National Review: War on Drugs: Antoni Gollan: The History of Marijuana Prohibition

Antoni Gollan - National Review Online

When you look at the purpose of laws you should also have an idea of the purpose of freedom should be as well. How free should individuals be to live their own lives if have any freedom at all, if you believe freedom should be limited. To protect innocent people from the harm of others, then you are in the mainstream of American thought. If you believe that freedom should be limited to not only protect innocent people from the harm of others but to protect people even from themselves. Then you believe in the notion of a strong government, big government even thats designed to have a secure country. Even if that means limiting peoples ability to live their own lives even if they aren't hurting anyone with what. They are doing which would make you more of a Statist not to sound insulting but descriptive which is common in Neoconservative and. Progressive thought in America, rather then you being a Liberal or Conservative and just because you are a Statist. Doesn't mean you are a Communist exactly or another type of Authoritarian, you can be a Statist and still be a Democrat. But you are someone who values security over freedom.

As a Liberal I believe that we can't have freedom without security and vice versa. Freedom is great as long as we aren't free to hurt innocent people, just free to live our own lives as we see fit. But security isn't worth much without freedom because the longer you try to hold people down the more angry they get. And will want to take that anger out on the state thats holding them down as Egypt and Libya found out in 2011. As Syria is finding out now and as Eastern Europe found out over twenty years ago, so thats my biggest problem. With the War on Drugs is that it puts security over freedom for how people live their own lives and tries to protect. People from themselves even if that means locking them up in places that aren't very good for them and doesn't. Do a thing for them so they can get help with whatever addiction they may have and the idea isn't very intelligent either. Lets send pot smokers and drug users to a place where they won't want to be and by doing that they won't want to come back.

We have over eighty years of evidence to know that if people want to do something bad enough they'll find. A way to do that and damn the consequences which is why the War on Drugs doesn't work and especially with marijuana. Where a lot of pot smokers aren't addicted to pot and are clever enough not to get caught smoking pot or being high. In front of law enforcement and all these marijuana raids are design to protect people from themselves. Instead of using those resources to put away actual dangerous criminals, which makes the War on Drugs a waste of tax payer dollars.