legalizing cannabis

Thank you for the opportunity to debate this topic with you, I appreciate your time. I will be opposing the motion that cannabis should be legalized due to the following reasons: Health, security, and influence. Before I unpack my first argument, I would like to rebut the propositions first argument. Although there are many economic benefits toward legalizing cannabis, there are also various drawbacks. I would like to first point out that the proposition stated that there was a 9.8 percent decrease within the state"s system, but does not discuss which years this decrease happened in, is this even a true statistic? Even if this statistic were to be true, it is obvious that this decrease of crime would be drug-related, and not violent crimes. In-fact, there was an increase of 3.4 percent of crime-rates in 2016, with a 9.9 percent increase in homicides according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Colorado lawmakers, police and other experts blamed the marijuana industry for the increase according to a report by the Denver Post, written in 2017. Now I will unpack my first argument, which is health. In an academic report written by Baler, Compton, Weiss, Volkow, the authors state that adults who smoked marijuana in their youth, had fewer fibres in specific brain regions. This issue meant that the alertness and self-conscious of awareness was impaired, as well as their ability to learn and retain information within adults who smoked in adolescence. In other words, the use of cannabis causes a decrease in IQ in adults who smoked in young adulthood. As the proposition says, "Imagine this for the whole United States". In another academic report, written by Burhan, Mohammad, Kurniawan, and Sidek (2014) stated that social classes actually played a large role in economic growth. The proposition stated earlier that legalizing marijuana lead to economic growth however, if we take into consideration the report above, the brain development issues that occur due to the consumption of cannabis can actually affect an economy"s growth. The article states that in the long-term, 1 IQ indicated a higher economic growth of 2.5-3.8 percent over the period of 40 years. In another academic journal, (Crean, Crane, Mason, 2011) not only is basic motor coordination impaired, but so is the ability to plan, problem solve, make decisions, remember and control emotions and behaviour. Crean, Crane and Mason (2011) state that the use of cannabis from a young age can have major long-term effects on cognitive growth within individuals. These include impairments of verbal fluency, verbal learning and memory compared to their non-smoking counterparts. Due to these reasons, we wish for you to support our motion. References Burhan, N. Mohammad, M. Kurniawan, Y. Sidek, A. (2014). The impact of low, average, and high IQ on economic growth and technological progress: Do all individuals contribute equally. Retrieved 4 December from https://www.sciencedirect.com... Crean, R. Crane, N. Mason, B. (2011). An evidence based review of acute and long-term effects of cannabis use on executive cognitive functions. Retrieved 4 December from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov... Volkow, N. Baler, R. Compton, W. Weiss, S. (2014). Adverse Health Effects of Marijuana Use. Retrieved 4 December from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...