Drug Legalization

I do. I know that may sound hypocritical to some, but a business owner, being a private entity, has the Constitutional right to make that determination. He and the employee are essentially making an agreement regarding what is appropriate employee behavior, which is much different than the government criminalizing the consensual acts of adults. </font>[/QUOTE]Then herein lies SeekingTruth's answer concerning why drug use would go down.

Social and economic pressure. If people have the absolute right to demand proof that a person is drug free before employing or doing business with them then funds for buying drugs will dry up fairly quickly.

 

Right. One of the things that we know, that has been demonstrated time and time again is that people and society and markets can regulate themselves better than government could ever hope to.

 

Mike,

Where in the Constitution are we told that the government has this authority?

Please clarify (Ken went back and forth on this question, I just want to be sure): is your objection against government prohibition of these drugs or just the federal government's? If government in general, then the issue of Constitutionality is irrelevant (to that question). My arguments here (based on the general wording of the thread topic) are primarily that it is the business of government to prohibit these foul drugs, my debate here is not over the Constitutionality of Uncle Sam's involvement.


SN,

What do you think??? The United States of America, the first US Constitution Party President

Thanks, but I'll have to duck out on affiliation with the CP.

 

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In this case, the federal government.

And I would argue that the government has no business regulating the consensual behavior of adults.

 

So, then, you don't dispute that the states have authority to regulate drugs under the U.S. Constitution? If they don't, on what basis?

 

States have a lot more leeway in what they can do.

 

Mike,

Am I correct in stating your position as: the federal government has no Constitutional basis for prohibiting drugs, but that your objection to state/local laws is more of a philosophical one?

 

Yes. That would be a very good way to characterize it. I'm a big believer in states' rights.

 

I would support a repeal of the ruling that made state gov'ts subject to the US Constitution. Our Constitutional design was not that states should be subordinate branches of the federal gov't.

The one modern issue that I think federal involvement is most valid in is environmental regulations. You cannot pollute on one piece of property without it effecting others and often over a broad area. However the unfunded mandates of the EPA to states are completely wrong. The EPA should probably be one of the larger gov't depts... and that doesn't mean that I think it should be very large. It should deal with those who violate the law in court. The laws should be equitable. Neither of those things are currently the case.

Back to state governance- The closer to the people a government is the better it is apt to be... or else the sooner it will reflect the apathy/corruption of those governed.

 

The repeal of the amendment making the states subject to the Constitution would be a disaster. The Constitution would mean nothing, including the Bill of Rights.

Besides, we already tried a loose federal system (remember the Articles of Confederation?) and it doesn't work.

For the main topic, I favor the repeal of prohibition for a number of reasons. I have never used illegal drugs myself, and have no desire to do so, but I have several primary reasons:

1. The government has no business in what a person does with their own body.

2. Peripheral crimes would decrease, such as gang violence, street shootings, robberies, etc.

3. Legalization would take the profit out of the black market, giving gangs one less source of revenue.

4. Drugs sold legally at a fair market price could be taxed, with taxes going to prevention, education and treatment programs to keep people from starting to use and to help those who are already addicted.

The war on drugs is an abject failure. It has been going on for decades, and is a total waste of resources. People who are addicted need treatment, not being thrown into the criminal justice system.