[420 Girl]

In this week's Square Off: Frankahan - The Drilon Debates, debaters from Ateneo de Manila University trounced the team from the College of St. Benilde after arguing on the motion that the use of marijuana should be regulated and not prohibited.

Ateneo, led by Best Speaker Miko Biscocho, proposed adapting the Dutch model, which requires decriminalizing the use of marijuana and active government regulation.

Ateneo said decriminalization meant making marijuana legal as long as the government doesn't sell to minors, doesn't sell more than 5 grams per person and does not allow its sale in school areas. The team said this would dissuade people from turning to underground markets and being presented with other more harmful drugs.

Ateneo also said regulation meant putting up controlled centers and cafes, issuing individual cards for the government to actively monitor or track their usage, and at the very least earn taxes from this like the state already does with sin taxes on tobacco and alcohol.

They point out there is no scientified evidence that marijuana is harmful and said no single death has been attributed to its use. They also marijuana is not addictive like alcohol or nicotine but is "psychologically addicting", like chocolate.

"The debate is about comparison and the extents in what the state is obliged to do. Marijuana isn't nearly as harmful as we perceive it to be and even if there are harms, they are better mitigated on our model," Miko said.

The CSB team, however, said the ADMU debaters did not give enough emphasis on the harmful effects of marijuana. They argued that while marijuana use may not kill you, it gives you longer-lasting problems like lung cancer and bronchitis. Moreover, it also temporarily impairs the individual's judgement, memory and motor skills, and causes hallucinations.

CSB pointed out that these affect not only the individual but, ultimately,society.

CSB also argued that government's regulatory record is already less than desirable. They said the state should focus instead on protecting the people from all drugs, whether hard or soft because marijuana is a gateway drug to harsher, more dangerous illegal substances. CSB argued that legalizing marijuana use only weakens the government's stance on the fight against illegal substances and doesn't solve the country's drug problem at its root.

The judges praised Ateneo's strategy to argue in terms of comparative analysis of what happens if marijuana use is prohibited and what happens if it's regulated. They also noted that CSB's argumentation was limited to enumerating the purported harms of marijuana, without engaging the principles AdMU espoused.

"I think the dynamics boiled down to that, when should the government regulate and when should it prohibit." Adjudicator Ricky de la Cruz explained. "It was unanimous, the team that answered those questions and won the debate was Ateneo."

You can catch Square Off: Frankahan - The Drilon Debates every Wednesdays, 8-9pm, with replays every Thursday 1pm, Saturday 1pm and Sunday 2am.

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