"My body my choice" needs to be in the Bill of Rights, including for ingestion of toxic substances (alcohol, tobacco, heroin -- you name it).
Common sense right there. Citizens and govts that think they can cure drug addiction if they simply demonize the person and the substance intensely enough have always been wrong. Case in point, look at all the addicts today. In part of Switzerland, taxpayers voted to legalize heroin and create treatment centers where addicts come and get dosed twice a day (and also, of course, counseling and education on how to quit) for free. A mother said in an interview the program got her off the streets and away from petty crime including prostitution to support her habit. So once she got a job and held it for a time, custody of her child was restored. She now has her child, her dignity, and her life back...and at the time was entering the final phase, rehab. The area where this was instituted has seen a dramatic reduction in crime, both violent and otherwise, in illicit drug dealing, in diseases like hepatitis from dirty needles, and in the presence of prostitutes and addicts hanging around on street corners.
Coercive prohibition is ALWAYS worse and causes more violence and other harm than the drug itself, but even if that weren't true, FREEDOM is the baseline human right that trumps all coercive meddling. Harming others is one thing; harming yourself may not be smart but it's YOUR choice, not mine.
Spectacularly well put.
A liberal democrat (opposite of what it means in the US) senator in pre-communist Australia stated on the record that it has NEVER been a legitimate duty of govt to punish people for VICES. A vice he defined as something that harms only the participant, who is freely choosing to participate. Govt can only ever exert force against those who commit a CRIME, which is by definition an offense against others.
Common sense right there. Citizens and govts that think they can cure drug addiction if they simply demonize the person and the substance intensely enough have always been wrong. Case in point, look at all the addicts today. In part of Switzerland, taxpayers voted to legalize heroin and create treatment centers where addicts come and get dosed twice a day (and also, of course, counseling and education on how to quit) for free. A mother said in an interview the program got her off the streets and away from petty crime including prostitution to support her habit. So once she got a job and held it for a time, custody of her child was restored. She now has her child, her dignity, and her life back...and at the time was entering the final phase, rehab. The area where this was instituted has seen a dramatic reduction in crime, both violent and otherwise, in illicit drug dealing, in diseases like hepatitis from dirty needles, and in the presence of prostitutes and addicts hanging around on street corners.
Spectacularly well put.
A liberal democrat (opposite of what it means in the US) senator in pre-communist Australia stated on the record that it has NEVER been a legitimate duty of govt to punish people for VICES. A vice he defined as something that harms only the participant, who is freely choosing to participate. Govt can only ever exert force against those who commit a CRIME, which is by definition an offense against others.