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Stricter drug control policies have been tried over and over again and we just don't seem to learn our lesson. I think it makes people feel good to be cracking
by RankingMember 5y ago
Stricter drug control policies have been tried over and over again and we just don't seem to learn our lesson. I think it makes people feel good to be cracking down on something versus accepting peoples' inherent freedom to do what they want with their own bodies, but cracking down forces problems into hiding; They still exist and fester, but they're a lot harder to deal with.
- throwaway894345 5y ago> I think it makes people feel good to be cracking down on something versus accepting peoples' inherent freedom to do what they want with their own bodies The problem of course is that society foots the bill for people's drug choices in the form of welfare, healthcare, policing, rehabilitation, or etc, and beyond that there's the opportunity cost--many drug users could be otherwise productive members of society, both economically and "morally" e.g., they could participate in community service, local politics, etc. And with respect to the subset of drugs that are addictive, it's also not an individual's choice. So the moral framing of "bad people just trying to oppress the harmless free choices of others" is not very accurate. But yes, I think we agree that there must be a way to minimize the problem beyond what we've achieved with stricter drug control policies.
- RankingMember 5y agoYeah I think we mostly agree. The only point of disagreement, from my perspective, is that I think we already know that crackdowns don't work no matter how stringent. People will drink (Prohibition) and do drugs (War on Drugs) regardless. Yes, there are societal costs and I think it's right to consider them, but I think those costs exist regardless, and we add onto them by taking the same punitive (and expensive) approach we've tried over and over again.