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Statism and the Drug War

Oct 16 2009

Statism and the Drug War

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Political Views

By MWC News

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Statism and the Drug War
by Jacob G. Hornberger

Anthony Placido, head of intelligence for the DEA, wants the 35-year-old drug war to continue because drugs are “mind-altering substances that destroy human life and create violence.”

Ponder carefully the first part of Placido’s statement — the part about drugs being bad for people. What he is saying is that as a government official, he should have the power to punish people for ingesting substances that are harmful only to themselves.

We have lived for so long with the drug war that we hardly give a thought to the audaciousness of such a claim.

Let’s assume that a person is sitting quietly in his own home somewhere in the mountains of Colorado. Every day, he ingests a quantity of cocaine … or marijuana … or heroin … or booze … or tobacco.

All of a sudden, Anthony Placido shows up with a SWAT team of drug agents, busts into the house, and declares, “We are here to help you see the error of your ways by arresting you, prosecuting you, incarcerating, and fining you, all for your own good because drugs are bad for you.”

Why doesn’t a person have the right to decide for himself what to ingest? Even if it is conclusively determined that an item is harmful to health, why shouldn’t a person nonetheless be free to ingest it, if that’s what he wishes to do? Why shouldn’t that be his business? Why should it be the business of Anthony Placido and his fellow statists to determine what people ingest and don’t ingest?

The statist sees everyone as part of a collective — like drones in a bee hive — and thinks that they must be made to serve the best interests of society. The notion that a person should be free to live his life on his own terms, no matter how harmful to himself, is anathema to a statist.

We libertarians see life differently. We believe that human beings are born with fundamental, natural, inherent, God-given rights, ones that are not subject to the whims of the collective. Among these rights is liberty, which entails the right of a person to live his life any way he wants, so long as his conduct is peaceful.

In a genuinely free society, people have every right in the world to ingest whatever they want, no matter how harmful or self-destructive and no matter how much others in that society disapprove of it. In a free society, the state no more has the authority to determine what a person ingests than it has to determine what a person reads. Fundamental rights are not subject to majority vote.

Placido also suggests that drugs “cause violence,” notwithstanding the obvious fact that most people who ingest drugs don’t commit acts of violence.

Libertarians have a different idea. How about punishing people who commit acts of violence, whether they ingest drugs or not, and leave everyone else alone?

It is amazing that statists like Placido fail to recognize a phenomenon that has characterized the war on drugs since its inception some 35 years ago. It is the drug-war itself, including the exorbitant black-market profits it generates, that has spawned massive violence across society in the form of gang wars, assassinations, murders, muggings, robberies, thefts, and burglaries.

The time has come to discharge Placido and his statist ilk into the private sector, where they can devote their lives to educating people about the dangers of drugs. It’s time to remove the legal authority of these people to punish individuals for making peaceful decisions that others disapprove of. It’s time to end the untold violence that the drug war has spawned. There’s only one way to do that: Legalize drugs.

Jacob Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation.

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Comments (5)

1. 16-10-2009 10:17

Brilliant!

Mr. Hornberger, that is one of the best articles written about the atrocities that the war on "drugs" creates. I applaud you sir! Nicely done!

It is a shame that people fail to understand the truth: that prohibition is the direct cause of all violence and problems related to illegal drugs. They fail to understand that cannabis is safer than alcohol or tobacco and that cannabis has never directly caused the death of a single human being.

One has to ask ones self why our government continues to play this charade upon us. Are they in the pocket of the drug kingpins? One could easily conclude so, since they are obviously not following logic, truth or facts in their war on the American people.

Americans and American media fail to realize that the War on "Drugs" is America's longest war, which has been "officially" waging for 40 years, but the war on marijuana users has been waged for over 70 years.

Americans need to wake up and you, sir, are doing a brilliant job in helping with that. There is certainly a movement toward more logical, fact and science-based policy, which is good as our country will be doomed if we allow it to continue to be run by ignorant people who make laws based on their ideologies, or "moral" or "ethical" beliefs.

Wake up America!

