The Follies Of The New Prohibition

Once again, the new prohibition has shown how pointless it is. There are now reports of immune systems being wiped out by a cutting agent used to dilute cocaine. The entire modern justification of the war on drugs is to protect us from ourselves, because we can't be trusted to make choices for ourselves. However, this is counterproductive, because people will always continue to use drugs because they like them. Thus, instead of "suffering" a cocaine high, along with the repercussions of it, they essentially die, because they were forced to make a blind choice, not knowing what they were taking. Yes, it was their choice to take an unproven substance. However, the government had no right to deny their right to use cocaine. The foundation of modern government is to protect people from others infringing on their rights.

When the government goes beyond that basic principle, unforeseen ramifications occur. In this case, the effect of prohibition was worse than the likely effect of the banned action. The vast majority of drug deaths are due to the prohibition rather than the actual drug. Most overdoses occur because there is no way of knowing how much active ingredient is in a dose of drugs. If they were sold as any other consumer good, it would be as simple as reading the label. Yet the government does not trust you to use drugs safely, so it becomes a guessing game.

Once given a power, the tendency is for the government to abuse it. Because voters cowardly allowed the war on drugs to flourish, the government is applying the principle to other areas. Governments are increasingly regulating food, with trans fats being the first victims. All data so far points to trans fats being very bad. However, it should be a personal choice. The reason goes deeper than many realize.

Starting a few decades back, the government urged people to eat a grain based diet. For now, I'll leave aside the possibility this was pushed by grain producers with political sway. At the time, there was preliminary data to suggest a grain based diet was healthy. Today, we know that, depending on your body chemistry, this is not the case, and in fact, in many cases, those things which we were told to eat were borderline poison. The epidemic of obesity and diabetes today is caused in large part by the grain and starch based diets of Americans. By and large, it is not cause by the fat intake the government said caused it. At least those guidelines were voluntary. Imagine if they were put into law. This is yet another reason to not allow government to outgrow it's role.