Legal marijuana can be controlled and regulated
The composition of legal cannabis can be guaranteed by a trusted organization (a state or an association for example). Thus, the consumers will be protected from added substances present in street cannabis.
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The Argument
Legalising marijuana would mean it was able to be quality controlled. Unlike now, when marijuana bought illegally may be mixed with any other sort of substance and be actively harmful, if marijuana were to be regulated the government would be able to enforce standards to lessen the possible impact on public health.
Additionally, by legalising marijuana it is taken out of the shadow economy and made legitimate. The production and distribution of marijuana would no longer have to be facilitated by gangs and criminals. Legalising marijuana has been shown to bring a significant drop in violent crime.[1]
Counter arguments
Legalising marijuana will not stop it being spiked or the production being run by gangs and criminals. Instead, it will legitimise their endeavours as well as producing more users for these groups to pray on.
Premises
[P1] Legalising marijuana will take it out of the shadow economy.
[P2] Therefore, both the quality of the marijuana and the way in which it is produced and distributed will become far safer.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P2] Legitimising the marijuana trade will not stop the current links it holds to the crime world.