Under alcohol prohibition, there were deaths due to gangs fighting each other for turf. No such occurrences take place under legalization. Do we really want to go the Mexican route, where drug gangs are so powerful? Oregon, and Oregon alone, is showing the path out of that particular morass.

By Walter E. Block

Many states have legalized marijuana, not just for medical purposes. They have also done so for entertainment, and hats off to them too. The government, nor anyone else, simply has no business prohibiting adults from imbibing whatever drugs they wish into their own bodies.

Prohibition, whether of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, or any other drug for that matter, is profoundly incompatible with the ideals of democracy (not that this system is any great shakes either, but that is an entirely different matter). Such laws are in effect stating that adults are too stupid to know what kind of substances to imbibe. But if they are that foolish, it would be a disaster, would it not, to allow them within a million miles of a voting booth. On the other hand, they are indeed allowed to cast a ballot. Those morons? The critics simply cannot have it both ways. Either the citizenry are idiots and ought to be prohibited from certain drugs, in which case they should not be allowed to vote, or, if they are, then they ought to be trusted and not be treated like children when it comes to drugs. Paternalism is fine and dandy for kids, but certainly not for adults, at least not according to the democratic ethos.

So, yes, congratulations to the many states that have legalized pot for medicinal or entertainment or any other purpose.

But Oregon deserves special congratulation in this regard. It has employed this libertarian doctrine of freedom not only to cannabis, but to other, possibly more addictive drugs as well, including small amounts of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. However, the Beaver state now finds itself under attack for its civilized legal system.

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