In response to:
I should modify that to say in a society in chaos, freedom means the freedom of the powerful to exert their wills upon the powerless. A few end up being "free" and the rest do not. But even then the "free" are enslaved to their own lusts and passions, so that my first statement ends up ringing true.
Forty years ago, the United States locked up fewer than 200 of every 100,000 Americans. Then President Nixon declared war on drugs. Now we lock up more of our people than any other country -- more even than the authoritarian regimes in Russia and China.
A war on drugs -- on people, that is -- is unworthy of a country that claims to be free.
Unfortunately, this outrage probably won't be discussed in Tampa or Charlotte.
The media (including Fox News) run frightening stories about Mexican cocaine cartels and marijuana gangs. Few of my colleagues stop to think that this is...
And BTW, after legalization, the crime will still exist; drug prices will rise to what the market will bear, legal or otherwise. So you'll still have junkies robbing people.
And I'm FOR complete legalization.