A DEBATE ON THE LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA (Affirmative) By Angelique Ashley B. Martin This house believes that marijuana should be legalized.

First and foremost, the impression on marijuana is falsely applied because it is treated as harmful as that of the famous drugs such as heroin, shabu, or cocaine. But in fact, marijuana (cannabis) is just a plant grown on soils for cultivation and beautification and for medication. The widespread use of marijuana signifies the peoples addiction to it and rendered it unhealthy. Looking at this plant alone, its actually harmless. It will cause neither death nor peril to the person using it. Like any substance, marijuana can be abused. The most common problem attributed to marijuana is frequent overuse, which can induce lethargic behavior, but does not cause serious health problems. Marijuana can cause short-term memory loss, but only while under the influence. Marijuana does not impair long-term memory. Marijuana does not lead to harder drugs. Marijuana does not cause brain damage, genetic damage, or damage the immune system. Unlike alcohol, marijuana does not kill brain cells or induce violent behavior. Continuous long-term smoking of marijuana can cause bronchitis, but the chance of contracting bronchitis from casual marijuana smoking is minuscule. Respiratory health hazards can be totally eliminated by consuming marijuana via non-smoking methods, i.e., ingesting marijuana via baked foods, tincture, or vaporizer. Marijuana is actually less dangerous than alcohol, cigarettes, and even most over-the-counter medicines or prescriptions. Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care. For marijuana to be illegal in the United States when alcohol poisoning is a major cause of death in this country and approximately 400,000 premature deaths are attributed to cigarettes annually. A Person that drinks an extreme amount of alcohol will experience and inabilities to stand or walk without help and may result in unconsciousness or death. Even though these effects occur only under an extreme amount of alcohol consumption, the fact is smoking extreme amounts of marijuana will do nothing more than put someone to sleep, while drinking excessive amounts of alcohol will kill someone. People who smoke marijuana also pay taxes, love and support their families, and work hard to make a better life for their children. Suddenly they are arrested, jailed and treated like criminals solely because of their recreational drug of choice. State agencies frequently step in and declare children of marijuana smokers to be "in danger", and many children are placed into foster homes as a result. This causes enormous pain, suffering and financial hardship for millions of families. It also engenders distrust and disrespect for the law and for the criminal justice system overall. Responsible marijuana smokers present no threat or danger to the nation or its children, and there is no reason to treat them as criminals, or to take their children away. As a society we need to find ways to discourage personal conduct of all kinds that is abusive or harmful to others. Responsible marijuana smokers are not the problem and it is time to stop arresting them. In our country, marijuana is illegal. Thus, the use of marijuana is secretly done, and the exchange in the market is enormous as to give our government alarm in order to stop the usage of such. People who use marijuana underground are unstoppable. If it will be forever illegal, then, our nation too, will forever be spending our government funds to prevent this. If marijuana will be legalized, then the underground market can now be controlled, for when marijuana is legalized, the government shall implement laws

regarding its restriction for usage. The government can now control its supply; The government can now control its users. Notwithstanding our economy, we all know that were in great indebtedness; the legalization of marijuana can help if it may be allowed to be legalized. Like in the Amsterdam, Marijuana is their economys primary mover, marijuana is found elsewhere, in the shops, in the stores, and all over, because it is a great factor in their economy. But, the use of marijuana is very strict, minors cant get a hold of it, and the quantity to be bought is very little.

THE HISTORY AND QUERIES In 1976, the Netherlands decriminalised possession of soft drugs such as cannabis. To cater for demand, outlets quickly cropped up in around the country, specifically in the capital, Amsterdam. These establishments are known as 'coffee shops', but most patrons don't hang out there for a caffeine fix. It's dope that floats their boat. So am I free to get stoned? Technically, the sale of cannabis remains an offence in Holland, and dealing in the streets remains illegal. Even so, possession of less than 30 grams for personal use carries only a minor punishment, and coffee shops are restricted to flogging no more than five grams per person. The catch is you have to be 18 or over. Smoking in public is tolerated, too, but many Brit tokers report that such a laid back attitude takes some getting used to. As a result, they prefer to remain free from all risk of coming into conflict with the law by only smoking in the coffee shop. What about stuff like ecstasy or coke? Coffee houses don't take kindly to punters who come in looking for something other than weed. Why? Because drug policy in the Netherlands makes a broad distinction between hard and soft drugs. Their tolerance towards soft drugs such as cannabis basically frees them up to devote more effort to counter the trade in harder substances like heroin and cocaine, and maintain addiction recovery programmes. It means no legitimate coffee shop will supply or even stock anything other than hash, so don't ask. What's the procedure when I walk into a coffee shop? The law forbids coffee shops to advertise the sale and availability of cannabis, which can make things a little confusing. As a Brit, you will look either a) shifty and out of your depth or b) hideously overconfident. Either way, look for a 'marijuana menu', often in booklet form, and then make a selection from there. Just don't be tempted to go for the strongest stuff on offer if you've never tried it before. Amsterdam hash has a reputation for being way stronger than Brit weed and you could wind up ruining your weekend. If in doubt, ask the staff. They'll be happy to help. What's the deal with duty free drugs? There is no deal. Attempting to smuggle drugs out of Holland is a criminal offence, no matter how insignificant the amount. It's no good arguing that you were bringing some home as a 'keepsake', the customs officer will be snapping on the glove in no time.

