The following debate feature is from Mr. Cimino's Debate AREA on Day 1.
Resolved, “Marijuana should be legalized nationally”
Both teams wrote these cases for the Speech and Debate Area on Day 1..
Pro (Written by The Pandas)
We believe that marijuana should be legalized nationally because it has proven health benefits, it has positive economic effects, and it is less harmful than some other legal drugs. So far twenty three states, and Washington D.C have legalized marijuana in some way, but only four of those states, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado have legalized it for recreational and medical uses. We feel that the pros outweigh the cons, and that marijuana should be legalized nationally.
Contention One: Health Benefits
Marijuana has three observed health benefits. It has been observed to treat or lessen the symptoms of several debilitating diseases. For example, cancer, alzheimer's, and epilepsy are all diseases that can be treated with marijuana, out of fifteen observed diseases. Marijuana also relieves pain, such as nerve pain in people who suffer from HIV, alcoholism, and spinal surgery. The plant boosts metabolism and helps with weight loss. According to a study published by American Journal of Medicine, marijuana smokers are skinnier than the average person, have a better metabolism, and react to sugar better. Marijuana has many other natural properties that benefit general health. For example, the chemical THC is found in the dried leaves, but the chemical THCA is found in fresh leaves. THCA has many healing properties, but does not alter the mind. The seeds of the marijuana plant are also rich in protein, and have essential fatty acids such as Omega-3,which are good for health. Marijuana also may reduce the health effects of tobacco on the heart and improve lung health. Since marijuana has many proven health benefits, especially in treating painful and chronic diseases, it should be legalized nationally to benefit the medical field.
Contention Two: Economic Effects
We have observed six economic effects of legalizing marijuana. The first is that marijuana is a huge industry, making an estimated anywhere from 45 to 110 billion dollars a year. However, a lot of this money comes from the illegal sale of cannabis, and doesn’t benefit the U.S.. Legalizing marijuana could expand this industry even further, boosting the U.S. economy. Second, marijuana will lead to more money for the government through tax revenue. According to huffington post, it is estimated that the legalization of marijuana will lead to an additional 500 million dollars for the state. Third, if marijuana is legalized, then the U.S. could save about 13.7 billion dollars on prohibition enforcement costs. Also, according to a 2007 study done by Forbes, taxpayers have to pay about 41.8 billion dollars total a year on prohibition costs. By legalizing marijuana, these costs are cut down significantly. Fourth, legalizing marijuana also saves money on prison charges. According to a study done in 2007, the U.S. spends about 1 billion dollars every year on marijuana related prison charges. By legalizing marijuana, these costs will also reduce by a lot because there won’t be any more charges for using it in a state that hasn’t legalized it yet. Jails will also be less crowded without as many people sent to prison for the illegal use of marijuana. Fifth, drug dealers, including terrorists, who usually make a large sum of money due to lack of competition and high street prices, would go out of business if marijuana is legalized. Many manufacturers of agricultural goods would also benefit from the legalization of marijuana, since the crop requires cultivation, farmers, farmworkers, fertilizer firms, and other manufacturers would benefit. Sixth, legalizing marijuana creates more jobs. One example is We Grow, a hydroponic marijuana growing chain that indirectly creates 75 new jobs every time it opens a new center. But, due to the fact that less than half of the states have legalized marijuana, We Grow has limited space to open new centers, and these new jobs can’t be created as easily. By legalizing marijuana, we can open the door to the vast economic benefits of the marijuana industry. All of these positive effects can be achieved if marijuana is legalized nationally, not just by state. Legalizing marijuana has many economic benefits.
Contention Three: Less Harmful
Marijuana is actually less harmful than alcohol and tobacco, although both of those drugs are legal. According to the CDC, there are 88 thousand deaths due to alcohol per year, and 480 thousand deaths due to tobacco per year, and and an estimated 42 thousand from second hand smoke per year, but there are no recorded deaths from marijuana. The therapeutic index, a scale measuring the safety of a drug, indicates that in order to die, a person would have to take 40,000 times the normal amount of marijuana. In fact, alcohol is actually more addictive than marijuana, and is more damaging to the body. A study conducted by the American Journal of Psychiatry, indicated that the there was not a strong relation connecting the use of marijuana to other illegal drugs, which means that marijuana will not be a gateway drug. Marijuana is also less addictive than other drugs. According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the chief medical correspondent of CNN, only 9 to 10% of marijuana users become addicted, compared to the 30% of tobacco users. Cigarettes and alcohol are also gateway drugs, but are not illegal. If more harmful drugs are legal, then the logical choice of action is to legalize marijuana too.
