Opium Should be Legalized

I'll use the first portion of this round to refute my opponent's statements and I will use the latter half to insert my own. My opponent's first proposition includes a statement that posits that Opium, in its illegal state, is harmful to the economy and has not been used to its medical potential. Opium was in fact used for its medicinal properties in the early 19th century as an analgesic until it was overridden by morphine, a more potent and less addictive cousin. Morphine now dominates the analgesic field for the relief of severe pain, coupled with a close associate Laudanum which deals with sleep promotion and pain alleviation (there also exist other alternatives such as codeine and paregoric). Opium's inherent properties are just not as potent and compatible with these safer and less addictive cousins, which explains why it is not used for its medicinal value. Opium is just not medically sufficient, and the detriments of opium legalization clearly outweigh the benefits. In addition, when Morphine was initially legalized in the United States of America and Europe in the 19th century, people were binging on it and became instantly hooked by its high addictiveness, leading to a surge of Opium-dependent bourgeoisie. [1] My opponent's second proposition includes a statement that refers to the accumulation of illegally obtained money from the Opium trade, as opposed to the equal distribution of money by legal employees and business owners. We have witnessed a severe decline in Opium usage since the Westerners and Chinese Opium War in the mid-nineteenth century to more common drugs such as Cannabis, Cocaine and LSD. There exists an entire field of drug trade that exists behind the federal agency's back but removing one drug (a particularly low-profile drug) from the drug trafficking trade will yield nearly nil change in its booming economy. Since Opium is no longer a drug of such high popularity (not a party drug), it's trafficking 'worth' is scant in comparison to Marijuana and Heroine. These more widespread party drugs should be the target of undermining the illicit drug trafficking business as opposed to the low-tune drugs that are sold to minors and tyros for quick money. My opponent also brings up drug quality and safety and quality screening, and decreased fraudulence of drugs in a legal marketplace. This is true to a certain extent, but why is our aim to legalize Opium when we've already identified it as a low caliber, unpopular (not a significant amount of active users and thus a small influence on drug trafficking), un-medical and monochromatic drug? Why legalize Opium when you have other drugs of higher medicinal potency? The crux of my opponent's arguments lies in the medicinal value that Opium bears, but it is evident to anyone who has a degree in the medical sciences, or anyone who has a substantiated knowledge of the properties of drugs (narcotics) that Opium is a weak and ineffective cure to illness or suffering. My opponent's third proposition is in regards to the inhumane penalties that are imposed onto Opium users. The reason as to why Opium users are subjected to such a harsh penalty lies in the fact that Opium dealers must have an active body of customers in order for their business to prosper and swell. By imposing harsh penalties onto the recipients and buyers of Opium, it can a) be an aid for interrogation purposes in order to identify the dealer and b) can reduce recidivism and resurgence of Opium. This Federal law ensures that as they identify more Opium users, they will be able to narrow down the amount of potentiates for being one of many Opium dealers, and thus, in one aspect, shutting down one or more lynchpins of the Opium production and distribution industry. Oftentimes, Opium is dealt and produced by a few key players, and unlocking the identity and profile of one, interrogating him by coercion can lead to the capture of the other players and thus decimating the drug trafficking. My opponent's fourth proposition addresses the lucrative Taliban Operation of cultivating poppies and stripping the dried latex off of it to make Opium. I agree that the Opium trade and the mass cultivation of poppies has increased in the Afghanistan region has spiked in recent years but I disagree that legalizing Opium would ameliorate the present conditions. As you may know, the Taliban enforced a ban that disallowed all local farmers to farm Opium, so that the Taliban would have full harvesting capability. They cultivated the plants successfully and distributed them at a high price point, but they've done this to such a large extent that they've neglected to plant new seeds, as Opium is not a perennial plant like tulips are in their respect. The supply of poppy has been nearly exhausted and the inclement weather does not suggest that the Taliban will be replenishing their supply of poppies any time soon; and regardless of whether or not Opium is legalized or not, the Taliban is almost obligated to revert to a new source of income. I've decided to enlist my arguments in the following round but I'd like to show some rather horrifying Opium statistics. Opiate abuse and addiction is a dangerous, costly problem in the United States. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports the following statistics regarding opiate abuse in the United States: Statistics show that Opiate abuse and Opiate addiction cost Americans over $484 billion annually. This amount includes healthcare costs and abuses of the healthcare system, lost wages, car accidents, crime, and criminal justice system costs. [0] Opiate use and addiction is linked to at least 50 percent of the major crimes in the United States; at least half of all suspects arrested for violent crimes (homicide, assault, etc.) were under the influence of opiates when arrested. [2] Reports indicate that nearly two-thirds of people in Opiate abuse treatment report were physically or sexually abused as children. [3] The 2002 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) reported that in 2002, heroin-related hospital Emergency Department episodes numbered 93,519. [4] According to the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 3.7 million people had used heroin at some time in their lives, and over 119,000 of them reported using it within the month preceding the survey. An estimated 314,000 Americans used heroin in the past year. The group that represented the highest number of those users was 26 or older. Additionally, 57.4 percent of past year heroin users were classified with dependence on or abuse of heroin; an estimated 281,000 persons received treatment for heroin abuse. [5] In 2006, approximately 20.4 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit Opiate users. [6] According to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration Web Site), 605,000 Americans age 12 and older had abused heroin at least once in the year prior to being surveyed. According to the Monitoring the Future survey, NIDA's nationwide annual survey of drug use among the Nation's 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders, heroin use remained stable from 2003 to 2004. Lifetime heroin use measured 1.6 percent among 8th-graders and 1.5 percent among 10th- and 12th-graders. [7] [0] http://www.infoplease.com... [1] http://www.drug-addiction-support.org... [2] http://www.drug-addiction-support.org... [3] http://www.drug-addiction-support.org... [4] http://www.drugabuse.gov... [5] http://www.drugabuse.gov... [6] http://www.drugabuse.gov... [7] http://www.drugabuse.gov...