[AceArcher]

Originally Posted by MathGeek

Sure drug users can contribute to society. I am not saying they can't. However, I think recreational drug use/misuse/abuse tends to reduce the potential for individuals to contribute and tends to increase the risk of them becoming a burden to society through greater accident risk, unwanted pregnancy risk, disease risk, and reduced work productivity. As long as you continue to reference a person like Gary Johnson as a "long haired hippie drug user" I can't really in good conscience think that you find any value in anyone who has ever partaken of any illicit drug. Additionally both research and reality have shown clearly that once marijuana is legalized / decriminalized there is significant reductions to all the "burden's on society" that you have listed... but we have went over all that before.

Your view is not just for drug users to be free to use drugs as long as they assume all the risk. Until and unless the welfare state (safety net) is dismantled (including health care), your position is that society as a whole should share the risks of increased medical costs, increased pregnancy risks, increased accident risks, increased disease risks, and reduced work productivity of unrestricted drug use/misuse/abuse. Sheer fear mongering

There are many fields where drug use/abuse does not seem to significantly reduce the value of employees work production. There are other fields where the risks are obviously unacceptable. My point is that it is not the government's job to decide which are which. The owners and management of each individual business should be free to decide, except in cases where there are obvious public safety risks that require government oversight (airplane pilots, for example). The consequences for an employer deciding wrongly (foolish employment policy regarding drug use) should be left up to the free market. If an employer's policy is too restrictive, the business will be at a competitive disadvantage because he is failing to hire some great employees simply because they use drugs.

Employers and insurers should have complete freedom with regard to their drug testing policies.

Exactly where in the libertarian's platform do you see that they intend to be the new "Thought Police"? Could you please point it out?

New's at 11... "The Sky is still.... not falling"