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nunya@bidniz.netNOSPAM! ">Anna

2. 16-10-2009 19:34

Here Here well said

Instead of finding more ways to throw money at a lost cause. Like the guy in the skimask and jack boots. It prevades a culture of u.s. aganint them. That shouldn't be what america is about. We are more compassionate than that. After all isn't the role of government to serve us not rule us?

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loujellyfinger@yahoo.comNOSPAM! ">Dr. Lou Jellyfinger

3. 16-10-2009 20:21

Here Here well said

Great piece of writing there Jacob!

Statist like Anthony Placido have to realize there has never been and nor will there ever be, a drug-free society.

The use of addictive or recreational drugs is a natural part of human society. Nobody here is claiming that any substance is beneficial for either the individual or society. It is true however that certain substances help the soul heal and relieve pain, while others provide short-term relief from a monotonous existence at the risk of possible long-term health problems. An important aspect of Individual freedom is the right to do with yourself as you please, as long as your actions cause no unreasonable or unnecessary suffering or direct harm to others. Many among us may disagree with this, and they should be free to belief what they wish, but the moment they are willing to use force to impose their will on the rest of us, is the exact same moment that the petty criminals/dealers, the Mafia, drug barons, terrorists and corrupt government officials/agencies enter the equation. The problems created by self harm then rapidly pale into insignificance as society spirals downwards into a dark abyss, while the most shady characters and 'black-market corporate entities' exponentially enrich themselves in a feeding frenzy likened to that of piranhas on bath-tub meth.

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malcolm.kyle@gmail.comNOSPAM! ">malcolm kyle

4. 17-10-2009 04:53

peace on the home front

One need not travel to China to find indigenous cultures lacking human rights or to Cuba for political prisoners. America leads the world in percentile behind bars, thanks to ongoing persecution of hippies, radicals, and non-whites under prosecution of the war on drugs. If we’re all about spreading liberty abroad, then why mix the message at home? Peace on the home front would enhance global credibility.

The drug czar’s Rx for prison fodder costs dearly, as life is flushed down expensive tubes. My shaman’s second opinion is that psychoactive plants are God’s gift. Behold, it’s all good. Canadian Marc Emery sold seeds that enable American farmers to outcompete cartels with superior local herb. He’s being extradited to prison, for doing what government can’t do, reduce U.S. demand for Mexican.

Only on the authority of a clause about interstate commerce does the CSA (Controlled Substances Act of 1970) reincarnate Al Capone, endanger homeland security, and throw good money after bad. Administration fiscal policy burns tax dollars to root out the number-one cash crop in the land, instead of taxing sales. America rejected the plague of prohibition, but it mutated. Apparently, SWAT teams don’t need no stinking amendment. Father, forgive those who make it their business to know not what they do.

Nixon passed the CSA on the assurance that the Schafer Commission would justify criminalizing his enemies, but it didn’t. No amendments can assure due process under an anti-science law without due process itself. Psychology hailed the breakthrough potential of LSD, until the CSA shut down research, and pronounced that marijuana has no medical use, period. Drug juries exclude bleeding hearts.

The RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993) allows Native American Church members to eat peyote, which functions like LSD. Americans shouldn’t need a specific church membership or an act of Congress to obtain their birthright freedom of religion. John Doe’s free exercise of religious liberty may include entheogen sacraments to mediate communion with his maker.

Freedom of speech presupposes freedom of thought. The Constitution doesn’t enumerate any governmental power to embargo diverse states of mind. How and when did government usurp this power to coerce conformity? The Mayflower sailed to escape coerced conformity. Legislators who would limit cognitive liberty lack jurisdiction.

Common-law must hold that adults are the legal owners of their own bodies. The Founding Fathers undersigned that the right to the pursuit of happiness is inalienable. Socrates said to know your self. Mortal lawmakers should not presume to thwart the intelligent design that molecular keys unlock spiritual doors. Persons who appreciate their own free choice of path in life should tolerate seekers’ self-exploration.

http://antinomian-peacenik.blogspot.com

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wrh512@yahoo.comNOSPAM! ">Bill Harris

5. 17-10-2009 11:57

swallow it

Psykotropic addictive drugs are no good - think about that - and talk about it. Lenin used the term "useful idiots" in talking strategy. "Narco-barons" also do ?

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toreds@c2i.netNOSPAM! ">max tedes

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