Shelley 1

Justin Shelley
Ms. Glasbrenner
Public Speaking AA07
24 January 2014
Its Your Choice
Specific Purpose Statement: To inform my audience why drugs should be legal.
Thesis: Drugs should be legal because citizens have the right to choose whether to use drugs.
Introduction
Who here has used either Caffeine, Nicotine, or Alcohol at some point in your life? All of you
who raised your hands have used drugs. Yes thats right I said drugs. Caffeine, Nicotine, and
Alcohol are all drugs just like Cocaine, Heroin, and Marijuana. Do not believe me? Let me
prove it to you with studies done by professionals that will show the real dangers of everyday
drugs, how legalization will help America, and why the long held beliefs about drugs are false.
(Transition: First, let us compare Nicotine, Alcohol, and Caffeine against five other drugs.)
Body
I. There is little difference between currently legal drugs and currently illegal drugs.
A. Alcohol is the most harmful drug in the world.
1. A study published by The Lancet, a prestigious scientific journal, and performed by
David Nutt ranked Alcohol the most harmful drug with a score of 72 while Heroin
was the second most dangerous with a score of 55.
2. This means that Alcohol is 50% more harmful then Heroin.
B. Nicotine is highly damaging to the body.
1. A study done by Dr. Jack Henningfield of the National Institute on Drug abuse ranked
the Withdrawl of Nicotine higher then the Withdrawl of Cocaine and Marijuana.
2. The same study ranked the dependence of Nicotine higher than that of Heroin,
Cocaine, and Marijuana.
C. Caffeine is worse then Marijuana.

Shelley 2
1. Dr. Neal L. Benowitz of the University of California at San Francisco performed a
study in which Marijuana and Caffeine were compared.
2. In this study Caffeine ranked higher than Marijuana in Withdrawal, Reinforcement,
Tolerance, and Dependence.
3. This means that Caffeine users are more addicted and effected by using Caffeine then
those who use Marijuana.
(Transition: Next, I will outline some of the many benefits of legalizing drugs.)
II. Harvard University professor Jeffrey Miron gave many benefits of legalizing drugs in an
interview the first of March.
A. One of these benefits would be the $90 billion dollars that the US would save by
legalizing drugs.
B. Another benefit is that by legalizing drugs gangs and cartels would become much smaller
and thus the murder rate in the US could fall by around 25 percent.
C. Professor Miron states that addiction isnt the problem, it is the black market.
1. The black market makes drug business highly dangerous.
2. The black market makes drug business expensive.
(Transition: Finally, I will dispprove some long held beliefs about drugs.)
III. The long held beliefs about drugs are false.
A. The long held beliefs are based on the current drug system, not the drugs themselves.
1. The main reason for the current dangers of drugs is from how drugs are obtained from
gangs and cartels.
2. Economist Allison Schrager belives that people are killed over drugs because they can
not bring their property battle to court. Since drugs are illegal.
B. The War on Drugs has caused the majority of dangers associated with drugs.
1. The war on drugs has raised the prices of drugs which has caused drug users to
become even more poverty stricken.
2. The war on drugs has also increased the death rate of drug trading because dealers are
paranoid of being turned in to the authorities.
Conclusion

Shelley 3
The War on Drugs has caused much more harm than good and needs to be stopped immediately.
By ending the war on drugs America would be richer because of state tax revenue, decreased
drug prices for consumers, and the $40 billion spent for the war on drugs would be used
elsewhere. America would also be safer also because drugs and cartels would lose almost all
their power. Legalizing all drugs would be great for the country but without strong citizen
support it will never happen.