The government should use its police power to punish people for what they do to other people, not for what they do to themselves. Once the government assumes the power to deprive us of life, liberty or property solely because of things we do to ourselves any sense that we own ourselves, that we are sovereign individuals, and that we are safe from an oppressive government, is gone.
The drug war makes my wife, my daughter, my friends and all other law-abiding American citizens less safe in their homes, at work and on the streets.
The war on drugs is not only un-winnable; it is also a hideous waste of taxpayer resources … resources that need to be dedicated to combating terrorism and 16-year-old drivers.
The war on drugs is the principal vehicle (or it was, before the terrorism threat came along) used by government to violate your most basic rights to privacy and property. Over the past thirty years the federal government has passed laws that allows it to pry into almost every corner of your social and financial life — all in the name of fighting drugs. My privacy is more important than stalking down a marijuana cigarette in somebody’s living room.
The war on drugs is a power center for politicians. Politicians love having thousands of heavily armed law enforcement officers and millions of dollars under their direct control; assets that can be manipulated for the maximum political and reelection advantage.
I don’t think any of us want a bunch of crack heads and teens stoked on marijuana wandering around our neighborhoods. Ending the war on drugs doesn’t mean promoting or approving of drug use. Also, nobody is suggesting that we shouldn’t enforce laws against driving under the influence of drugs and other such misbehaviors. Simply apply the same laws we use to control public drunkenness to combat those who inflict their drug-induced behavior on others. Drive under the influence – lose your license. Hell .. take away the car for all I care, but NOT because the person did drugs, but because the person did drugs and then drove a car on the same streets our family members were using to come home from school or work.
These guys are right, it is PAST time we woke up and took our liberty seriously. The government does not own me and they have no business dictatiing to me what I can do with my body, whether it is prostitution or drug use. Come on y’all take a look at the Libertarian Party, we believe in LIBERTY!
