Decriminalizing recreational marijuana.

I thank Con for posting an intriguing argument against the decriminalization of marijuana for recreational purposes. Before I make my arguments, however, I am going to define a few terms. I will use Oxford Online Dictionaries. Decriminalize: cease to treat (something) as illegal or as a criminal offence [1] Marijuana: cannabis, especially as smoked in cigarettes [2] Cannabis: a dried preparation of the flowering tops or other parts of the cannabis plant, or a resinous extract of it, used (generally illegally) as a psychotropic drug, chiefly in cigarettes. [3] Now, let’s start. There are multiple reasons why marijuana, for recreational purposes, should be decriminalized. My first argument, ironically, is supported by my opponent’s only argument in the last round; that consumption of marijuana, for recreational purposes, is detrimental to the consumer’s health. I argue that a result of decriminalizing marijuana, coupled with emphasizing the possibility of therapy for drug takers (instead of them being sent to jail), would lead to either less people consuming the drug, or no difference in the amount of people consuming the drug. This was similar the policy that Portugal implemented several years ago. The neuroscience journalist Maia Szalavitz, in an article written for Time Magazine writes: “Compared to the European Union and the U.S., Portugal's drug use numbers are impressive. Following decriminalization, Portugal had the lowest rate of lifetime marijuana use in people over 15 in the E.U.: 10%. The most comparable figure in America is in people over 12: 39.8%. Proportionally, more Americans have used cocaine than Portuguese have used marijuana.” [4] Peter Reuter, of the University of Maryland says: “Drug decriminalization did reach its primary goal in Portugal, and it did not lead to Lisbon being a drug tourist destination. [5] The lawyer Glenn Greenwald adds: “Judging by every metric, decriminalization in Portugal has been a resounding success. It has enabled the Portuguese government to manage and control the drug problem far better than virtually every other Western country does.” [6] Another country that has decriminalized marijuana is the Netherlands. Even though it’s marijuana/drug policy is not as successful as Portugal’s, it is still quite successful, as the Netherlands Ministry of Health Explains: “"It has been demonstrated that the more or less free sale of [marijuana] for personal use in the Netherlands has not given rise to levels of use significantly higher than in countries which pursue a highly repressive policy." [7] A report written by Donnelly et.al also suggests that marijuana liberalization does not increase intake of the drug. They write: “There is no evidence to date that the CEN [decriminalization] system ... Has increased levels of regular cannabis use, or rates of experimentation among young adults. These results are broadly in accord with our earlier analysis of trends in cannabis use in Australia. ...They are also consistent with the results of similar analyses in the United States and the Netherlands." [8] Decriminalizing marijuana would also ensure that money is not wasted on the legal and criminal systems. According to a study by King and Mauer, the United States currently spends a significant amount of money (4 billion dollars) dedicated to minor offenses, such as possession, and $2.1 billion on the police enforcing marijuana laws. [9] Jeffrey Miron, an economist at Harvard, makes a similar point. In his paper “The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Legalization in Massachusetts” he writes that prohibition of marijuana in Massachusetts results in: “120.6 million per year in government expenditure on criminal justice enforcement.” [10] Furthermore, a study by Scott Bates finds that in Alaska, $25-30 million dollars were used for enforcing marijuana prohibition laws alone! [11] James D. Austin, commenting on the study writes: “a net swing of $35 - $50 million per year would appear in the state’s coffers if marijuana were decriminalized” [12] As we have seen above, decriminalizing marijuana does not increase its usage, so surely, the money used for enforcement of laws, and throughout the criminal justice system is a waste of money; money that can be used for other, more pressing purposes, such as education, health, and social programmes. [1] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com... [2] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com... [3] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com... [4], [6] http://content.time.com... [5] http://www.scientificamerican.com... [7], [8] http://norml.org... [9] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov... [10] http://ukcia.org... [11] http://www.prohibitioncosts.org... [12] http://norml.org...