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If some one ends up abusing drugs to the extent that they have to rely on the social safety net, let them. No one wants to be poor, no one wants to live in the
by adrusi 12y ago
If some one ends up abusing drugs to the extent that they have to rely on the social safety net, let them. No one wants to be poor, no one wants to live in the conditions imposed by the safety net.
As long as the existence of a safety net doesn't encourage people to use drugs (people who start using drugs like opiates are rarely thinking of the future at the time they start) then the two aren't really related issues.
- rayiner 12y agoI'm not talking about people who abuse drugs badly enough to need the social safety net. Rather, I'm positing that the social safety net arises out of society's obligation to take care of individuals, and that individuals have a reciprocal obligation to society. To me, that reciprocal obligation is inconsistent with the premise that "should decide what to do with their own bodies." If drug use compromises your ability to be a productive member of society that can support and take care of family and neighbors, then it implicates your social obligation, and society has a right to tell you that you can't do it. Of course, the fact that society has a right to make drugs illegal doesn't mean it's a good idea.