Drugs! Drugs! Drugs!

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Ah, but that presumes that the government is the final arbiter of a society's standards and have the right to enforce these.

No, it presumes that the government is the expression of the collective will of the people regarding societal standards and their enforcement.

Having read me post for years, you are well aware of all the problems I have with THAT little attitude.

As I have something of a libertarian streak, I have actually been an advocate of de-criminalizing most of it. I have never personally used any illegal drugs, have smoked only 5-6 cigars during my 20s and early 30s, and average about 7-10 drinks per month. I think that people who WANT to use most of these substances are setting themselve up for epic failure on other levels -- but I have a great deal of problem with the government legislating my choice for them. Barring direct harm to others, I think its more of a personal choice issue.

Regarding government policing efforts in our "war" on drugs, we have never taken the steps that would be needed to really make it effective. If a market exists, it will be serviced -- that's capitalism in action. Unless we curtail the market through education and draconian enforcement of heavy penalties against the users of these products, we have as much chance of winning this "war" as Brer Rabbit had of defeating the tar-baby.

[Pannonian]

No, it presumes that the government is the expression of the collective will of the people regarding societal standards and their enforcement.

Having read me post for years, you are well aware of all the problems I have with THAT little attitude.

Did you really write such a long post that CountArach would have had to spend years reading it? Perhaps it's just me miscomprehension.

[Tellos Athenaios]

@Seamus Fermanagh: in order to do the “war on drugs” properly you would have to start a “war on guns”, because without the latter the various drug cartels will remain sufficiently powerful to fight the former.