Resolved: Illicit drugs should be decriminalized and regulated by the FDA

Second and third rounds are rebuttals, and the final round is a final focus detailing to the judges why you won the debate. Please try to stick to the basic format. This will be my constructive. I affirm the resolution that we should decriminalize illicit drugs and regulate them for the following contentions. Contention 1: Prison costs The costs of jailing non-violent drug offenders have pulled a huge chunk out of state and federal budgets. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, on December of 2013, there were 1,574,700 people in state and federal prisons. This number may be declining slightly, but we still see a trend in incarcerating non-violent drug offenders’ more than violent criminals. According to the Bureau of Prisons in 2016, 46.5% of all inmates in prisons are there for drug offenses. This kind of incarceration is costly. According to The Hamilton Project, a project started from the Brookings Institute, in 2010, the government shelled out 80 billion dollars on drug related crimes including court costs and incarceration. This means that a resident in America paid on average 260 dollars to keep people in prison. Keep in mind 80 billion dollars is a huge chunk out of the 260 billion dollars we spent on crime in general in 2010, showing that his is a huge percentage we can cut out by de-criminalizing drugs. Cutting out such a huge cost means more money to spend on important policy, such as revitalizing infrastructure and finding alternatives to standard fossil fuels. It’s a no brainer, we should vote pro. Contention 2: Regulation It is no secret that drugs can ruin lives. Yet, when we look towards today’s debate we need to realize that legalizing drugs would be the best for the lives of Americans. First, by legalizing drugs we would, then, in turn, regulate drugs to make it safer for someone to ingest. This would mean a safer experience for the consumer. After all, when completely unregulated street drugs are used with unknown ingredients to the consumer, of course, it would cause problems. With the FDA regulating drugs we would then be able to ensure that the components of the drugs would not cause as much harm to the body. This system actually worked for the Netherlands, according to a US News Report article in 2008. The Netherlands has actually decreased the amount of people who have overdosed and even used drugs by regulating them strongly and treating drug abuse as not a crime, but a condition that can be easily solved with proper treatment. Not only this, if we looked at drugs as a viable industry, we would also be able to bolster our economy. The CATO Institute in 2010 has stated that if we were to tax drugs comparable to alcohol and tobacco once they were legalized, we would generate over 40 billion dollars in tax revenue which could also go to paying off the debt or important policy in America. The creation of a private industry in America could also create jobs for people to prosper. Contention 3: Options besides prison The options besides prison are innumerable. Considering the effect that prison has on people who commit drug crimes that may be a good thing. A Bureau of Justice Statistics study tracked nearly 405,000 criminals who were arrested for a crime, not necessarily drugs. What was found was that in seven years, over 70% of the prisoners were rearrested. Considering the psychological dependency one has when addicted to drugs, it is logical to think that recidivism would be even higher for those suffering from drug abuse, which goes untreated in jails. There is a solution to the serious drug abusers, which is therapy. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, incarceration costs over 20,000 dollars, while treatment of drug abuse only costs about 4,700 dollars. Not only is this option cost effective, but it is effective as well. Dr. McLellan of the University of Pennsylvania has stated that long-term drug treatment is as effective as the long-term treatment of chronic diseases, such as asthma, diabetes, and hypertension. We can clearly see that this is a viable option as opposed to locking people in jail for a crime. As clearly shown, the benefits of legalizing drugs are important thus vote pro. Good Luck! Sources . http://www.bjs.gov... . https://www.bop.gov... . http://www.brookings.edu... . http://www.usnews.com... . http://www.cato.org... . http://www.nij.gov... . https://www.drugabuse.gov... . http://www.ndsn.org...