I am a firm believer in individual rights. A person should be free to engage in any activity which does not cause harm, physically or collaterally, to another person. It is not the place of the government, or any other person or group of persons, to forbid him activity which might cause damage to himself.
I am such a strong believer of this that I even started to pay my parents rent when I was sixteen, so that they couldn’t throw me the line, “when I’m supporting you under MY roof…”
One activity which has been prohibited by those moral puritists who plan to protect me from myself is the consumption of marijuana. I can barely contain my contempt of such do-gooders.
Not that I smoke marijuana, or advocate it for any reason, or would even would engage in it if it wasn’t illegal, but what right does anybody have to tell me that I do not even have a choice in the matter?
They tell me that it isn’t good for me. Neither are hamburgers.
They say it’s dangerous. So’s skydiving.
They claim it will impair my judgement. So does alcohol.
They state it causes brain damage. Well gollyee. If it was a crime to be brain damaged most of Congress would have to be locked up.
It can be argued by some that it is the government’s job to protect me from others, and others from me. While I’m not sure, I do know that it is MY job to protect me from me.
To be sure, anyone who uses marijuana heavily is an idiot. But that’s what freedom is all about, the right to act in a manner of which others may not approve.
By Bob Lawson
Libertarian Rock would like to thank Bob for writing this editorial. We print all editorials that present the Libertarian view on any topic in a coherent manner. Please share your views about the government’s control of your life by sending an editorial to Libertarian Rock.
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