On a recent Scott Adams livestream he reacted to someone suggesting it would be smart to legalize drugs. In response, he gave the least credible justification for prohibition I've ever heard, but it's typical.
He immediately pivoted away from actually ending the stupid and evil War on Politically Incorrect Drugs to some system whereby government gives "free" regulated drugs to people. No one had suggested that.
As usual, he had changed the subject away from the actual argument to make a point he preferred to focus on. It's a typical government supremacist response to getting government out of any facet of life. Also known as a "straw man".
He said this version of "legalization" won't work because addicts always want "more". That's not even part of the conversation, nor should it be. It's only something that a person who still assumes government Control of the supply (and the addicts) would bring up.
Letting a government employee Control and ration something isn't the same as getting government out of the market for that thing. It's the opposite. You can't say "legalization" will fail by using the opposite as evidence unless you are being dishonest.
He said the rationed, free handout drugs which he pretended were part of the argument wouldn't be enough, so addicts would still go buy "illegal" drugs, too. Not if there's no such thing as "illegal" drugs, they won't. How hard is this to understand? That's what ending prohibition means!
He did this all under the pretense that he understands people, addicts in particular. It doesn't look as though he does. It just looks like he's grasping to justify government maintaining Control so that any solution is forbidden.
Would addicts die? Yes. They already do. Would more die than under the current system? I don't know and neither does anyone else. But, it's a fundamental human right to destroy yourself. It's tragic, and I would rather people didn't, but they will, and "laws" don't prevent it from happening.
In fact, enforcing the prohibition "laws" destroys many lives that would have otherwise not been destroyed. Much of the harm from drug abuse and almost all of the harm from drug use comes not from the drugs but from the anti-drug rules and policies.
Regardless of anything else, responsibility doesn't go away just because you were on drugs. That's a completely separate issue, one that prohibition hasn't come close to solving.
You can't say liberty won't work by using examples where you keep someone in Control. Liberty won't fail, but it isn't given a chance.
It's one of those things that makes me want to scream and give up on brainwashed people like this.