US Policy on Drugs Driven by the Drug War, the U.S. prison population is six to ten times as high as most Western European nations. The United States is a close second only to Russia in its rate of incarceration per 100,000 people. In 2000, more than 734,000 people were arrested in this country for marijuana-related offenses alone. The US war on drugs places great emphasis on arresting people for smokingmarijuana. Since 1990, nearly 5.9 million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges, a greater number than the entire populations of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming combined. In 2000, state and local law enforcement arrested 734,498 people for marijuana violations. This is an increase of 800 percent since 1980, and is the highest ever recorded by the FBI. As has been the case throughout the 1990s, the overwhelming majority of those charged with marijuana violations in 2000-- 646,042 Americans (88 %) -- were for simple possession. The remaining 12% (88,456 Americans) were for "sale/manufacture", an FBI category which includes marijuana grown for personal use or purely medical purposes. These new FBI statistics indicate that one marijuana smoker is arrested every 45 seconds in America. Taken together, the total number of marijuana arrests for 2000 far exceeded the combined number of arrests for violent crimes, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Like most Americans, people who smoke marijuana also pay taxes, love and support their families, and work hard to make a better life for their children. Suddenly they are arrested, jailed and treated like criminals solely because of their recreational drug of choice. State agencies frequently step in and declare children of marijuana smokers to be "in danger", and many children are placed into foster homes as a result. This causes enormous pain, suffering and financial hardship for millions of American families. It also engenders distrust and disrespect for the law and for the criminal justice system overall. Responsible marijuana smokers present no threat or danger to America or its children, and there is no reason to treat them as criminals, or to take their children away. As a society we need to find ways to discourage personal conduct of all kinds that is abusive or harmful to others. Responsible marijuana smokers are not the problem and it is time to stop arresting them. Once all the facts are known, it becomes clear that America's marijuana laws need reform. This issue must be openly debated using only the facts. Groundless claims, meaningless statistics, and exaggerated scare stories that have been peddled by politicians and prohibitionists for the last 60 years must be rejected.

ANNUAL AMERICAN DEATHS CAUSED BY DRUGS TOBACCO ........................ 400,000 ALCOHOL ........................ 100,000 ALL LEGAL DRUGS .............20,000 ALL ILLEGAL DRUGS ..........15,000 CAFFEINE .........................2,000

ASPIRIN ...........................500 MARIJUANA ...................... 0 ---------------------------------------Source: United States government... National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bureau of Mortality Statistics

Like any substance, marijuana can be abused. The most common problem attributed to marijuana is frequent overuse, which can induce lethargic behaviour, but does not cause serious health problems. Marijuana can cause short-term memory loss, but only while under the influence. Marijuana does not impair long-term memory. Marijuana does not lead to harder drugs. Marijuana does not cause brain damage, genetic damage, or damage the immune system. Unlike alcohol, marijuana does not kill brain cells or induce violent behaviour. Continuous long-term smoking of marijuana can cause bronchitis, but the chance of contracting bronchitis from casual marijuana smoking is minuscule. Respiratory health hazards can be totally eliminated by consuming marijuana via non-smoking methods, i.e., ingesting marijuana via baked foods, tincture, or vaporizer. A 1997 UCLA School of Medicine study (Volume 155 of the American Journal of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine) conducted on 243 marijuana smokers over an 8-year period reported the following: "Findings from the long-term study of heavy, habitual marijuana smokers argue against the concept that continuing heavy use of marijuana is a significant risk factor for the development of chronic lung disease." "Neither the continuing nor the intermittent marijuana smokers exhibited any significantly different rates of decline in lung function as compared with those individuals who never smoked marijuana." The study concluded: "No differences were noted between even quite heavy marijuana smoking and non-smoking of marijuana." Marijuana does not cause serious health problems like those caused by tobacco or alcohol (e.g., strong addiction, cancer, heart problems, birth defects, emphysema, liver damage, etc.). Death from a marijuana overdose is impossible. In all of world history, there has never been a single human death attributed to a health problem caused by marijuana. Legalize marijuana and life would be better for most people.

