743de248   
   XPost: talk.politics.libertarian, alt.drugs, alt.politics.libertarian   
   From: okamuraj005@hawaii.rr.com   
      
   "Brother Nate"  wrote in message   
   news:5602383b-9b03-4b8b-9d2b-ff91ee297f56@d23g2000vbm.googlegroups.com...   
   Jerry Okamura wrote:   
   > "Brother Nate"  wrote in message   
   > > Jerry Okamura wrote:   
   > >> The question is can you ever stop people from doing what they want to   
   > >> do?   
      
   > > Again, it's more complicated than that. For example, we   
   > > have laws that prohibit murder - people still commit murders,   
   > > but we will keep those laws because there's a clear victim,   
   > > a compelling moral imperative that murder is wrong.   
      
   > No, it is a simple question. Can you stop people from doing what theywant   
   > to do? I did not ask, what should be done when a person does what we do   
   > not   
   > want to do, that society has determined really should not be done by   
   > peoople.   
      
   I know your question is simple, but any answer worth reading   
   is still complicated.  You can't stop people from doing what   
   they really want to do, but in some cases what they want   
   should still be against the law.   
      
   I'm prepared to accept the assertion that in some cases we   
   should simply step back out of the way, but I don't think the   
   precedent for why we do that should be based on not being   
   able to stop people from doing what they really want.   
      
   From my standpoint the reason we would want to do that,   
   and the reason we SHOULD do that in the legalization of   
   MJ, is that we don't have a compelling reason to interfere in   
   behaviors that have no victim, and in which the only thing   
   punitive action can accomplish is to make the situation   
   worse.   
      
   First of all let me say that I am generally in favor of legalizing what are   
   now considered illegal drugs (not only MJ).  But I also think we need to   
   consider how important is it to try to stop people from doing something we   
   do not find acceptable, when we know right up front that we are not going to   
   succeed.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)