By 1914 Americans were no longer competent to deal with opiates and cocaine. Formerly over the counter drugs. By 1920 they couldn't handle alcohol and by 1937 they lost the ability to deal with cannabis.

And by 2006 they lost the ability to deal with cold medicine.

http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/2006/03/getting_tough_w.html

I'm not a leftist, but I'm still down with the war on drugs, for a couple of very simple reasons:

1) Heroin and crack are not alcohol - they're far more addictive and destructive. Laws appropriate for the latter may not be appropriate for the former. Even cannabis is now commonly grown in varieties around 25x more potent than the types introduced in the '60s and '70s.

2) The existing markets cater to consumers who would still be illegal (kids) in levels and amounts that would be illegal for anyone, while facing no taxes or safety control standards of product manufacture. The users are not interested in legally restricted "safe" dosages and the sellers are not interested in legally regulated and taxed profits; a legal market has no competitive appeal for either.

3) The thing drugs destroy is the very thing libertarians should most value - the capacity to make aware and informed rational choices. If that's not worth going to war to preserve, what is?

Stephen J.,

1) Heroin is a very hard and destructive drug. This is true. All opiates are. However, they are still sold, the drug war is getting and will get nowhere in permanently stopping them, and people addicted to opiates can not turn to legal means to deal with their addictions very often for fear of being put away in jail for being addicted.

Crack is cocaine prepared in a way that makes it easy to smoke. It is actually not anymore potent than powdered Cocaine (and is actually less potent). Cocaine is not actually as big a deal as it is made out to be (by that I mean it is nowhere near the level of heroin in terms of addictiveness and withdrawal; heroin's withdrawal can kill, Cocaine's withdrawal is just a headache and other common reactions to withdrawal from a stimulant. Yes, you can OD on it. You can also OD on cold medicine or even computer duster spray. However, these are left up to the discretion of the consumer when they are sold. The issue with Cocaine is that it IS illegal; it would not be so highly concentrated if it was legal, at least not often. People would likely just chew the Coca leaves, or make a tea out of them or something. If you look at coffee (which contains Caffeine, which is very similar to Cocaine at the same high concentration), who actually drinks caffeine almost to the point of overdosing? Why would you do that?

And weed? If you are seriously using that argument, you fail to realize that weed at its current potency is no more likely to kill you or even cause you to go do something stupid than it was back then. For multiple reasons: higher tolerance among people, the fact that weed cannot currently be credited for any death, and the fact that weed has medical benefits that outweigh its adverse effects.

2. What you forgot to mention about drugging kids:
Flouride in the water
Steroids in the meat
Pesticides and Herbicides in the creeks and rivers
Drugs in the drug cabinet with no lock
Chemicals under the sink with no lock
Chemicals in the garage...with no lock
Exhaust from cars
Pollution/Smog in the atmosphere
Asbestos (which was only just recently dealt with)
Chlorine in our swimming pools, which kids drink from while they are swimming
Alcohol at religious functions
Over the counter drugs
Caffeine in the drinks so many kids drink
RITALIN USED AS MIND CONTROL IN A FORCE PRESCRIPTION GIVEN TO KIDS
ADEROL FOR THE SAME USE AS ABOVE... IN KIDS
Acid Rain
Plastic Baby Bottles giving off bad chemicals
Legal smoking on the streets
Artificial flavors and coloring in our foods, the most processed of which kids love to eat (Lucky Charms, Captain Crunch, etc)
Gas Heating Systems
Ink that is bad for you
TOYS THAT HAD TO BE RECALLED BECAUSE OF LEAD CONTENT (Isn't Lead Poisoning worse in the long run than a single line of cocaine?)
A world filled with plastic, so much of which is ultimately bad for the body.
Microwaves giving off harmful radiation, though kids love to watch the popcorn pop

Also, kids most often experiment with Weed, Tobacco, and Alcohol, and most drink when they turn 21; many smoke tobacco, and some also smoke weed. The VAST majority of people who have tried all three of these do not do Cocaine, Meth, Heroin, Acid, Shrooms, Ecstasy, etc. There's always a few, but the fact is, doing drugs like that usually requires a logical decision, made of one's own free will, to do said drugs. The war on drugs offers nothing but a waste of money, thousands in jail because they are addicted to things, and another example of government imposing on people's free will.

3. Also, libertarians do not most value the "capacity to make aware and informed rational choices." They most value the FREEDOM to make "aware and informed rational choices." Without the freedom to make such choices, what difference does it make what logical conclusion you come to.

Also, just because somebody comes to a logical conclusion does not mean said person comes to YOUR logical conclusion. It doesn't mean you are wrong, and it also doesn't mean that said person is either wrong or right. All it means is that two different answers have been achieved by two different people with different points of view. Some questions do have multiple answers. Drugs may not be for you, but why do you have to say that they aren't for somebody else? What right do you have to control what other people choose to do to themselves? Isn't that the main point of libertarianism? For one to have control over one's own life so that one can best achieve one's potential?