Countries having legalized Cannabis: -Holland (Netherlands, Amsterdam) -Jamaica -Morocco -Nepal -Vietnam -Costa Rica

-Columbia

Countries offering a "lenient" law on Cannabis: -Canada -Belgium -Germany -Poland -Laos -Mexico Would legalization help reduce crime? Yes Legalizing marijuana will decrease crime by ending criminality of drugs. Smoking marijana is not forbidden in the Netherlands. But, it is forbidden to grow marijuana,and to buy marijuana in great quantities. And there is the cause of crime. If you want to make consumption of marijuana legal, then producing, growing and selling marijuana ought to be legal too. Now producers of marijuana are criminals. It is the law, in this case, that makes the crime. Legalizing marijuana will reduce profits of traffickers and gangs With reduced profits for illegal marijuana sales, sellers of illegal marijuana will decrease. This is because, there will be no need for consumers to purchase marijuana from an illegal dealer, when it can be legally purchased. Drug legalization will reduce police corruption in illicit trade Rise of criminal acts associated with Marijuana addiction is directly related to a prohibition. The main reasons is because the use is prohibited, then the price is high and is hard to obtain, that conduct to a criminal acts to obtain the drug. Contradictory arguments by opposition. We cannot, in the same breath, say that crime will rise if marijuana is legalized because users will commit more crimes to obtain it, yet maintain that prohibition and harsher penalties are now keeping usage down. If it is maintained that marijuana users will commit VIOLENT offenses (such as burglary or armed robbery) to obtain the substance, how can the position be maintained that current prohibitory legislation (which is NOT a violent offense) be the effective threat of penalty? Inequality of comparison. Legalization in some countries has led to marginal crime increases in those countries (and some other countries in crime reduction), yet we are the United States of America, where we grow up believing we have the right to be free from the oppressions of unreasonable governmental action. In this respect we differ from those other countries at the most basic level, therefore rendering

comparison inaccurate. Nearly all marijuana users believe the prohibition to be unconstitutional (correct assumption or not) and unreasonable, therefore the use of marijuana in the U.S.A. is not effected by prohibitory laws because the vast majority of users already see such laws as an infringement of their Godgiven rights. This is not just another unpopular law in a country which isn't guaranteed freedom and liberty. Marijuana prohibition is more widely perceived by users in the U.S. as an affront to all that this country stands for. When an oppression is perceived in THIS country, we tend to defend it with more vehemence than most; simple defiance becomes necessary patriotism. In short, users believe their actions to be more patriotic than unlawful. If the perceived threat to our freedoms is removed (i.e. that is replace prohibition with taxation and regulation) then the otherwise law-abiding citizens that are users can no longer use self-perceived patriotism as an excuse for being unlawful and will tend to resume their otherwise lawful lives (as was seen when alcohol prohibition ended). Medical Benefits. The American Medical Association tried to argue for the medical benefits of hemp. Marijuana is actually less dangerous than alcohol, cigarettes, and even most over-the-counter medicines or prescriptions. Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care. For marijuana to be illegal in the United States when alcohol poisoning is a major cause of death in this country and approximately 400,000 premature deaths are attributed to cigarettes annually. A Person that drinks an extreme amount of alcohol will experience and inability to stand or walk without help and may result in unconsciousness or death. Even though these effects occur only under an extreme amount of alcohol consumption, the fact is smoking extreme amounts of marijuana will do nothing more than put someone to sleep, while drinking excessive amounts of alcohol will kill someone. The most profound activist for marijuana's use as a medicine is Dr. Lester Grinspoon, author of Marijuana: The Forbidden Medicine. According to Grinspoon, "The only well confirmed negative effect of marijuana is caused by the smoke, which contains three times more tars and five times more carbon monoxide than tobacco. But even the heaviest marijuana smokers rarely use as much as an average tobacco smoker." Marijuana also relieves nausea suffered by cancer patients undergoing powerful chemotherapy. It is also used by patients who have multiple sclerosis and AIDS. Marijuana also proved to be effective in the treatment of glaucoma because its use lowers pressure on the eye.