Alcohols use as a socially acceptbale narcotic should be banned forthwith

Thanks to my opponent for their opening statements. In this round I plan to rebut the arguments presented as effectively as possible while asserting my position. Although the re-assertion of my position will only be done where there is overlap between our respective arguments. Economy My opponent has a valid and logical argument regarding job losses if the alcohol industry is shut down. To deny this is argument is absurd and so I will not contest it. However, I will point out that by placing this job loss we are effectively placing a monetary value on a life. While a person who may be unemployed for a while may suffer short term, a person incapacitated due to alcohol (alcoholism or hospital/death due to an alcohol related accident) suffers a far larger monetary loss. This monetary loss can be calculated in terms of loss of family, employment opportunities, time in jail etc which all have a negative effect on society and personally that is far greater than the loss of a job which can be replaced. Economies change to fit the supply and demand. The fact that economies are failing is due to bad economic decisions which did not follow basic supply and demand rules. i.e. loaning money when there is no money to loan, or loaning money when a person cannot pay it back is not a good economic strategy. As such the disappearance of the alcohol market for the common good will result in a new business as there is more disposable income available to spend As for governments losing revenue, I think thats a false argument. As most taxes from sin tax go towards partly paying for the negative health effects of said “sin”.(1,2) As such by removing the “sin” the tax is not needed as it was there to fill the gap. Also we should realize that states or government using sin tax to make up budget deficits are in fact going against the initial idea of sin tax and thereby are acting unfairly towards people that want to drink or eat donuts. By erasing this sin tax the government will effectively have to act fairly towards all its citizens. Prohabition vs leagalized consumption To answer Cons question. Yes, people do tell the questionnaires that they are breaking the law by participating in marijuana use. I think its important to realize this information is confidential. In the same way that you can tell your lawyer you murdered someone and they cannot report it to the police, its confidential.(3) Freedom of choice and Effects of Prohibition My opponent has pointed out that prohibition will likely lead to Al Capone style gangs as happened during the Prohibition years. My personal opinion is that I do not believe this is true, as the statistics show that murders due to organized crime stay the same regardless of police activity (pg 54 of source 4). As such there is no reason to believe that prohibition will create a less safe society if anything society will stay the same or get safer. I believe societies will get safer as international crime statistics are showing a general decrease with time (page 15, 16, 72 of source 5) while policing is becoming more efficient (pg 92 and chapter 6 source 5). Regarding government control. It is important that my opponent needs to show that alcohol is in fact safe enough to be government controlled. This will be difficult when it should be noted that the lethal dosage of alcohol is more dangerous than that of heroin, cocaine, LSD or marijuana (see pg 4 of source6). Victimless Crime In my previous round I have provided sufficient evidence that shows that alcohol is anything but a victimless crime. In fact according to my citations its verified that alcohol has a very negative societal effect. In contrast all my opponent has done is made an assertion that alcohol is safe, this assertion I (and voters should) refuse to accept without proof. Now I hand the debate back to my opponent to refute my arguments. (1) http://www.investopedia.com... (2) http://mercatus.org... (3) http://www.sgrlaw.com... (4) http://www.unodc.org... (5) http://www.unodc.org... (6) http://www.americanscientist.org...