BeIR/webis-touche2020 huggingface dataset:
Marijuana is addictive

There are many studies that demonstrate a "dependency" relationship evolving between individuals and marijuana. Alan J. Budney, Ph.D. et al., Professor, University of Arkansas Center for Addiction Research. "Marijuana Abstinence Effects in Marijuana Smokers Maintained in Their Home Environment". Archives of General Psychiatry. October, 2001. - "This study validated several specific effects of marijuana abstinence in heavy marijuana users, and showed they were reliable and clinically significant. These withdrawal effects appear similar in type and magnitude to those observed in studies of nicotine withdrawal [...] Craving for marijuana, decreased appetite, sleep difficulty, and weight loss reliably changed across the smoking and abstinence phases. Aggression, anger, irritability, restlessness, and strange dreams increased significantly during one abstinence phase, but not the other."[25]
Marijuana is no more harmful than tobacco and alcohol

Although cannabis does indeed have some harmful effects, it is no more harmful than legal substances like alcohol and tobacco. As a matter of fact, research by the British Medical Association shows that nicotine is far more addictive than cannabis. Furthermore, the consumption of alcohol and the smoking of cigarettes cause more deaths per year than does the use of cannabis (e.g. through lung cancer, stomach ulcers, accidents caused by drink driving etc.). The legalisation of cannabis will remove an anomaly in the law whereby substances that are more dangerous than cannabis are legal whilst the possession and use of cannabis remains unlawful.
Marinol is a good substitute for marijuana treatment

California Narcotics Officers Association. Official policy statement. "The Use of Marijuana as a Medicine". October 31, 2005 - "Marinol differs from the crude plant marijuana because it consists of one pure, well-studied, FDA-approved pharmaceutical in stable known dosages. Marijuana is an unstable mixture of over 400 chemicals including many toxic psychoactive chemicals which are largely unstudied and appear in uncontrolled strengths."[18]
Smoked marijuana has advantages over chemical break-downs

Jacob Sullum, Senior Editor of Reason magazine. "Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use." 2003 book: "It's beyond serious dispute that marijuana, which has been used therapeutically for thousands of years, helps relieve nausea and restore appetite. Marinol, a capsule containing THC, is approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for AIDS wasting syndrome and the side effects of cancer chemotherapy. But smoked marijuana has several advantages over Marinol..."
Marijuana is an effective medicine and treatment for many illnesses

Joycelyn Elders, M.D., Former U.S. Surgeon General. Op-ed: Providence Journal. March 26, 2004: "The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS -- or by the harsh drugs sometimes used to treat them. And it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day."[8]
Legalizing medical marijuana does not increase use and abuse

Mitch Earleywine, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, State University of New York at Albany Karen O’Keefe, Esq. Attorney & Legislative Analyst. Marijuana Policy Project Report. "Marijuana Use by Young People: The Impact of State Medical Marijuana Laws". September, 2005. - "While it is not possible with existing data to determine conclusively that state medical marijuana laws caused the documented declines in adolescent marijuana use, the overwhelming downward trend strongly suggests that the effect of state medical marijuana laws on teen marijuana use has been either neutral or positive, discouraging youthful experimentation with the drug."[31]
Smoking marijuana is more damaging than taking chemical parts

Gabriel Nahas, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Anesthesiology and Medicine at Columbia University. "Marihuana Is the Wrong Medicine." Wall Street Journal. Mar. 11, 1997: "The debate over using marihuana as medicine has been distorted by a basic confusion: the implicit assumption that smoking marihuana is a better therapy than the ingestion of its active therapeutic agent THC or a more effective one than approved medications. This assumption is wrong. THC (also known as Marinol) is an approved remedy that may be prescribed by physicians for nausea and AIDS wasting syndrome. It is safer than marihuana smoke."[19]
Medical marijuana dispensaries are professional institutions

