Answering the Libertarian argument for drug legalization

[MathGeek]

Originally Posted by Montauk17

X2...MG,can you tell me your opinion on why hemp is illegal? It has no effects like weed and the list of products that can be made from it is almost endless.

The reasons behind the outcome of any political process or seldom simple or easily summarized, especially decades after the event when the more readily available histories have all been revised and doctored to influence contemporary decision making. I haven't looked hard enough into documentation closer to the original event to sort out likely contributing factors and their magnitude from the later revisions more motivated by desire for change.

Does whether or not gun control had racist origins impact the wisdom or rightness of current gun control efforts? The case for RKBA can be made from the 2nd amendment, from fundamental considerations of how liberty and political power should work in a Constitutional Republic, from the Bible, and from consideration of man's natural right to self-defense from tyrants and criminals.

Likewise, regardless of whether or not drug laws put in place many decades ago were influenced by ulterior motives and corporate money, the wisdom and rightness of each current drug law can be assessed and considered without depending on decades old history which may not be accurate. I've already stated my support for repealing most Federal drug laws, because (not involving interstate commerce), regulation via Federal legislation is an overreach of Federal power. Laws regulating possession, use, and intrastate transfers of drugs should be a state level issue, driven by the needs, values, and interests of each individual state. If the passing of the overreaching Federal laws was unduly influenced by competing fiber industries, then this is even more evidence that the matter should have been handled at the state level.

The case for the degree of regulation of any specific drug should be informed by all the available scientific evidence, by the expected impact and effects of the proposed regulation (or de-regulation) on the people of Louisiana, and by the values and moral compass of the people of Louisiana.