Ron Paul's Farewell Address

[rwg3]

The majority on this board are probably conservative and rail against the liberal nanny state mind set - but when it comes to the self destructive drug taking folk we want to be nannies - again what a waste of time.

Truly, it isn't about being a nanny for me. I am convinced, based on my years of working in an ER, that if marijuana (to pick one) were to become legal, that more people would drive high than are already driving high. Well, I use those roads too, and I don't want additional impaired drivers on them. It's NOT because I want the state to protect people from themselves, it's because I want the state to protect ME from THEM. If they want to jump out of airplanes without parachutes, that's fine with me. I think it is dumb, but I don't care because it doesn't affect me.

This is an argument that I agree with, even while acknowledging the double edge to this sword. if in a case like this it is the role of government to try to balance the freedoms of individuals to do what they want against the freedom to be safe in your everyday life then it works. If the laws are designed to provide some safety on the road, then it is all too easy to extrapolate this concept of public safety into a host of other situations. For instance, motorcycle helmet laws or involuntary treatment for mental illness. This train can/has lead to Obamacare as it seeks to provide for the health safety of some individuals while burdening all with the costs of protecting the unisured.

The War on Drugs has been less than succesful, Unless there is a fundamental shift in the economic paradigm that underpins the drug trade I think it is time to try a different approach. While not perfect, the model used in the alcohol business, legalize and regulate, seems to be a viable option to try.

[talltex]

The majority on this board are probably conservative and rail against the liberal nanny state mind set - but when it comes to the self destructive drug taking folk we want to be nannies - again what a waste of time.

If they want to jump out of airplanes without parachutes, that's fine with me. I think it is dumb, but I don't care because it doesn't affect me.

The War on Drugs has been less than succesful, Unless there is a fundamental shift in the economic paradigm that underpins the drug trade I think it is time to try a different approach. While not perfect, the model used in the alcohol business, legalize and regulate, seems to be a viable option to try.

"less than successful" is putting it mildly...The government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars...created a new bureaucracy in the DEA...created hundreds of additional privately funded prison facilities, along with halfway houses and rehab facilities and programs mandated as part of the punishment...and it hasn't had ANY noticeable effect in 25 years. I have a friend that's an FBI agent acting as liason on a joint task force project with the DEA for the last 5 years, and he flatly states that they haven't had the slightest effect on drug traffic other than to occasionally replace one kingpin with another. He likens it to prohibition also, in that it made multi-millionares out of organized crime leaders as well as "legitimate" people like Joseph Kennedy, and when all was said and done it accomplished nothing.

As far as them jumping out of airplanes...wait until one of'em lands on your roof or windshield...