[88] in libertarians
Re: Atlantic Monthly on Marijuana
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (seelig@MIT.EDU)
Thu Jul 14 19:50:54 1994
From: seelig@MIT.EDU
To: vimrich@flying-cloud.mit.edu (Vernon Imrich)
Cc: libertarians@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: Your message of Thu, 14 Jul 94 18:38:39 -0400.
<9407142238.AA14107@flying-cloud.mit.edu>
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 94 19:46:49 EDT
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| Vernon Imrich |"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; |
| MIT OE | IT IS FORCE. Like FIRE, |
| Rm 5-329B | it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." |
| 617-253-3910 | - George Washington |
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I give the story an A++
...
I felt compelled to post this, my first to this list, due to the possible
contradiction here.
I was to believe that the Libertarian's stand on drugs was to reduce government
control since people would control themselves and needless violence would be
prevented while enforcing these laws.
However, am I to believe that a law, such as the one on marijuana, should be
repealed on the basis that this drug is not seriously harmful?
Marijuana, like all drugs (including many prescription and over-the-counter
drugs), ARE potentially dangerous if misused.
Now, I can support reducing control of drugs for the first reasons pointed out,
but, never would I back my support with evidence that drugs are not as harmful
as believed or that previous generations (who were unaware of the potential
dangers of drugs) supported their use? There was a time when it was fashionable
to smoke heroin. Inbreeding, for that matter, was also a common practise at
one time. Are we saying that we should forget what we have learned and return
to a past society of ignorance?
Mark Seelig