Jesse McKinley. "Don’t Call It ‘Pot’ in This Circle; It’s a Profession." NYTimes. April 23, 2010: "Like hip-hop, health food and snowboarding, marijuana is going corporate. As more and more states allow medical use of the drug, and California considers outright legalization, marijuana’s supporters are pushing hard to burnish the image of pot by franchising dispensaries and building brands; establishing consulting, lobbying and law firms; setting up trade shows and a seminar circuit; and constructing a range of other marijuana-related businesses."
Smoking marijuana is generally very unhealthy

Sanjay Gupta, MD, Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN. "Why I Would Vote No on Pot." Time magazine. Nov. 6, 2006: "Marijuana isn't really very good for you. True, there are health benefits for some patients. [but...] Frequent marijuana use can seriously affect your short-term memory. It can impair your cognitive ability (why do you think people call it dope?) and lead to long-lasting depression or anxiety. While many people smoke marijuana to relax, it can have the opposite effect on frequent users. And smoking anything, whether it's tobacco or marijuana, can seriously damage your lung tissue...Despite all the talk about the medical benefits of marijuana, smoking the stuff is not going to do your health any good."
Marijuana improves immune system functions in patients with HIV

Donald Abrams, M.D., et al. "Short-Term Effects of Cannabinoids in Patients with HIV-1 Infection". Annals of Internal Medicine. August 19, 2003 - "Patients receiving cannabinoids [smoked marijuana and marijuana pills] had improved immune function compared with those receiving placebo. They also gained about 4 pounds more on average than those patients receiving placebo."[20]
Marijuana can provide patients with significant pain relief

Joycelyn Elders, MD Former US Surgeon General. Editorial: Providence Journal. March 26, 2004]: "The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS -- or by the harsh drugs sometimes used to treat them. And it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day." [10]
Marijuana is a gateway drug

U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). SAMHSA press release on their report. "Initiation of Marijuana Use: Trends, Patterns and Implications". August 28, 2002. - "A new federal report released today concludes the younger children are when they first use marijuana, the more likely they are to use cocaine and heroin and become dependent on drugs as adults.[...] Increases in the likelihood of cocaine and heroin use and drug dependence are also apparent for those who initiate use of marijuana at any later age".
Marijuana damages the immune system; risky for HIV/AIDS sufferers

U.S. Institute of Medicine Report. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. March, 1999 - "The most compelling concerns regarding marijuana smoking in HIV/AIDS patients are the possible effects of marijuana on immunity. Reports of opportunistic fungal and bacterial pneumonia in AIDS patients who used marijuana suggest that marijuana smoking either suppresses the immune system or exposes patients to an added burden of pathogens. In summary, patients with preexisting immune deficits due to AIDS should be expected to be vulnerable to serious harm caused by smoking marijuana."
Allowing medical marijuana shows compassion to the suffering

Dennis Kucinich, US Representative (D-OH) and 2008 Democratic Candidate for US President, stated on Aug. 9, 2007: "It's a matter between doctors and patients, and if doctors want to prescribe medical marijuana to relieve pain, compassion requires that the government support that. And so as president of the United States, I would make sure that our Justice Department was mindful that we should be taking a compassionate approach."[11]
Medical marijuana can act as a gateway drug to harder ones

Peter Provet, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer at the Odyssey House, Letter to the editor of the New York Times. Apr. 26, 2006: "As a treatment provider, I support the Food and Drug Administration's dismissal of medical benefit from marijuana. Regardless of the heated political debate that swirls around this issue, the fact remains that despite the Institute of Medicine's claim to the contrary, for people vulnerable to addictive disease, marijuana is a gateway drug that leads to the use of more dangerous drugs like cocaine and heroin. Not everyone who smokes marijuana will necessarily become an addict. But why open the gate to increased use for the sake of unproven medical benefits when we already know the harm that marijuana inflicts on millions of Americans."[32]
Smoking marijuana impairs the immune system

