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Entry: The War on Drugs Has Its Advantages Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/the_war_on_drugs_has_its_benefits#24732 Post contents: Mr. Roach makes several good points about the history of law enforcement and the real reduction in freedom caused by high crime. Unfortunately, he also makes several fatal errors. First, he draws an entirely arbitrary distinction between those who have forcibly harmed no one, yet committed a crime in the eyes of the state (certain gun owners) and those who have...forcibly harmed no one, yet committed a crime in the eyes of the state (drug sellers and pimps). The former are to his mind innocent victims of state aggression, but the latter are not, because he thinks their acts are well and truly criminal. Why, he does not directly say, but suggests that many drug dealers are violent people. This is undeniably true, but it admits that the real problem are the violent acts against persons and property. It has nothing to do with the peaceful act of voluntarily exchanging money for a substance that high and mighty authorities have decided that no one (except sometimes themselves) should ever be able to have, for any reason. Moreover, if we are to believe that the drug war is somehow beneficial even when it leads to peaceful people disappearing for years into government rape camps, kept on the public dime rather than being self-sufficient members of society, simply because their peaceful act was illegal, why should we not feel the same about gun owners and breakers of environmental regulations? Does Mr. Roach not tell us that "criminals of one kind of crime are more likely to commit another"? After all, most, if not all people, have the capacity to do violence to another. Fortunately, libertarians realize that imprisoning people for something they may do in the future is not just. It's not part of conservatism (properly understood) either. There's a whole other word for it: tyranny. Next, he facilely attributes the drop in crime to the War on Drugs, citing this "statistical reality" without any actual demonstration of how the connection is causal, or even a significant factor. Other sources for the drop in crime are not even considered. As presented, the notion is not worth much consideration. Last, and perhaps most significantly, he trumpets a reduced crime rate that, alas, can only be considered reduced when the greatest criminal enterprise of all is ignored: the state itself. As evil as the Mafia or Colombian cartels or street gangs or lone serial killers are, none of them harm as many innocent people as the state. Many people will thankfully never encounter a mugger or kidnapper on the street, but everyone in this country will be robbed, degraded, abused, or worse by the government. Contra Mr. Roach, it is not that libertarians focus monomaniacally on the state, it is simply that they recognize it as the most dangerous criminal of all. Sent at: 2008 07 24