a dime. If the average person spends 10$ per day he is looking at 70$ a week which is a huge amount of money spent on such pointless things. It should be spent to better uses or even healthier uses such as a gym or something to be active. Also this money that the average person is putting into is going into funds that express an illegal fund which could cause jail time for both the seller and abuser.
Marijuana

Marijuana is a less harmful drug than alcohol and if used responsibly it does less harm. http://www.saferchoice.org... The article examines closely how alcohol provides safe use for the user such as "Alcohol use damages the brain. Marijuana use does not." We can see that by this article and you can view more of the safer methods your self alcohol does damage to the brain while weed does not. You pointed out how weed is harmful because it causes illusions which could be unsafe while driving but what if an individual using the drug is not even driving than who is at risk if the substance user is sitting in his basement or house with a few friends smoking a joint. So why should we make marijuana legal? We should keep it for medical purposes, many people are ill and in pain with cancer and most of the time medical marijuana alleviates the pain and puts them at ease. http://altmed.creighton.edu... These people with cancer are suffering and they feel sick and they have these symptoms Stimulate appetite and alleviate cachexia.Control nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapyDecrease intraocular pressure.Analgesia.Neurological and movement disorders. If weed can help them out why not keep it for them to use to let the suffering ease up a little bit. As you stated in your first argument you wanted me to address your points and bring up my own, hope I met your requirements and look forward to finishing this debate with you.
Marijuana

I am against Marijuana. I feel that society is too under the influence with drugs that we miss the important topics. Throughout this debate I will express my reasons why Marijuana should remain illegal and I hope my opponent provides his or her feedback as to why they think that Marijuana should in-fact be legalized and than be able to link an argument to my standing point and I will do the same. Thank you to my opponent. My first point is Marijuana users mostly teenagers drive around under the influence and cause a threat to many members of society. But before we get into this we have to be aware of the effects of Marijuana. http://www.drugabuse.gov...... "Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that, in chronic users, marijuana's adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.2 As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time." This is a basic view of what marijuana does to the body and mind. A main point from that paragraph that I want to bring up is the part where it states "distorted perceptions" Now if a person is driving and there perception is distorted wouldn't it be dangerous for a person who is under the influence to get behind the wheel? http://www.drugabuse.gov...... "One study found that about 34 percent of motor vehicle crash victims admitted to a Maryland trauma center tested positive for 'drugs only' " 34 percent is a tremendous amount of car crashes in relation to drugs and it definitely is a threat to sober drivers on the road. Seeing these results can be fatal to anyone on the road even the person using illicit drugs. The article also states: "Studies conducted in several localities have found that approximately 4 to 14 percent of drivers who sustained injury or died in traffic accidents tested positive for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana." The fear I have of marijuana in this statement is the amount of people dying because people want to get a quick superficial high or happiness and than in the end pay severe consequences that unfortunately result in death. There should be no reason why these percents should even exist if the abusers can't have a good time or need this drug than they shouldn't put other people at risk. Marijuana can affect the mind and body and it should remain illegal because not only does it do harmful effects to yourself it causes harm to others around. Not just physical either it causes emotional trauma to find out if a friend or family member has acquired a habit with drugs. This is only one point that I have on the topic of marijuana and I hope that my opponent sparks up new information and their own personal insight to keep this debate going once again I thank you.
Rap Battle

Boy yo raps sound stupid as sh"t And yo rhymes more off beat than Porky the dam" pig Yo pic look like Destiny got even more sh"tty I'm up when I rhyme, yo fat "ss probably sittin You call me a dyke but I'm bigger than yo bed You might as well stop rappin and exercise instead This man can't even fit through a door And when he turned in his bed he fell onto the floor You rap like sh"t wit yo stupid ugly "ss You got one, and I got the masses Yo little brain probably can't read what I say So imma give you the mic to hear yo stupid "ss sh"t
Rap Battle

Here I go, here I go Fvck you up like G.I. Joe Wreckin all them whack kids Who can't rhyme without jackin Packin All them dumba$$ fvckas in my way They don't understand I'm here to stay Blow you up like a nuke On a deserted island Bring you to yo knees Get up Don't be cryin Cuz I ain't lyin You gonna be dyin So go ahead and take da mic So I can laugh so hard I'm cryin
Religion does more evil than good

Governments- While this argument may have been valid in the past and religion could have been a negative factor in both advances in technology and trade, religion no longer plays a major rule in majority of countries governments. Conflict- I would say that religion was a uniting force and I would agree that it has caused past conflict, however I would not agree that in this current unrivaled climate of acceptance that conflict between competing religious groups is at an all time low. Charity- Religious people are 25% more like to donate money and 23% more likely to volunteer time. "The average annual giving among the religious is $2,210, whereas it is $642 among the secular. Similarly, religious people volunteer an average of 12 times per year, while secular people volunteer an average of 5.8 times."-Brooks A much higher percentage of charity is done in the name of religion. Religious teachings- If you agree with them or not, modern mainstream followers of the major religions would agree that their respective religions preach peace and acceptance for their fellow man. Missionary work- Many countries, including the United States, have a religious population that is actively involved in reaching out across the world to both spread the word of their religion, but also helping the disadvantaged of the world. Many if not most all missionaries work in parts of the world oppressed by their respective governments and in very poor economic conditions. Their work includes basic medical, agricultural and housing needs all while spreading word of their respective religion. Sources http://www.hoover.org... http://www.religioustolerance.org... http://christianity.about.com...
Religion does more evil than good

Sorry about the forfeit, totally forgot about this. I believed my argument was set in round one, but I see i need to make it more clear. Religion does more harm than good: --Governments there is a very strong correlation between secular government & not only a strong economy but a more happy & health environment. --conflict Wouldn't you say religion was intended to unite? well why has it caused conflicts in all corners of the world? ...AND don't tell me religion is uniting people today, because I would f'n hope so seeing as how its the segration originator this should be a good starting point. :)
Religion does more evil than good

I would say that the existence of religion as it stands right now is a major benefit to society, in both its teachings of how people should live their life and in the charity work that is done in the name of religion. I would restrict the focus to the 2 largest religions, as they have the largest influence in the world. Those being Christianity and Islam. As Pro you have to prove that Religion does (present tense) more evil than good. I will allow Pro to make the first arguments.
resolved: mettal is better for society than rap, wich is detramental to society.

I shall not go on about plagiarizing, seeing that I have already made my point to the voters. A. You claim that rap music is known for 'horrendous use of bad language.' Your resolution says 'rap music' you fail to clarify, which music are you talking about? The fact is, there are many different raps, they are not all the same. Just as metal can have curse words in it. B. Again, you did not say the rap on the radio, you just said rap. C. If you are so confident that rap takes no talent, lets do a rap battle, you and me. It can be video or just something written. here is the link: http://www.debate.org... D. I believe you should read my argument, I said there is no way of telling which is better for society. I thank the audience for reading this debate, I heavily urge a con vote.