From: ichudov@algebra.com (Igor Chudov @ home)
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 05:42:20 +0800
To: david@sternlight.com (David Sternlight)
Subject: Re: Responding to Pre-dawn Unannounced Ninja Raids
In-Reply-To: <v0300760bae180a1cf342@[192.187.162.15]>
Message-ID: <199607211915.OAA17048@manifold.algebra.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text


David Sternlight wrote:
> 
> "Your honor, I don't know who flushed it. I have many visitors to my home."
> is rather different than being caught with a large stash of cocaine on your
> night table.

It is not surprising that after the society decided to label 
natural economic activities (drug dealing) as crimes, it has 
to resort to unnatural methods of enforcing the unnatural
legislation.

Drug consumption (just as alcohol consumption) may be bad for the
individual consumers. But it is a matter of individual informed choice.
If the government (or society, to be more exact) decides to take away a
natural right to consume whatever one pleases, it has no choice but to
go farther and to take away more rights, for example rights to privacy
and safety in their own homes.

The problem is not the drug dealers (and not alcohol traffickers in
the thirties), the problem is lack of respect for the freedom of 
individual consumers, which transforms itself into abolition of other
rights.

Here's what milton friedman said: ``restrictions on economic freedom
inevitably affect freedom in general'' (Free to Choose). It's basically
right. It is the same as the wisdom that bad deeds that one commits
inevitably lead to more bad deeds.

	- Igor.