I won’t read the libertarian comments of those who attack me for writing this, unless you promise to read until the end. Then I will listen.
I love freedom as much as anyone, and I flirted not only the idea of calling myself libertarian, but also with the idea of legalization of marijuana for medical use, etc. My husband is the best political mind I know, and he said that legalization would surge heroin use. I didn’t believe it.
I hate admitting I was wrong, but that is precisely where I find myself after watching the data roll in following several states’ legalization of marijuana.
The libertarian argument holds that a free society trusts its adult citizens to make their own choices. Criminalizing use of a “harmless” substance like pot builds a drug-enforcement police state and empowers black-market drug gangs. The solution, decriminalization, will set people free, weaken the drug cartels and allow governments to collect net new revenues. The problem with this view is that none of the facts meet reality, and the libertarian view suffers from flawed logic.