- British Lung Foundation. "Smoking Gun: The Impact of Cannabis Smoking on Respiratory Health," a publicly disseminated report. November, 2002 - "Cannabis smoking is likely to weaken the immune system. Infections of the lung are due to a combination of smoking-related damage to the cells lining the bronchial passage and impairment of the principal immune cells in the small air sacs caused by cannabis."[24]
Marijuana can help treat bipolar disorders:

Scientists and mentally-ill sufferers of bipolar disorder have independently made the discovery that cannabis can improve this medical condition, whether mania or depression. It may also reduce side effects of other drugs used in its treatment, such as Lithium, Carbamazepine (Tegretol) or Valproate (Depakote). Moreover, 30-40% of patients with bipolar disorder are not consistently helped by or cannot tolerate standard medications.
Marijuana is not an effective drug for treating illnesses

Richard H. Schwartz, MD, physician in Advanced Pediatrics. Letter to the Editor, New England Journal of Medicine. July 14, 1994: "...support of the use of marijuana for medical purposes is scientifically unfounded. There is no evidence that marijuana is superior to ondansetron (Zofran), dexamethasone, or synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol (Marinol) as an antiemetic in patients undergoing chemotherapy. Nor is there scientific evidence to support the use of marijuana for AIDS-associated anorexia, depression, epilepsy, narrow-angle glaucoma, or spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis."[12]
Marijuana dispensaries are key to enabling pain relief

Art Santa Cruz, a 66-year-old Lansing man, said he would like to open a dispensary. He said he has severe back pain from a military stint in Vietnam or perhaps a car crash: "If it weren't for medical marijuana, I wouldn't be able to sleep. There has to be dispensaries. This is an important issue. The marijuana industry should be allowed to flourish. When pain goes away, I thank God."[4]
Legalizing medical marijuana may cause crime and safety problems

Jerry Dyer, MS, Fresno Chief of Police and President of the California Police Chief's Association. Apr. 16, 2008 letter to Deputy Director of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police: "Based on the almost 12 years of medical marijuana experience in the state of California it is our observation that it has been destructive to lives and communities. Passage of any form of medical marijuana anywhere in our nation is bad public policy and will cause crime and public safety problems."[33]
Marinol pills can be prescribed; Marijuana is unnecessary

"The case against medical marijuana." The casual observer. March 31, 2010: "A very basic question that I have is this. THC, the ingredient in marijuana that people are smoking it for, is available in pill form already. Why then do we need to have smoked marijuana available with all the problems that it brings? Marinol is a prescription medicine that can be prescribed by a doctor and dispensed from a controlled pharmacy."
Legalizing medical marijuana normalizes drug, increases use

Andrea Barthwell, M.D. Former Deputy Director, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Chicago Tribune editorial. February 17, 2004. - "By characterizing the use of illegal drugs as quasi-legal, state-sanctioned, Saturday afternoon fun, legalizers destabilize the societal norm that drug use is dangerous. They undercut the goals of stopping the initiation of drug use to prevent addiction.... Children entering drug abuse treatment routinely report that they heard that 'pot is medicine' and, therefore, believed it to be good for them."
Unhealthy effects of Marijuana outweigh medical benefits

Sanjay Gupta, MD, Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN. "Why I Would Vote No on Pot." Time magazine. Nov. 6, 2006: "Marijuana isn't really very good for you. True, there are health benefits for some patients. [but...] Frequent marijuana use can seriously affect your short-term memory. It can impair your cognitive ability (why do you think people call it dope?) and lead to long-lasting depression or anxiety. While many people smoke marijuana to relax, it can have the opposite effect on frequent users. And smoking anything, whether it's tobacco or marijuana, can seriously damage your lung tissue...Despite all the talk about the medical benefits of marijuana, smoking the stuff is not going to do your health any good."
Medical marijuana prescriptions are often fraudulent

"The case against medical marijuana." The casual observer. March 31, 2010: "On January 31, 2010 Christian Thurston published an article in the Denver Post entitled Smoke and Mirrors. Christian is the Medical Director of a substance abuse treatment program in Denver. Christian provided an example of a 19 year old being treated for “Severe Addiction”. This 19 year old walked in to dispensary, gave them $300 and discussed his depression with a “doctor”. He was then given a medical marijuana card. One pregnant woman was given a marijuana card to smoke because of her nausea. Yes, she was told to smoke marijuana during the pregnancy. We have people showing up to work stoned and claiming no foul because the marijuana was “prescribed” for them. We have 18 year olds obtaining a license to smoke joints daily for an ear ache, depression, etc."
Legalizing medical marijuana will reduce state spending.

