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Title: Why Libertarians Are Wrong About Drugs
Source:
Politico
URL Source: https://www.politico.com/magazine/s ... s-are-wrong-about-drugs-107896
Published: Jun 16, 2014
Author: JOHN P. WALTERS
Post Date: 2018-07-25 07:53:12 by Gatlin
Keywords: None
Views: 1049
Comments: 3
Nowhere is this divide more obvious than in the war on drugs. Social conservatives are troubled by drug abuse, especially among the young, and believe that government regulation of certain substances is necessary to curb behavior seen not only as self-destructive but also incompatible with a strong and free community. Libertarians, on the other hand, argue that the heavy-handedness of the nanny state, and the law-enforcement abuses likely to accompany it, present a greater threat to freedom than the prohibited behavior itself. As Milton Friedman put it, “the present system of drug prohibition … does so much more harm than good.” The libertarian commitment to freedom should absolutely be acknowledged and, in a time of growing state control, defended. But, when it comes to drugs, libertarians have yet to grasp just how much drug abuse undermines individual freedom and erodes the very core of the libertarian ideal. Many libertarians argue that the state should have no power over adult citizens and their decision to ingest addictive substances—so long as they do no harm to anyone but themselves. Hence, there should be no laws against using drugs, and over time this self-destructive behavior will limit itself. But this harmless world is not the real world of drug use. There is ample experience that a drug user harms not only himself, but also many others. The association between drug use and social and economic failure, domestic violence, pernicious parenting and criminal acts while under the influence is grounds for prohibition even if we accept no responsibility for what the drug user does to himself. The drug user’s freedom to consume costs his community not only their safety, but also their liberty . And I’m not just talking about heroin. Over the past decade, as marijuana use has grown, the number of car accident victims testing positive for the drug has tripled, according to a recent study. Just as troubling as the potential harm done to others are the questions: What is to replace prohibition? And who holds the reins? Here things get sketchy. Everybody wants the cartels out; but who’s in? Whatever entity controls the supply controls the population of addicts. Management of production and distribution, some envision, could be commercial. What could go wrong? Think Afghan warlord with a lobbying arm and a marketing department. Is drug use a disability? Who pays for the escalating doses? Big Pharma on, well, drugs, with direct-to-consumer advertising? Libertarians and social conservatives both resist an intrusive central government, but they differ over exactly what constitutes “intrusive” policy, especially when it comes to private behavior.
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#1. To: Gatlin (#0)
Of course this meaningless statement does not say how many were actually at fault in the accidents. Marijuana legalization has not increased traffic fatalities Perhaps Mark Twain said it best: “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re misinformed.” Recent headlines were a perfect example of Twain’s observation. Some newspapers and news shows played up a story that contends legalized marijuana has made our roads and highways less safe. It may sound plausible, but the facts don’t support this assertion. In fact, marijuana legalization has not increased overall traffic fatality rates nor the total number of non-fatal crashes, according to two separate studies conducted by Columbia University and the University of Texas-Austin. Additionally, Colorado State Patrol reports a decrease in the number of driving impaired accidents since marijuana sales became legal. Despite this academic research and on-the-ground expertise from state police, it was a study from a group supported by auto insurers last week that captured the most – and loudest – headlines. “Car crashes leap in states with legalized marijuana,” was just one of many headlines characterizing The Highway Loss Data Institute’s (HLDI) finding that three states where marijuana is legal – Colorado, Washington and Oregon – had an increase in traffic accidents. However, the group lacked any data showing that the increase in collisions was caused by drivers under the influence of marijuana. Although distracted driving such as texting, road construction and more miles driven have been noted by insurance companies as possible factors for increased collision rates, the HLDI asserts that because there was an increase of insurance claims in states with legal marijuana, the two must be linked.
Of course this meaningless statement does not say how many were actually at fault in the accidents. There are many other such reported accidents where the cause is attributed to being under the influence of cannabis. I could cite MANY....but I will not bother, because it would mean nothing to you. In family circles, we refer to him as “Sammy.”
In fact, marijuana legalization has not increased overall traffic fatality rates nor the total number of non-fatal crashes, according to two separate studies conducted by Columbia University and the University of Texas-Austin. Additionally, Colorado State Patrol reports a decrease in the number of driving impaired accidents since marijuana sales became legal. With Legal Pot, Fatal Car Crashes Haven't Increased In the three years following Colorado's and Washington's decisions in 2012 to legalize recreational marijuana, deaths in car crashes did not increase in those states, a new study finds. The results provide more facts in a nationwide policy discussion already rife with controversy. "One of the arguments being made when they were legalizing marijuana in those two states was, 'We're going to create a whole population of drugged drivers, and they're going to crash their cars and die," said Dr. Jayson Aydelotte, a trauma surgeon at Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas, Austin. [25 Odd Facts About Marijuana] The scientists found that after the law was passed, "the changes in motor-vehicle-crash fatality rates observed in Washington and Colorado were not significantly different from those observed in the control states," the researchers wrote in their study. [7 Ways Marijuana May Affect the Brain] The results are in line with those of a study by researchers at Columbia University in New York that was published earlier this year. That study looked U.S. traffic fatalities between 1985 and 2014 in states that had passed laws approving medical marijuana. Those researchers found that seven states had lower traffic fatalities after the law was passed. "Their findings might be in the same direction as ours," Julian Santaella-Tenorio, a Ph.D.candidate in public health at Columbia who led the earlier study, told Live Science. Both researchers said there is a lot of speculation about an apparent paradox regarding marijuana laws: Traffic fatalities don't seem to increase in states after the passage of laws allowing recreational or medical marijuana use, even though the drug has been shown to impair driving. "The increased availability of marijuana may be reducing alcohol use in some states," said Santaella-Tenorio. In other words, people could be substituting pot for alcohol.
Over the past decade, as marijuana use has grown, the number of car accident victims testing positive for the drug has tripled, according to a recent study.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Trump: My People Should ‘Sit Up in Attention’ Like Kim Jong-un’s Staff.
#2. To: Deckard (#1)
Over the past decade, as marijuana use has grown, the number of car accident victims testing positive for the drug has tripled, according to a recent study.
The statement was a mere statement of FACT and was never intended to show how many were actually at fault in the accidents. Marijuana legalization has not increased traffic fatalities ...
That statement may be true, but what difference does that make to the love ones of the three people who were killed in Fremont, California in a multi-car crash where “officials said the driver who caused the crash was under the influence of cannabis”. Mark Twain said ...
Ah, a relative on mine as shown in genealogy records.
#3. To: Gatlin (#2)
There are many other such reported accidents where the cause is attributed to being under the influence of cannabis.
More evidence
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Trump: My People Should ‘Sit Up in Attention’ Like Kim Jong-un’s Staff.
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