War on (Certain) Drugs Roundup
The Stranger informs us that the King County Bar Association is ready to introduce a very strong proposal in Olympia for reforming Washington State's Drug Laws. (from Bruno & the Prof.)
Pete at Drug WarRant brings up the issue of left-leaning folks who support the drug war and makes some excellent observations. I've posted comments on left wing blogs in the past saying that Democrats really need to embrace drug decriminalization if they want an issue that will help them become relevant again. It's an issue that many more people on the right "get" than many people on the left truly realize, and could potentially be an issue that pulls moderate conservatives over to the left. I'm always wary of political maneuvering for the sake of politics, but this is just a no-brainer for the Democrats right now.
On that thought, as someone who sees very big parallels between the War on Drugs and the War on Terror, I'm amazed at anyone, left or right, who has vastly different philosophies in how to deal with these issues. Basically, as a libertarian, I believe that you only become a criminal by committing an act that directly victimizes others. This goes for anyone who uses drugs recreationally and it goes for anyone (both here and abroad) who chooses to disagree with the policy of the United States. If that leads to behavior that victimizes others, it's only then that it should be considered criminal (or an act of war or treason). And above all, my opposition to the War on Drugs and my criticism of the current handling of the War on Terror both stem from the same awareness that you can't control individual behavior on a large scale through fear and intimidation.
I used to think that this was solely a hypocrisy we saw among certain people on the right. After reading some of the Daily Kos comments that Pete pointed out, I worry that the mirror-opposite hypocrisy can be found among some on the left.
Finally, in the world of legal (yet more dangerous) drugs, here's an online petition to force drug companies do the unthinkable, and actually tell the public when they discover internally that their products kill people. And definitely play the video. (via Scott at Grits For Breakfast)
Pete at Drug WarRant brings up the issue of left-leaning folks who support the drug war and makes some excellent observations. I've posted comments on left wing blogs in the past saying that Democrats really need to embrace drug decriminalization if they want an issue that will help them become relevant again. It's an issue that many more people on the right "get" than many people on the left truly realize, and could potentially be an issue that pulls moderate conservatives over to the left. I'm always wary of political maneuvering for the sake of politics, but this is just a no-brainer for the Democrats right now.
On that thought, as someone who sees very big parallels between the War on Drugs and the War on Terror, I'm amazed at anyone, left or right, who has vastly different philosophies in how to deal with these issues. Basically, as a libertarian, I believe that you only become a criminal by committing an act that directly victimizes others. This goes for anyone who uses drugs recreationally and it goes for anyone (both here and abroad) who chooses to disagree with the policy of the United States. If that leads to behavior that victimizes others, it's only then that it should be considered criminal (or an act of war or treason). And above all, my opposition to the War on Drugs and my criticism of the current handling of the War on Terror both stem from the same awareness that you can't control individual behavior on a large scale through fear and intimidation.
I used to think that this was solely a hypocrisy we saw among certain people on the right. After reading some of the Daily Kos comments that Pete pointed out, I worry that the mirror-opposite hypocrisy can be found among some on the left.
Finally, in the world of legal (yet more dangerous) drugs, here's an online petition to force drug companies do the unthinkable, and actually tell the public when they discover internally that their products kill people. And definitely play the video. (via Scott at Grits For Breakfast)
posted by thehim at 5:45 PM
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