🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Dec16.143125.27570@tijc02.uucp> pjs269@tijc02.uucp (Paul Schmidt) writes:
>Frank R Chloupek (fchloupe@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) wrote:
>: In article <2ena6q$ej0@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> dysart@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Mitchell D Dysart) writes:
>
>: >One last point -- most violent crimes these days are drug-related, either
>: >directly related to drug trafficking, or related to people stealing to
>: >support an expensive drug habit.  What do people think about drug legalization,
>: >and letting market forces fix the problem?
>: ===========
>: Of course, we could legalize everything and reduce the crime rate to zero.  =)
>
>I do not want violent criminals out on the streets.  Those who favor
>drug legalization do not want to remove laws on violent crimes.  We just
>want to have a principled approach to what is lawful and what is
>illegal.  If you initiate force against another person, or use fraud, it
>should be against the law.  The government should be held to these same
>principles and therefore should not be allowed to initiate force against
>peaceful individuals using an illegal intoxicant in a manner that harms
>no one else.  If you abandon the principle of initiation of force to
>make laws then everything can be made illegal just because 51% think it
>should be.

BY such a rationale, one should be allowed to...

Own any and all weaponry:  guns, explosives, etc.
Possess any form of pornography (not to produce, but to own)
Operate cars or other machinery while intoxicated (so long as no one is hurt)
Drive at whatever speed they want to.

If you want to operate on libertarian principles, you have to go the whole 
9 yards.

The original post, however, did not speak to drug legalization on libertarian 
principles.  It said we have a lot of drug related crime, why don't we 
legalize drugs.  IMHO, the mere fact that a law is being broken is not 
sufficient reason to eliminate it.

Frank

-- 
Frank R. Chloupek   fchloupe@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
My *other* account has an interesting .sig.