Legalization of Drugs in the United States

I intend to prove, in my arguments, that illicit drugs should not be fully legalized and, in fact, some of the currently 'legal' drugs should be more restricted. I will not contest that some drugs are infeasibly rated in terms of being a threat nor that the government's hysteria regarding certain drugs. I further believe that a doctor should be allowed to prescribe any drug they consider, in their professional medical opinion, to be appropriate for a patient's case, so I will not argue against bonafide medical use. I do not feel this necessary. My biggest (though not only) gripe with drug use is with secondhand smoke. Most smokers of either tobacco or marijuana are far too careless, in my experience, in respecting the choices of others to not smoke. I had to move out of a household where I was renting a room (and was the secondmost senior of some 5 roommates) because they frequently smoked tobacco cigarettes or marijuana in locations where the odor wafted into my room, and would give me very painful and dizzying migraine headaches. No one should be forced to be exposed to drugs, and secondhand smoke (again, whether its tobacco or marijuana) is itself a drug. If I lived in a house where marijuana was heavily smoked, though I did not myself smoke it, a "hair" drug test would likely indicate (with enough exposure) consumption and get me fired from a job, to say nothing of the personal medical harm and the non-consentual drug exposure. Exposing anyone to drugs who does not consent should be legally considered an assault, to me, the same as slipping someone a 'roofie. ' If you slipped something like a roofie into, say, a pitcher of water in a fridge specifically to target one person in a house, but everyone took enough of the water from that pitcher to get exposed, shouldn't you get prosecuted for the others you pushed the drug on, even if it wasn't intentional? The same should be true of marijuana or even already-legal tobacco cigarettes/cigars/pipe smoking. So, as I said I would, I aim to make it a case that even "legal" drugs today should be more (much more strictly) regulated. In addition, any mind-altering drug should be illegal to operate a vehicle or heavy machinery while under the influence, and driving under the influence should be treated the same as "attempted manslaughter" -- you are a deadly danger to others. You should also be forbidden from carrying a firearm when under the influence of any mind-altering substance. == REBUTTALS TO PRO'S ARGUMENTS == Does Pro truly feel Ecstasy or Cocaine are safe to allow to be legally available to anyone "over the counter" (that is, with no doctor's monitoring or prescription)? Both have a large pile of bodies from overdose abusers and those who attempted to drive or operate heavy machinery under their influence. To suggest drugs aren't addicitve is ridiculous. Caffeine, Alcohol and Nicotene, three -legal- drugs, are proven to be highly addictive, as have (to my knowledge) all illicit drugs. Marijuana: . http://www.marijuanaaddiction.info... - "Addiction to marijuana is severe due to its affect on the user's brain. Scientists now know many facts about marijuana's effect on the body and how delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major active chemical in Marijuana, acts in the human brain. When marijuana is smoked, THC travels quickly through the body and into the brain where it unites with specific receptors on nerve cells. Areas of the brain with the most receptors affected by THC are parts of the brain that control pleasure, thought, memory, sensory, concentration, time perception, and coordination. It's these areas of the brain that are most likely to be affected when an individual faces marijuana addiction. " Cocaine: . http://www.emedicinehealth.com... - "Research with cocaine has shown that all laboratory animals can become compulsive cocaine users. Animals will work more persistently at pressing a bar for cocaine than for any drug, including opiates. An addicted monkey pressed the bar 12,800 times until it got a single dose of cocaine. If the animal survives, it will return to the task of obtaining more cocaine. " Ecstasy: . http://www.maliburecovery.com... - "Ecstasy abuse can lead to tolerance, dependence and ecstasy addiction. A survey of young adult and adolescents found that 43 percent of those who reported a history of ecstasy abuse met the accepted criteria for dependence, as evidenced by continued ecstasy use despite physical or psychological harm, withdrawal effects, and tolerance. Almost 60 percent of people who abuse ecstasy report withdrawal symptoms, including fatigue, loss of appetite, depressed feelings, and trouble concentrating. " The notion that drug abuse will not increase if those drugs are legalized I also disagree with. During prohibition, while it is true drinking alcohol remained popular, I believe a lot of people who drank alcohol stopped using when it became illegal for fear of being treated as a criminal. Likewise, the illegitimacy of drugs suppresses the market to a bit. Of course there is a large black market, but the open market would be much greater -- its not hard to imagine marijuana use rising to the levels of tobacco use, for instance. Thank you to Pro for taking this argument up to me. I certainly hope I can throw some unexpected things at him and not be a stereotypical drugophobe. I look forward to this debate.