badgenome said:
I don't think it's such a great idea to throw otherwise non-criminal drug users in jail myself, but her argument is remarkably consistent, and I agree with it. A lot of libertarian-minded folks want smaller government at every turn no matter what, but I think you have to go about it in the right order: until the welfare state is abolished, legalizing drugs would be folly. People have to choose between being free and having state-provided economic security. If Citizen A wants to shoot heroin directly into his eyeball all day long, I can't really give a fuck as long as he's paying for it. And if Citizen B chooses to be a ward of the state, that's fine, but he should be treated like one. So if the state tells him he can't eat this, or smoke that, or inject this, and that he has to exercise X number of minutes a day, that's the price he'll have to pay for not being his own man. The only truly inconsistent argument I see being made is by liberals when they argue about the economic and moral case for universal health care and then turn around and say the government can't tell them what to do with their bodies. |
Everything has consequences to it. Without some semblance of society intervention to assist those who lives have fallen apart, to act as the said safety net, where people can recover (this need not be government), end result is that without it, where people are told they need to fend for themselves, you will actually see looting and rioting breaking out as people who made bad decisions felt they had no option but to rob. Merely saying life is hard, and creating a jungle-like environment, isn't going to solve problems. This is particularly true with drugs, where you create addicts who are compelled to fund their habit one way or another. Of course, one could then advocate increased arming of citizens and allow business owners to gun down whomever goes into their store, and shoot beggers to clean up the streets.
Want a system for legalizing drugs, with a semblance of a social safety net? If it is known that people will end up messing up their lives for doing drugs, you end up taxing drugs at a proper rate, using it to fund rehab programs, and then have individuals who want to use drugs to have to get a license to buy such drugs, stating they are fully aware of the consequences, and use the money to fund education programs for people who want to use it. Businesses selling such drugs, if they sell to individuals who don't have a license to buy, they can be sued, and put out of business. There are negative externalities that happen from drug use, that need to be accounted for. The license to buy, is something that states you take full responsibility for your actions.
