From: Lee Daniel Crocker (lee@piclab.com)
Date: Tue Feb 12 2002 - 11:11:19 MST
> They have every right to do so, ONLY if the only negative impact is upon
> their lives alone. If there are dependents involved, who have their own
> rights to be free of such irresponsibility, or even just creditors, who
> have a right to expect their money to be treated responsibly, then the
> individual engaging in such behavior is putting jeopardy on others, not
> just themselves, and in a libertarian perspective, the interests of
> others put in jeopardy are equally as important as that of the drug
> user.
>
> Are you advocating that an addict has a greater right to get high and
> drive their kids off a cliff than their kids have to continue living?
I can't speak toward your personal experience, Mike, or for Amara's,
but I, for one, refuse to concede that there's no such thing as a
responsible drug user. Yes, drug abuse can lead to actual crime
against others, and those crimes should be prosecuted, but rational
people don't make the mistake of confusing the instrument with the
crime: that's the same argument of the gun-banners.
And further, while forfeiture cases may seem justified on criminal
drug-abuse grounds, the reality of the law and its present application
is that they are simply government theft of private property without due
process. No conviction--or even formal accusation--of any crime is
necessary for a forfeiture. Due process and the rights of the accused
don't apply, because no person is being accused: the property itself is
being accused (the court cases have wonderful titles like "U.S. vs. 100
Bottles of Wine") Anyone who supports such forfeiture laws is no
libertarian, regardless of the pretext used to justify them.
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lee/> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC
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