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[데니스]

안녕하세요. 데니스입니다. 금주 debate 주제입니다. ^^

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Should marijuana be legalized?

The debate regarding the legalisation of drugs, particularly that of soft drugs like cannabis (or marijuana) is capable of being characterised as one which pits the concept of freedom of the individual against the concept of a paternalistic State. Advocates of legalisation argue, amongst other things, that cannabis is not only less harmful than legal substances like alcohol and tobacco, but as a matter of fact has been proven to possess certain medicinal properties. In stark contrast, those opposed to legalisation argue that the legalisation of cannabis will act as a precursor to increased addiction to hard drugs, and will necessarily lead to an increase in the crime rate itself.

Pros.

1. The use of marijuana is more widespread than we could ever imagine. I personally do not use it, but I would say that 90% of all people that have ever met have used it on a regular basis at one point in their lives. These people are not scum, they are professionals and are successful. The law should reflect society, and if most people are breaking the law, it is the law that should be changed.

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2. Marijuana has very few side effects. Many activists will say that it is totally harmless, this is definitely not true. It can harm, it is addictive, and is not healthy, but it is not much worse than many other things that we legally put in our bodies.

3. Marijuana is not a gateway drug. People who use it do not necessarily get into harder drugs (although it is possible). If marijuana was legalized, instances of people using it and moving to more heavy drugs would be decreased as well. This is simply due to the fact that if it is legal, someone must be willing to break the law to use it, so that barrier is already broken if someone has made the decision to try it.

4. Marijuana laws are unjust. The only reason that many of these laws were created were to control the Mexican population in the lower US States. These laws are actually so unreasonable that they prevent the use of hemp paper as an environmentally friendly alternative to the paper that is causing our forests to disappear.

5. Currently, the only people that profit from the widespread use of marijuana are the people that are willing to break the law. If it were to be legalized, the price of it would go down significantly and it could be taxed to provide social services for the public. People are going to buy it either way, it would be nice to tax it and use the money to make the country better place.

6. Legal marijuana would result in increased tourism and outside spending. Amsterdam has legalized marijuana, and as a result have become a world-class vacation destination.

In conclusion, it is easy to take an extremist view on any topic. I could say that marijuana should be illegal because it causes crime, or that it should be legal because there is no proof that anyone has ever died from it, but these extremist views don't prove anything. Just like anything else in life, there are some positives and negatives about legalized marijuana, but when it comes right down to it, there are too many advantages to ignore.

cons.

Pot, cannabis, mary jane, ganja, dope, chronic, herb...Marijuana has a lot of different alias' but they should all stay illegal. No if's, no ands and no buts' about it and for a whole host of reasons. Here is my case against the legalization of marijuana.

1. let's compare smoking weed and smoking cigarettes. Neither is healthy, by any standard, but studies have shown that pot smoke contained more toxic chemicals than cigarette smoke. It (pot smoke) contained 20 times more ammonia, five times more hydrogen cyanide (leading cause of heart disease) and five times more nitrogen oxides (leading cause of lung damage/disease) than that of it's tobacco counterpart. In essence, for every average joint smoked that person is taking in the toxins of a minimum of five cigarettes. In addition, most weed smokers also smoke cigarettes which contribute to a rapid decay of both your heart and lungs.

2. let's look at the other known health risks of pot smoking. Long term effects of the use of marijuana are inconclusive but the short term effects are well documented and accepted by most in the scientific community. Short-term memory loss, short-term attention loss, loss of dexterity and motor skills, and lowered ability to perform in activities requiring concentration and skill, such as driving, have all been attributed to marijuana use. In addition, use of marijuana, has been shown to lead to both anxiety and panic attacks and reactions. Studies have also shown that heavy use of cannabis smoking is linked to increased symptoms of chronic bronchitis, such as coughing, wheezing and production of sputum. As hinted on earlier, lung function is also poorer and there is a much greater risk of abnormalities in the large airways if pot smokers than in non-users.

3. we have the "gateway drug" theory. This theory has been praised and vilified since its conception in the 1950's and is central in the argument against the legalization of marijuana in the United States. Some studies support it and some studies do not. However, many studies have shown that people who regularly use cannabis is associated and in contact with others who either deal and/or use harder drugs than people who do not partake in cannabis use or use it at a minimum which would seem to suggest that, at the very least, regular pot smokers are more open to the idea of trying harder drugs.

In ending, the legalization of marijuana would not be beneficial and would not be in the best interest of the citizenry in nearly any way. Yes, alcohol and tobacco are legal but they would never be approved by the FDA if they were "discovered" today. The social and personal harm they cause outweighs the "fun factor" and private use of these drugs. The same holds true for marijuana.

Questions

1. Individual liberty: Should individuals be at liberty to use marijuana?

2. Health: Is marijuana fairly harmless health-wise or even spiritually beneficial?

3. Gateway drug: Is Marijuana not a gateway drug?

Words

paternalistic: (ADJ) Someone who is paternalistic takes all the decisions for the people they govern, employ, or are responsible for.

stark: (ADJ) If two things are in stark contrast to one another, they are very different from each other in a way that is very obvious.

scum: (N-PLURAL) If you refer to people as scum, you are expressing your feelings of dislike and disgust for them.[INFORMAL]

hemp paper: (N-UNCOUNT) Hemp is a plant used for making rope or the drug marijuana.

alias: (PREP : n-proper) You use alias when you are mentioning another name that someone, especially a criminal or an actor, is known by.

dexterity: (N-UNCOUNT) Dexterity is skill in using your hands, or sometimes your mind.

gateway drug: (N-COUNT) A gateway drug is a drug such as cannabis that is believed by some people to lead to the use of more harmful drugs such as heroin or cocaine.

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[Anthony.C]

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