Drug Legalization

1) INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND LEGALITYHumans have the inalienable rights to insert whatever drug they want into their body, however method they please, and should be able to do so without government restriction. The War on Drugs is infringing on our rights to "life, to health, to due process and a fair trial, to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, from slavery, and from discrimination.[1]"This directly infringes our rights outlined in the Declaration of Independence, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the U.S. Constitution. This also infringes with the non-aggression principle, more specifically the right to self-ownership[2]. If non-violent drug users are not hurting anybody else, we should not be sending them to jail for months, and even years.The U.S War on Drugs is also unconstitutional. Alcohol prohibition required a constitutional amendment, why doesn't prohibition of marijuana, or other illicit drugs? This violates the 10th amendment of the United States Constitution, giving states, or the people, powers not granted to the federal government. The War on Drugs also violates the Substantive Due Process of the 5th and 14th amendments[3].2) VIOLENCE AND DRUG CARTELSThe War on Drugs has left Mexico in ruins. The overall conflict has left 55,000 people, including 3,000 soldiers and police officers, dead[4]. This statistic doesn't even include the 5,000 people missing[4]. The black market economy of drug sales is estimated by the U.N. to be worth $60 billion dollars annually, with Mexican cartels bringing in about $39 billion per year[4]. The Drug War has also lead to uncontrollable corruption, with top cartel members paying off top anti-drug officials, local police, and top prison officials[4]. The Justice Department also estimates Drug Cartels operate in over 1,286 U.S. cities, with over 850 trucks crossing into the U.S. from Mexico everyday.[4] Summarized by Jeffrey Miron, economics professor at Harvard University, he says"Prohibition of drugs corrupts politicians and law enforcement by putting police, prosecutors, judges and politicians in the position to threaten the profits of an illicit trade. This is why bribery, threats and kidnapping are common for prohibited industries but rare otherwise. Mexico's recent history illustrates this dramatically."[5]3) INEFFICIENCY OF THE WAR ON DRUGSThe War on Drugs has cost over $1 trillion dollars, but has it really worked[6]? The charts I have shown demonstrate the inefficiency of the U.S War on Drugs to deter drug use.[6][7] Deaths and Emergency room visits have skyrocketed, despite spending going up every year. Also, arrests for marijuana possession have increased almost every year, despite immense spending from the government to try to deter use. This chart shows that the price of cocaine and heroin have gone down substantially over the past couple decades[6]. Also, with Marijuana becoming cheaper[7], and with 90% of 12th graders saying marijuana is 'easy to obtain'[7], the overall goal of prohibition to limit the accessibility of drugs has failed greatly. The United Nations has also estimated opiate, cocaine, and cannabis use has increased 34.5%, 27%, and 8.5% since last decade, respectively[1] As explained by Art Carden[8]"The demand curve for drugs is extremely inelastic, meaning that people don’t change their drug consumption very much in response to changes in prices.""Prohibition means that drug sellers have more money to buy guns, pay bribes, fund the dealers, and even research and develop new technologies in drug delivery (like crack cocaine). It’s hard to beat an enemy that gets stronger the more you strike against him or her"HIV/HEPATITIS OUTBREAKThe War on Drugs has also led to an outbreak in HIV and Hepatitis cases. As explained by Jeffrey Miron[5]"Drug users face restrictions on clean syringes that cause them to share contaminated needles, thereby spreading HIV, hepatitis and other blood-borne diseases."More specifically, 32.000 people are directly infected with HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C because prohibition isn't allowing drug users access to clean syringes[9]ECONOMIC BENEFITS & PRISON COSTSThe Budgetary Impact of Ending Drug Prohibition, explained by Jeffrey Miron, has concluded that[10]-The Legalization of Drugs would save $41.3 billion dollars every year, with $25.7 billion of the savings coming from state/local government, and $15.6 dollars savings coming from the federal government. -The Legalization of Drugs would also yield tax revenue of $46.7 billion, which could be used on prevention programs, rehabilitation processes, hospitals, roads, schools, etc. Over 40 years of this War on Drugs, taxpayers have spent[11]• $20 billion to fight the drug gangs in their home countries. In Colombia, for example, the United States spent more than $6 billion, while coca cultivation increased and trafficking moved to Mexico - and the violence along with it.• $33 billion in marketing "Just Say No"-style messages to America's youth and other prevention programs. High school students report the same rates of illegal drug use as they did in 1970, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says drug overdoses have "risen steadily" since the early 1970s to more than 20,000 last year.• $49 billion for law enforcement along America's borders to cut off the flow of illegal drugs. This year, 25 million Americans will snort, swallow, inject and smoke illicit drugs, about 10 million more than in 1970, with the bulk of those drugs imported from Mexico.• $121 billion to arrest more than 37 million non violent drug offenders, about 10 million of them for possession of marijuana. Studies show that jail time tends to increase drug abuse.• $450 billion to lock those people up in federal prisons alone. Last year, half of all federal prisoners in the U.S. were serving sentences for drug offenses.As you can see in the statistics, over 40 years, 37 million non violent people have been arrested for simple using drugs. We should be using our resources on criminals who are actually harming other people. RACISMThe Federal War on Drugs has racial discrimination to minorities. Although whites and minorities use and sell drugs at similar rates, 67%(2/3) of incarcerated drug offenders in state prisons are minorities[9]. Also, despite government studies showing African-Americans using cannabis at lower rates than whites, African-Americans were arrested in California at 300% the rate of whites for possession. [7]I apologize for the long argument. I'd put more but that would that wouldn't be appropriate. I'll save some my other arguments for the next round if they seem fit. I will now allow my opponent to construct his arguments. Sources1.http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org......2.http://wiki.mises.org......3.http://www.redlichlaw.com......4 http://www.businessinsider.com......5.http://www.cnn.com......6 http://transform-drugs.blogspot.com......7 http://www.icsdp.org......8 http://www.forbes.com......#9 http://www.drugpolicy.org......10 http://www.cato.org......11 http://www.cbsnews.com......