Opinion of this Cato Institute take on drug policy

[Aurelius]

https://www.cato.org/blog/oregons-drug-decriminalization-needs-go-further

The key portion:

The problem, however, is that 110 did not go far enough.

While 110 eliminated serious penalties for personal use, it did not legalize production and sale of drugs. For example, manufacturing or distributing heroin is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine, plus twice the amount gained through dealing.

[If my soul was made of stone]

Cato Institute

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

[TheReckoning]

I’ve always believed that drug use was, morally speaking, a much lesser vice than other things people want to legalize, such as buying sex.

[Alben Barkley]

I’ve always believed that drug use was, morally speaking, a much lesser vice than other things people want to legalize, such as buying sex.

You can't be serious. Sex is a universal (or at least near-universal) human desire. And it can be completely harmless. Heroin however is only good for killing people and destroying lives. There are legitimate arguments against legalized prostitution, but saying it's a "greater vice" than a drug as hard as heroin seems like a massive stretch to me.

[TheReckoning]

I’ve always believed that drug use was, morally speaking, a much lesser vice than other things people want to legalize, such as buying sex.

You can't be serious. Sex is a universal (or at least near-universal) human desire. And it can be completely harmless. Heroin however is only good for killing people and destroying lives. There are legitimate arguments against legalized prostitution, but saying it's a "greater vice" than a drug as hard as heroin seems like a massive stretch to me.

I believe that sex is a much more “serious” act than giving yourself a little buzz. I’m sure you understand this, most drug users/drinkers have no problem partaking with someone who they don’t even know their name, but most sex havers have much stronger requirements for who they have sex with.

It’s important to I called buying sex a more serious “moral” vice, not a health vice. Do you seriously believe doing drugs is “immoral”? I mean, maybe, under certain circumstances. But a lot more people would be far quicker to call buying sex a bigger moral statement on a person’s character than drug use.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Lmao.

[Alben Barkley]

I’ve always believed that drug use was, morally speaking, a much lesser vice than other things people want to legalize, such as buying sex.

You can't be serious. Sex is a universal (or at least near-universal) human desire. And it can be completely harmless. Heroin however is only good for killing people and destroying lives. There are legitimate arguments against legalized prostitution, but saying it's a "greater vice" than a drug as hard as heroin seems like a massive stretch to me.

I believe that sex is a much more “serious” act than giving yourself a little buzz. I’m sure you understand this, most drug users/drinkers have no problem partaking with someone who they don’t even know their name, but most sex havers have much stronger requirements for who they have sex with.

It’s important to I called buying sex a more serious “moral” vice, not a health vice. Do you seriously believe doing drugs is “immoral”? I mean, maybe, under certain circumstances. But a lot more people would be far quicker to call buying sex a bigger moral statement on a person’s character than drug use.

I'm not really looking at this in "moral" vs. "immoral" terms as I don't believe either having sex or doing drugs is inherently moral or immoral.

I'm looking at it in terms of harmful or unharmful, certainly not some vague concept of "serious" or not. While it may be the case that some (not all by any means) people see sex as a more "serious" act that means more emotionally to them, the fact of the matter is that in most cases (things like STIs which can fairly easily be protected against notwithstanding), the physical act of sex itself is less harmful than injecting yourself with heroin. The legitimate reasons to oppose buying sex would be along the lines of concern for the "sex workers" who are often exploited, not because you think sex is a seriously more harmful thing than doing heroin.

Love the "I'm sure you know this" bit btw lol. I don't do any hard drugs. Never have. Never will. I drink, yes, absolutely, and sure it "means less" to me to drink with someone than to have sex with them. But again I don't associate morality with that, and certainly don't think it changes how either one affects my physical health. If we're going to be regulating these things at all, it should be with public health in mind. Not some subjective and vague concept of "morality." And with that in mind, it actually makes more sense to regulate hard drugs than it does to regulate sex. Again, there are legitimate arguments against buying/selling sex as well, but I don't see you making them frankly.

[Benjamin Frank]

Prohibition was, is and always will be a failure.

The next biggest failure after that was, is and always will be the 'vice' squad.

[dead0man]

if good heroin was legally available at a reasonable price, a LOT fewer people would die from overdoses.  The War on Drugs is not about helping people though, it's about punishing people who do something the majority thinks they shouldn't do.  The costs in lives and taxes are worth it to them.  These are the people that made American Idol a hit TV show, believe that two decades wasn't long enough to be in Afghanistan and think voting for the "lesser evil" is a great idea.

[If my soul was made of stone]

These are the people that made American Idol a hit TV show

The cold storage unit for culture-war hand-wringing takes from 2002 is down the hall and to the right.

Also, don't disrespect my boy William Hung.

[Libertas Vel Mors]

FT

[dead0man]

These are the people that made American Idol a hit TV show

The cold storage unit for culture-war hand-wringing takes from 2002 is down the hall and to the right.

Also, don't disrespect my boy William Hung.

well that was an easy nerve to touch