The cost of battling marijuana distribution and possession is exorbitant. By legalization for medicinal purposes, producers of marijuana can opt to sell the cannabis through legal channels and do not need to be caught, prosecuted, or jailed- all things that require taxpayers money. A Harvard University professor of economics, Jeffrey Miron, calculated legalizing marijuana would save $7.7 billion annually in money spent on enforcing dope laws.The case for legal pot use
Costs of deportation made up for by savings to taxpayers

Edwin S. Rubenstein, MA, President of Edwin S. Rubenstein (ESR) Research Economic Consultants, in a Jan. 26, 2006 VDare.com article entitled "No-one’s Suggesting Mass Deportation—But It Would Pay For Itself,": "even if $206 billion was a reasonable cost estimate, mass deportation would be well worth it. Just consider the economic burden illegal aliens impose on the rest of us... Total fiscal benefits of deportation are thus estimated at $51 billion per year... At this rate, mass deportation would pay for itself in about four years. Plus, of course, we’d get America back."[14]
Path to citizenship respects dignity of the undocumented

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), in its website section titled "About AFSC" (accessed Oct. 1, 2007), stated: "Programs on immigration are based on our conviction of the worth and inherent dignity of all people. That’s why AFSC has consistently expressed support for undocumented immigrants, and has repeatedly called on the US government to grant permanent residency to all undocumented men, women, and children."[3]
Path to citizenship is about earning citizenship

Demetrios Papademetriou, PhD, Co-Founder and President of Migration Policy Institute (MPI): "we should ask unauthorized immigrants to earn their new legal status. Unauthorized immigrants could begin the regularization process by registering with immigration officials and then be given, say, three years in which to qualify. The criteria for regularization should be forward-looking, easily proven, and consistent with what we as a society consider important. Steady employment, paying taxes, speaking English capably and having a clean criminal record are a good start. And the process should a pay for itself by collecting a substantial but reasonable fee from the immigrants who are regularized."[8] The difficult conditions of this path to citizenship, which gives illegal aliens no advantages over legal aliens, provides no incentive for illegal immigration over legal immigration.
Legalized aliens are unlikely to be patriotic

John Fonte, PhD, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, in a Sep. 1, 2006 transcript of the hearing before the US House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary: "If Reid-Kennedy [S 2611] or Pence-Hutchison 'Compromise Plan' becomes law, 11-12 million illegal immigrants will be eligible for U.S. citizenship, while, at the same time, retaining citizenship to their birth nations greatly exacerbating the dual allegiance problem and encouraging the diminution of loyalty to the United States."[19]
Path to citizenship encourages illegal immigration

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in a Jan. 2007 www.fairus.org section titled "The Costs of Illegal Immigration to New Jerseyites": "The proposal to simply convert illegal alien residents to legal resident status with an amnesty violates a fundamental principle of immigration reform, because that will encourage rather than deter future illegal immigration. A policy that conveys the message that the country or any state or local government will tolerate and reward foreigners who ignore our immigration law invites the world to see illegal immigration as an accepted route to seeking a better life in our country and it will exacerbate the problem."[9]
Path to citizenship will lower poverty among illegals

Jared Bernstein. "Path to citizenship and out of poverty." Economic Policy Institute. June 29, 2006: "In other words, there is a huge difference between the economic status of immigrants who have become citizens and those who have not. The path to citizenship is also a path out of poverty. [...] the poverty rate of Hispanic non-citizens was 26.1 percent in 2004, compared with 13.4 percent of the naturalized Hispanic population. (The comparison is almost identical for black immigrants.) [...] We can thus be confident that an important reason for this difference is the benefits conferred by citizenship and the disadvantages associated with lack of citizenship. It is simply much easier to integrate economically, not to mention culturally and socially, if one is a citizen."
Some polls find Americans support conditional amnesty.

