Drug Debate: The abuse of illegal drugs ought to be treated as a matter of public health, not of criminal justice.

Today I want to present my negative speech for my Debate class on the resolution: The abuse of illegal drugs ought to be treated as a matter of public health, not of criminal justice. Enjoy.


"Illegal drug use runs contrary to the image of health depicted by cycling. Distributors of these drugs must be prosecuted more harshly as they are criminals." (Bernard Hinault)
With these words in mind, I stand firmly in negation of the resolution which states that: the abuse of illegal drugs ought to be treated as a matter of public health, not of criminal justice. For the sake of clarification in this debate, I would like to define the following terms: (Google) Drug abuse: the habitual taking of addictive or illegal drugs. (Merriam-Webster) Illegal: contrary to or forbidden by law, esp. criminal law. (Merriam-Webster) Public Health: the art and science dealing with the protection and improvement of community health by organized community effort and including preventive medicine and sanitary and social science. (Legal Dictionary) Criminal Justice: the system of law enforcement, the bar, the judiciary, corrections, and probation that is directly involved in the apprehension, prosecution, defense, sentencing, incarceration, and supervision of those suspected of or charged with criminal offenses. My value premise for this debate is Societal Welfare, which is what is best for the community as a whole, I chose this because the resolution specifically uses the term “illegal drugs”, which means that which ever system we use, drug use will remain illegal. The resolution does not focus on the legality of drugs, the debate is about how we best treat this illegal activity so that the least harm will come to society. My value criterion is Justice because it is the best tool with which to measure if my value is being upheld in this debate. Societal Welfare is promoted through the use of Justice, which is best achieved by punitive aspects and the recidivism prevention of the criminal justice system.
My first contention is that drug use leads to addiction, rendering conventional solutions to public problems ineffective without criminal justice. Many drug dealers will abjure their "business" as illegal activity and justify it as a mean of personal finance when they can not uphold a real job. Drugs are illegal for a reason, they pose various health threats and the ways that these drugs are produced have deleterious affects due to the amount of different chemicals and items that can be poisonous to the users. Drugs also have started much violence and war among many countries. The only way we can stop the spread of drug violence and harm to society is to penalize and punish the providers of drugs to the community. Whether it is the dealer or the buyer, they both pose potential harm to others and themselves. Without the appropriate backing of the justice system then drugs will remain a scourge to the world and continue to harm the welfare of society. The growth of illegal drugs has had a tremendous impact of the health of world, and not just the health, but on the society as a whole. The production and distribution of drugs costs an extensive amount of money and serves no real value to society, all that this does is create a mass epidemic of growing addiction and dependency of illegal substances that have no redeeming affects.  "Drug addiction is a major public health problem that cost the U.S. a staggering $468 billion in 2005, according to The New York Times. Costs result from disease, crime, accidents, child abuse, domestic violence, homelessness and lost wages. Alcohol abuse, smoking and illegal drug use cause one in four deaths and many other serious economic and social consequences. The negative effects of substance abuse affect everyone," states Lauren Hunter of Live Strong Magazine. The United Nations states that "Global illicit drug users to rise 25% by 2050".
My second contention is that illicit drug use costs U.S. economy more than $193 Billion annually and since users have acquired egregious side effects from the use of illegal substances that these users should be criminally charged for active participation in illegal activities and causing the economy of their nation to wither for their actions. The order of magnitude of the extent of the illicit drug problem should be established in the light of at least two of the unique characteristics of illicit drugs: first, they are all addictive substances, a fact that sometimes blurs the dividing line both between use and abuse and between consumption and addiction; and secondly, though commodities that are traded or trafficked, they are distinguished by low volume but enormously high unit cost and value. Statistics show that drug abusers represent 6.1 percent of the population aged 12 years and over. An estimated 3.6 million people have severe drug problems and are in need of professional drug treatment services. It is the cost of the services that the U.S. should not have to pay for the shortcomings of its people. There are apparent benefits to the economy for the production of drugs because of the amount of retail and taxes that are paid in production, but these "benefits" of consumption for drug abusers tend to be transient and are quickly superseded by a considerable health and financial burden on society. Drug abusers and dealers should all be criminally charged for the detrimental affects on the economy and to society.
The abuse of illegal drugs has had an extensive negative impact on today's public health, the society, and the economy of the United States. Having supporting my value of Societal Welfare, I strongly urge you to vote in negation of the resolution that the abuse of illegal drugs ought to be treated as a matter of public health, not of criminally justice.

I hope that my points are clear. This should be a fun debate tomorrow.

- G.