UK government should legalize weed

1) Land useThe Pro says that the UK could simply import it from elsewhere to conserve land. If that does happen then the profit that could even be made off of the weed would take quite a hit. To supplement the loss the UK could just jack up the price of the weed BUT WAIT. They're not selling the weed under the Pro's plan, Tobacco and Alcohol companies are. So then THEY would jack up the price of it since the government cant control the price and now we have a scenario where you have normal drug dealers selling the same product for the same price on the streets and then you have companies selling the same thing at a much higher price with the government taking a fraction of the profit through taxes of any buyers dumb enough to buy the expensive weed run by the government instead of the people selling it for a much lower price on the streets.So even if it is grown on land or imported, the government loses out on valuable land that could be used to grow other things, or they lose out on even more of the "profit" they would (allegedly) make sine it now has to be imported from overseas. 2) Gateway drugMarijuana isnt a gateway drug because the drug dealers carry other products, its because Marijuana can be tolerated by the body after a while so that it takes more and more of it to reach the same high. For some people wanting to get that high back or simply top what they get off of Marijuana is what leads them to other really hard core drugs. 3) Cancer and other side effectsThe Pro dismisses this claim simply by stating it is not yet proven that weed causes cancer. Marijuana not only causes cancer but it causes paranoia, emotional disorders, addiction, dependency, nausea, insomnia, impaired memory, weaker coordination skills, lung problems etc. I refer you to this other debate of mine showing all the links to the scientific proof showing how Marijuana is very detrimental to ones health. http://www.debate.org...(round 2)4) Other places with legalized MarijuanaPro claims that other places have legalized Marijuana besides Amsterdam, allow me to list them for you. - 1 - Bangladesh - 2 - Peru - 3 - Thats it, its only those two countries and Bangladesh, everywhere else there are restrictions or laws preventing open consumption of Marijuana. Bangladesh and Peru do not have any statistics anywhere showing that proportionally populations use weed less than countries where weed is illegal. Basically, Amsterdam is the only example the Pro CAN use as an example, and since there arent any studies showing how trends in Amsterdam are similar in the two other countries where weed is completely legal, then there is no conclusive evidence that legalization of Marijuana leads to lower use. That means it is quite possible that the UK would not follow the same trend as Amsterdam would regarding popular consumption of Marijuana among the population. http://upload.wikimedia.org...5) Social effect" i didn't read it online and don't know where to find it but it is real, i find the fact that you think that i would make it up to be very insulting"You cite a study that cannot be found or located anywhere which means we can only take you on your word, and thats not good enough on here. BREAKING NEWS, I found a study not on the internet and I cant find it anywhere else but a scientist proved that Marijuana causes people to convert to radical Islam. I didnt read it online but its real and if you think I made it up then I am insulted. For the record I also only said it was possible that the study was made up, I still made arguments against it as if it were real and those arguments were that it was only used on a very very small test group and that the study only had one parameter. Tat parameter was would you consider using weed it the police cracked down on it less. It did not say anything about using weed or letting your kids use weed if it was completely legal but sold at a very high cost. 6) TourismThe Pro claims that pot will increase tourism to the UK since it did to Amsterdam, funny story though since Amsterdam has laws banning tourists from buying weed, so any growth in tourism is attributed to other factors not related to the legality of weed. Since this means that weed legalization isnt tied to tourism, that means that legalization of weed in the UK wont guarantee increased tourism. http://gothamist.com...Pro's summaries - It would add to the British economy...... Not proven - Tourism....... Unsupported claim - It would put an end to anyone having to go to back street dealers...... Unless they were selling it for a low price which they probably would - Once it is legalized it would loss the rebellious, bad boy image that is has gained over the years........ Opinion - Government would still be making money of off what is being sold........ By taxing corporations that sell it, IF they profit from it meaning that if they do profit from it, the government would only profit from it by a small fraction - Government will be saving money that is wasted on catching, processing, and punishing thouse who do use it....... They would still be around for catching people abusing other heavy drugs, and legalizing marijuana would require a new agency to be installed to regulate the quality of the marijuana being sold, to monitor that each person gets a safe small amount, that those buying it dont give it to their kids, etc etcMarijuana is a very dangerous and unhealthy drug, legalizing it in the UK would cause a whole lot of problems to be handled and addressed before the government could even begin to reap the profits, and even then the cost for buying or growing the weed, giving it to tobacco and alcohol companies to sell, and taxing their profits may not yield a very large amount of money. That being said, since it would be the alcohol and tobacco companies setting the price, street dealers could still be out selling other drugs and cheaper weed for sale, so the drug problem would only continue wile undermining the UK's efforts to try to tax the sale of weed. The agency that catches pot abusers is the same one that also handles meth, heroin, crack, etc so legalizing weed doesnt mean that agency could simply be shut down since they wage war against other illegal narcotics, not just weed. Meanwhile the government will need even more people to regulate the quality of the weed being sold, where it is being grown and imported, regulate how much people can buy, regulate penalties for giving it to children, penalties for selling it to others, etc etcPoint is, legalizing Marijuana will certainly not be a moneymaker for the UK, and it arguably wont provide any profit at all, therefore the UK should not legalize weed since it is harmful to people's health, difficult to regulate, and wont guarantee any profit I thank the Pro for a good debate and I thank the voters for reading :D