I know many conservatives, especially those more of the Libertarian variety, espouse that we should decriminalize or all together legalize drugs--Marijuana in particular--But I have to ask why? I mean I know a ton of social conservatives don't support legalizing Marijuana or other drugs but there are many social libertarians yet staunch fiscal conservatives who support legalizing Marijuana and even in some cases other, stronger drugs.
Now, don't get me wrong--I've tried Pot. Once, and hated it. I've drank, a few times, never really found it appealing. So it's not like I'm some anti-drug and alcohol person who hasn't at least tried. And no, I'm not for banning alcohol as we saw how well that went the last time.
But why legalize Pot or other drugs? Sure there might be a monetary gain but one would be basically profiting another's misery, profiting off of jeopardizing one's health. And yes, there is the personal responsibility argument, both of these arguments being used for fast food (for example, a person against drugs being legalized because they are unhealthy will sometimes be confronted by libertarians or liberals with 'well fast food is unhealthy should we ban it too?')
However, there is a grave difference between fast food and drugs. A person can eat all the junk food he or she desires yet it won't make them violent, paranoid, abusive, or otherwise dangerous or hostile. Fast food can't make someone hallucinate. Drugs can and in many cases, even 'benign' drugs like Marijuana do--and for many users that's the point of using them--to get 'High'.
Now a junkie shooting up Heroin and dying in some gutterr on his own--That's his business. But I oppose drugs not because of how they directly affect the user, but how they effect the user's family, friends, etc. I say this as a child of a person who had/has substance abuse issues. Sure, for a person like my father, it's his ''personal choice'' to do the things he does; However, it wasn't my personal choice to be born his child nor was it my personal choice to live with the effects of his usage--I was forced to deal with it simply because I was born me.Horrible experiences, many a Holiday or Birthday ruined. Unlike fast food, drugs and alcohol in the wrong hands are weapons, weapons that can be used to hurt in many ways. I know because I've been on the receiving end.
So why legalize drugs? I know this is a "Big Government" idea but my opinion or an idea anyway is that someone who has been arrested and convicted of a drug or alcohol related offense (particularly a drug related offense which has resulted in violence) at least three or more times over a five or ten year period should be sterilized. People who have a continuing abuse problem I don't think should have children. I'm not talking about a 18 year kid with a bag of pot on his first offense, I'm talking a history of arrests for possesion or long term addiction to hard drugs, or long-term alcoholics. If not sterilization, then I think people with a repeat history of drug related and/or violent offenses over a prolonged period should at least be subject to psychological evaluation of some sort before being allowed to procreate or tracking of some sort. Similar to the way convicted pedophiles are monitored state to state and have to report to the state before moving, etc.
People say ''well, they have a disease, they need rehab'' yet the same people will say ''fuck rehabiliating rapists/murderers/etc" I think in a sense having a parent or family member with a substance abuse problem is in it's own way a rape it is for many children the end of innocence, and many children with a parent who has substance abuse has to sacrifice in some ways their childhood to bear the burdens of their parents' problems.
I know even some social cons might disagree with me on this, but...I'll put it this way--If gays shouldn't be allowed to marry, why should repeat drug/alcohol offenders who have at least a five to ten year history of drug related problems, particularly those with violent offenses, be allowed to procreate? It isn't intended a limitation on the offender's freedom or a punishment but a protection--Why should a child, any child, be subjected to it? I know of quite a few Junkies who have had lifelong habits yet never been arrested and have slipped under the radar and yet have had kids and subjected them to their addiction. An addiction isn't something one MUST have or MUST do--there's something called self control. I don't believe drug or alcohol addiction is a disease; in some it may be a means of coping with stressors but for many it's simply a way to get "High" and they don't give a damn who they hurt in the process of attaining their high.
It's similar to the Military way of thinking with regard to medical issues--A person with certain medical problems won't be enlisted not simply because of the risk their medical problem puts on them, if there is even any risk to them, but because of the risk they present to their fellow soldiers and even perhaps to their mission.
Originally Posted by marv
