Reply #8: stance on drugs does not = libertarian

[RainDog]

for instance... marijuana (which is as much of a drug as nutmeg is, actually) is illegal NOT because of its hazards to health but b/c of its hazards to drug. co profits. tell me, do you think it's okay for people to take an SSRI for depression? or hundreds of other drugs that are copyrighted or manufactured by drug cos?

do you know these drugs have horrific side effects in many cases? therefore, should no one have access to them? what about alcohol? what about cigarettes? why should you be able to determine if someone can reasonably drink alcohol?

the drug war is a waste of money and it unfairly sends the poor to prison. Dan Burton's son (R-asshole) was dealing drugs across interstate lines and he got a nothing for a sentence. If Burton Jr. was a black man, do you think he would have walked? If so, you're deluded.

a Nixon-era task force looked into marijuana and recommended it be decriminalized. nothing happened. Liberal Supreme Court Judge Stevens, iirc, said that criminalization of marijuana was like the prohibition era. wonder how many people died needlessly because someone wanted to deny the right to drink a glass of wine to someone else.

Kentucy farmers want to be able to grow hemp but can't b/c its parent plant is canabis. Hemp is really needed right now to stop deforestation and it can replace oil for many products. Why shouldn't they be able to grow hemp? The founders told everyone to grow hemp... it is and was used for paper, masts, ropes... it powered early American life. In WWII farmers were encouraged to grow hemp for the war effort.

but marijuana was asso. with hispanics and (black) musicians and so it had to be controlled, just like they needed to be "controlled." there is too much drug hysteria in the U.S. --except it's full of hypocrisy because many of these same people would be incensed if you tried to deny them their xanax or martini.