Polls that describe proposals that have actually been considered found broad support. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found in 2009 that "most Americans (63%) say they favor providing a way for illegal immigrants currently in the country to gain legal citizenship if they pass background checks, pay fines and have jobs." An April 2009 Washington Post/ABC News poll also found that 61 percent of respondents support "a program giving illegal immigrants now living in the United States the right to live here legally if they pay a fine and meet other requirements."[20]
Deportation is not feasible; legalization is only option

Michael R. Bloomberg, MBA, 108th Mayor of the City of New York, in a July 5, 2006: "We need to get real about the people who are now living in this country illegally – in many cases raising families and paying taxes. The idea of deporting these 11 or 12 million people – about as many as live in the entire state of Pennsylvania – is pure fantasy. Even if we wanted to, it would be physically impossible to carry out. If we attempted it – and it would be perhaps the largest round-up and deportation in world history – the social and economic consequences would be devastating. Let me ask you: Would we really want to spend billions of dollars on a round-up and deportation program that would split families in two – only to have these very same people and millions more, illegally enter our country again? Of course not. America is better than that – and smarter than that. There is only one practical solution, and it is a solution that respects the history of our nation: Offer those already here the opportunity to earn permanent status and keep their families together."[10]
Path to citizenship will improve working conditions for all

John J. Sweeney, President of the American Federation of Labor "Letter to the National and International Union Presidents." AFL CIO. June 1st, 2005: "We are strongly supportive of the concept of legalization, recognizing that raising the floor for undocumented workers and bringing them out of the shadows will improve working conditions for all workers. We are also in agreement that if this bill moves forward, we will seek expand its labor protections considerably to ensure a positive outcome for all workers."[15]
Path to citizenship disrespects legal immigrants

James Sensenbrenner, JD, US House Representative (R-WI), in a Mar. 27, 2006 Bristol Herald Courier article titled "James Sensenbrenner Not Deterred by Immigration Protests": "illegal aliens should not be granted amnesty and a path to citizenship. This would be a slap in the face to all those who have followed the law and have come to America legally."[5]
Deporting illegals would be economically damaging

"The GOP's Immigration Fumble." The Wall Street Journal. Aug. 4, 2002: "Deporting them for the duration of the application process would break up families. It also would disrupt businesses that depend on foreign labor for jobs that Americans don't want... The U.S. needs policies in place that recognize the economic realities that come with a long, porous border between an immensely rich country and a poor one. We need programs that will legalize the status of foreigners who are here already and contributing to our economy. We need more legal channels, such as temporary work programs, to handle future arrivals. And we need to speed up family reunifications."[11]
US cannot be a nation of permanent illegal immigrants

Jared Bernstein. "Path to citizenship and out of poverty." Economic Policy Institute. June 29, 2006: "The policy implications should be obvious. We must not let ourselves become a nation of permanent illegal immigrants, who toil in the shadows; nor should we become a nation of 'guest workers.' We are a nation of immigrants who have trodden the path toward citizenship. A central goal of reform should be to clear that path for those who deserve the privileges, economic and otherwise, of being an American citizen."
Path to citizenship disadvantages prospective legal immigrants

John Jacob, Owner of John D. Jacob Land Surveying Services, while being a 2006 U.S. congressional Republican candidate in Utah, in a June 25, 2006 Deseret News article entitled "John Jacob's Responses to News Candidate Questionnaire": "[Amnesty] is a mass-pardon for lawbreakers and serves as a disadvantage to those who are legally seeking the American dream." [6]