@Radle@christopherrufo I call BS on both of those numbers (need to compare on a per-use basis), AND there's no right to use just any substance that turns your crank. We can and should decide some things collectively. Why does libertarianism always reduce to mere libertinism at the extreme?
@TinaSmithMN Platner is obviously a total creep. But that's not even the main issue. The politics of envy that he spouts is phony and disgusting. I refuse to believe that most Maine voters would buy into that bullshit. Are they supposed to be angry because someone created overnight delivery?
@Radle@christopherrufo Even if it did, I wouldn't support it. We shouldn't enable such destructive behavior. This is where my point about culture comes in. Every fiber of our society should rise up in rejection of drug culture.
@Radle@christopherrufo Washington, where I live, was one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana use. There are pot stores everywhere, and they sell a lot of product. But black market pot markets continue to thrive. Legal supply won't drive out cartel supply.
@hasanthehun Israel hasn't expanded since the 1970's. They've been forced to create buffer zones adjoining hostile actors, but they haven't expanded. Iran, otoh, built a network of militias to spread terror throughout the region and to subvert other nation states. It's an evil regime.
@tparsi Or, going with a more credible take, Iran has to act directly, because its proxy forces have been decimated. Iran's strike reeks of desperation.
@Radle@christopherrufo What we should definitely prohibit is camping in city parks or on sidewalks, shooting up in public, theft and trafficking. Portugal does that and actively steers addicts into treatment programs. They recognize that drug addiction is destructive to both the individual and society.
@Radle@christopherrufo The opposite of prohibiting something is to allow it. That's exactly what Oregon has done, to cite one drug example, and the results have been catastrophic. I can see a rationale for possession of a small amount of drugs being a misdemeanor, if paired w/ treatment incentives.
@JessicaTarlov Platner is an ignorant socialist who pounds a lazy narrative about billionaires being the source of our problems. His stupid ideas are disqualifying all by themselves. Bad character is just icing on the cake.
@Radle@christopherrufo If you're going to make an evolutionary argument, you should keep in mind that a technologically advanced culture often confronts people with options that they were not evolved to handle. Hunter gatherers could never have run across potent, human engineered drugs like fentanyl.
@Radle@christopherrufo The issue isn't so much legal as it is cultural and moral. Libertarianism has nothing to contribute on that level. There can never be a sufficiently heavy social stigma associated with highly addictive drugs.
@Radle@christopherrufo Portugal was overrun with heroin in the 1980s, and San Francisco is overrun with fentanyl right now. That was exactly my point. Modern Japan hasn't had that chaos. Even the cannabis article you shared cites relatively paltry usage numbers.
https://t.co/095PrSVDEV