Marijuana should be legalized because it has many proven medical benefits, it positively affects the economy in many ways, and it is less harmful than many other legal drugs. Saving money for the U.S. is critical, considering we are in debt. If we legalize marijuana nationally, we can get a lot of money out of it, which will help our economy significantly. For these reasons, we believe that marijuana should be legalized nationally.
Con (Written by Team One)
Over the years, there have been many arguments as to whether marijuana should be legalized or not. Both sides make valid points about medical reasons, as well as social. However, after doing some research and reasoning, we have come to the conclusion that the cons on this issue greatly outweigh the pros, and that marijuana should not, in fact, be legalized. We believe that marijuana should not be legalized because it is bad for your health, users of marijuana are more likely to use other drugs, and it will have negative effects on the economy. After hearing our points on this topic, we are sure that you will stand with us on the negative side on this issue.
Contention One: Health
Marijuana is bad for your physical and mental health. According to drugfreeworld.org, a survey conducted on college students proved that marijuana seriously diminished learning, attention, and memory skills. Another study conducted on postal workers showed that workers that proved positive when tested for marijuana had 55% more accidents, 85% more injuries, and a 75% increase in being absent from work. According to WebMd, some of the other effects of marijuana smoking are trouble thinking and remembering, bloodshot eyes, cotton mouth, increased appetite, fast heart rate, and slowed coordination. These are serious health problems, and they get worse when you use more marijuana. The government cannot legalize something like this, and even though the people should decide whether they want to do something like this on their own, sometimes the government needs to take charge, and eliminate the risk of a problem like this. In 2008, marijuana use accounted for 4.2 million of the 7 million people aged 12 or older classified with dependence on or abuse of an illicit drug. This means that about two thirds of Americans suffering from any substance use disorder are suffering from marijuana abuse or marijuana dependence. These results prove that marijuana affect humans for the worse both mentally and physically.
Contention Two: Gateway
Users of Marijuana are more likely to use other drugs as well. It can lead to more violent reactions to not having other drugs. According to the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia, 12-17 year olds who use gateway drugs are up to 266 more times likely to use cocaine than those who don’t use gateway drugs, and adults are up to 323 more times likely to use cocaine. In 2003, the Journal of the American Medical Association conducted an experiment with 311 adult twins. They found that individuals who use who used cannabis by 17 had odds of other drug use, alcohol dependence, and drug abuse/dependence that were 2.1 to 5.2 times higher than those of their co-twin, who did not use cannabis before they were 17 years old. Marijuana may not be as harmful as some other drugs, but it is a gateway drug, so it technically leads to usage of those harmful, and illegal drugs. In addition, 95-99 percent of violence/other drugs were linked to marijuana. If marijuana was to be legalized, there would also be a higher chance of people also using other drugs including cocaine. These types of drugs can create safety hazards, including abuse, thus leading to more casualties and injuries.
Contention Three: Economy
If marijuana is legalized, the use of it will have bad effects on the economy. Take the analogy of marijuana to gambling, for example. When gambling was legalized, it didn’t reduce the illegal gambling in the US but increased it. Legal gambling is taxed and regulated by the government, but illegal gambling isn’t. Legal gambling encouraged more illegal gambling, just like legalizing marijuana would encourage the use of illegal marijuana. Illegal drug dealers of marijuana would thrive even more! Those who believe in the legalization of marijuana argue that if it were sold and taxed heavily, the government could gain money. However, it is actually quite the opposite. Let’s use alcohol and tobacco as an analogy because they are legalized drugs. According to CNBC, alcohol-related costs total over 185 billion dollars, while federal and states only collected 14.5 billion dollars from tax. Similarly, tobacco use costs more than 200 billion dollars but only 25 billion dollars from taxes. Legal alcohol costs are more than 12 times the collected tax revenue and legal tobacco is about 8 times the collected tax revenue! Instead of helping the economy and earning the government money, legalizing marijuana would result in an economically disastrous trade-off!
We believe that marijuana should not be legalized because it is bad for your health, users of marijuana are more likely to use other drugs, and it will have negative effects on the economy. There are pros to legalizing marijuana, but they are so greatly outweighed by the cons and that it simply is not a good idea, and it is far too treacherous to let our citizens use these dangerous, addictive drugs. The government controlling this part of the people’s lives is not a gradual switch to an authoritarian state, it is simply helping the people by not letting them use drugs. It’s for their own good. Drugs can destroy lives and tear apart families, and we cannot let people continue to use them, as well as use marijuana, since although it is less dangerous than things like cocaine and heroin, it is a gateway drug to them, which is still dangerous, and deadly. We strongly advise you to stand with us in outlawing recreational marijuana. Those who use marijuana are more likely to use other drugs which would deeply affect a person’s state of being. These can include their social life, and their mental and physical health. Therefore, marijuana should not be legalized.
mage Credit: http://www.statemarijuanalaws.com/