Debate Topic - Recreational Marijuana ought to be legalized nationwide

Moving on to my rebuttals - Rebuttal One - The 'Gateway Drug Theory' The argument my opponent has brought up is a sound theory. Yes, Marijuana can prove to be a potential gateway to more addictive and otherwise more dangerous drugs because of the effects it can have on the youth (although the latter is less likely because most marijuana users don't actually go into harder drugs. However I am here to present that there is a bigger picture to the gateway drug theory - The effect it has in a society where marijuana is illegal - As I have shown in my numerous sources in the previous argument there are a huge number of negative repercussions that follow by illegalizing marijuana. One of those repercussions that I mentioned was the effect it had on the youth. As I have already stated before, The youth are far more susceptible to marijuana usage in a society where it is illegal. Drug dealers and black market suppliers do not care about their supply markets. And ideally they market it to youth members because those members of society are most likely to experiment with drugs due to their curious nature and peer pressure. As a matter of spoken fact, Even an extract from my opponents argument in his second round confirms this - "It has also been proven that those who use pot are more likely to hang around sellers and users of other drugs. " This is exactly my point. These facts are not limited to societies where marijuana is legalized at all. In fact, It is more prominent in areas where it is illegal or otherwise hard to acquire. In a report published by John Hopkins from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, He has stated that 25% of all students from grades 9 to 12 have been offered, Sold, Or given illegal drugs on school property. Hence we can conclude that there is a widespread problem about the unmoderated stream of illegal drugs that falls in the hands of adolescents. 42% of high school seniors in Maryland that were included in the report stated that they acquired marijuana through friends or relatives. If you aim to limit marijuana usage amongst the youth, You need to start by taking away the profit margin that older drug dealers gain from exploiting the youth in your average high school. In addition, The illegalization of marijuana has had a negative social effect on the youth in that it pegs the curiosity of adolescents who wish to take risks and ignore the dangers and warnings of society to not take marijuana. Legalizing it can improve this by promoting a more drug positive outlook on the nature of marijuana and how its effects can be beneficial and harmful if misused. There's a certain guarantee that a more psychologically positive approach towards this will mitigate the gateway drug issue and the legalization of marijuana will further strain the market that drug dealers are using to exploit children. Rebuttal Two - The Dangers of Marijuana There are a couple of problems with my opponents underlying points regarding the dangers of marijuana. One, The long term implications that my opponent has suggested are very opache and vague. While there are long term drug effects on the human body due to addiction (however these effects are considerably less dangerous than the effects of harder drugs or even alcohol) the long term effects my opponent has listed are not entirely true. Relationship problems, Antisocial behaviour, Increased welfare dependence and so on that fall under these categories are due to many factors. There's no single fact that states that marijuana causes all of these things on its own or even because it is being used at all. Most of these issues you can find are more frequent with alcohol users and those that are suffering with actual disorders. These additional factors that have been omitted by my opponent in his round prove that there's an overexaggeration by my opponent's hand as to the dangers of marijuana. (Which is why I invite him to present some more evidence on this) Two, As I have stated before the effects of harder drugs have far more considerable effects on the health of drug users. And as I showed in the evidence I listed in the previous round, The supply of these drugs are largely funded by the illegal marijuana trade. A trade which is incredibly profitable due to their status as an illegal drug. While we can't ignore the implications of marijuana entirely, It should be noted that as a society presented with the dangers of choosing between two evils, Most of us would gladly choose the lesser one. And in this case that lesser evil is marijuana. And finally, There is a considerable argument to state that the government can play a more active role in the filtration of marijuana in a country once it has been legalized. The dangers of marijuana will then be less likely to be presented in individual cases because the government can enforce an active policy plan to monitor the purchases and usage of drug users in a given territory. This of course will be completely invisible in a country where it is illegal and drug abusers are less likely to open out about their addictions due to the fear of legal repercussions due to drug possession and drug misuse. And with that, I hand my floor over once again to my opponent. Thank you. Source - https://www. Ncbi. Nlm. Nih. Gov/pmc/articles/PMC2871399/ (John Hopkins)