Drugs, drugs, DRUGS!!! All you hear about lately is drugs!!! Well, maybe not... but I recently heard a few American presidential candidates talking about legalizing drug use/abuse, the reason being to loosen the government's grasp on its people, save precious funds for the treasury, and greatly reduce crime.
There are a number of ways to approach the issue. You can discuss the ethics of drug usage/abusage. You can look at the cost/benefits of legalizing drugs. You can argue whether or not drug usage should be a right (much like privacy, or free speech).
The issue really is a tricky one to approach, there are good arguments all the way around, and no matter how I've thought about it, I've never been able to fully decide whether or not free drug usage should be a guaranteed human right.
But as for my personal take on the issue, I thought a lot about it a while back, and I'm personally a fan legalizing drugs. Not so much for the cost benefits of it, though. I mean, it's all well and good that doing away with the "war on drugs" would save precious money, and it would definitely reduce the prison population, loosen the government's grasp over our lives, all sorts of sweet stuff. But the stuff I'm interested in is the ethics of it all.
It's my personal belief that all people have a right to their own privacy (as does the supreme court), and as such, have the right to maintain their own health as they wish. Therefore, if someone were to hypothetically go drug-crazy, totally fry their mind and body, it would be very important to reach out to them and offer them help and support, but it would ultimately be their own business (except for one majorly metaphorical wrench I'll talk about later). Drug-man decided to go drug-crazy, and was willing to accept the consequences, both the pleasurable and the not-so-pleasurable. Due to reasons best kept in the "Nature of Reality" thread, no one could legitimately that his decision is wrong, or that he's be better off not living ing Drugland, USA. There are decisive downsides to hardcore drug usage, yes, but believe it or not, there are intelligent beings out their who accept those costs and believe that the enjoyable aspect of drugs makes up for it, addiction and all.
The wrench that gets thrown into all of it, though, is that due to the mind-altering effects of drugs, Mr. Drug-man (still on his hardcore drug marathon) begins making his own personal drug-affinity other people's business. And obvious example of this is DUI. Someone gets drunk, drives impaired, and BAM! kills a young, hot, blond mother minding her own human rights. Then there are the violence-inducing drugs, which I've heard some real horror stories about, but I'm sure I don't need to go any further in that regard. All-in-all, oftentimes drug usage impairs your ability to respect the rights of others, which is no good at all. And then there's the issue of just punishment for someone who's committed horrible crimes while impaired by drugs. Mr. Drugged-up-Criminal didn't commit the crime out of his own free will, but where's the retribution?
The whole issue gets really sticky. But overall, I'm a fan of the legalization of drugs. I suppose if drugs do get legalized, programs will be put into place to warn of the dangers of drugs, and to urge safe usage that would minimize the risk of terrible, terrible mistakes from happening (i.e., drug-induced murder).
I'm sure a lot of my tendency to support free drug-usage stems from my personal affinity of individual rights. But I'm sure I'm not looking at the whole issue here; Tell me what you think!
There are a number of ways to approach the issue. You can discuss the ethics of drug usage/abusage. You can look at the cost/benefits of legalizing drugs. You can argue whether or not drug usage should be a right (much like privacy, or free speech).
The issue really is a tricky one to approach, there are good arguments all the way around, and no matter how I've thought about it, I've never been able to fully decide whether or not free drug usage should be a guaranteed human right.
But as for my personal take on the issue, I thought a lot about it a while back, and I'm personally a fan legalizing drugs. Not so much for the cost benefits of it, though. I mean, it's all well and good that doing away with the "war on drugs" would save precious money, and it would definitely reduce the prison population, loosen the government's grasp over our lives, all sorts of sweet stuff. But the stuff I'm interested in is the ethics of it all.
It's my personal belief that all people have a right to their own privacy (as does the supreme court), and as such, have the right to maintain their own health as they wish. Therefore, if someone were to hypothetically go drug-crazy, totally fry their mind and body, it would be very important to reach out to them and offer them help and support, but it would ultimately be their own business (except for one majorly metaphorical wrench I'll talk about later). Drug-man decided to go drug-crazy, and was willing to accept the consequences, both the pleasurable and the not-so-pleasurable. Due to reasons best kept in the "Nature of Reality" thread, no one could legitimately that his decision is wrong, or that he's be better off not living ing Drugland, USA. There are decisive downsides to hardcore drug usage, yes, but believe it or not, there are intelligent beings out their who accept those costs and believe that the enjoyable aspect of drugs makes up for it, addiction and all.
The wrench that gets thrown into all of it, though, is that due to the mind-altering effects of drugs, Mr. Drug-man (still on his hardcore drug marathon) begins making his own personal drug-affinity other people's business. And obvious example of this is DUI. Someone gets drunk, drives impaired, and BAM! kills a young, hot, blond mother minding her own human rights. Then there are the violence-inducing drugs, which I've heard some real horror stories about, but I'm sure I don't need to go any further in that regard. All-in-all, oftentimes drug usage impairs your ability to respect the rights of others, which is no good at all. And then there's the issue of just punishment for someone who's committed horrible crimes while impaired by drugs. Mr. Drugged-up-Criminal didn't commit the crime out of his own free will, but where's the retribution?
The whole issue gets really sticky. But overall, I'm a fan of the legalization of drugs. I suppose if drugs do get legalized, programs will be put into place to warn of the dangers of drugs, and to urge safe usage that would minimize the risk of terrible, terrible mistakes from happening (i.e., drug-induced murder).
I'm sure a lot of my tendency to support free drug-usage stems from my personal affinity of individual rights. But I'm sure I'm not looking at the whole issue here; Tell me what you think!