Tag: drug legalization

One of the things that annoys me in our national discourse is the way those on the left refuse to recognize the inefficiencies of government on their favorite projects while those on the right do the same thing with theirs. The phrase “legitimate function of government” is a license to all sorts of evils, most importantly the idea that since government must operate courts and have police, military, and other security services, somehow these legitimate functions will tend to work well.

But the factors that make government work at less that the best efficiency in social welfare programs lead to inefficiency in these other roles as well. The problem is measuring success and then rewarding it or penalizing failure as appropriate. By their own standards government agencies do not fail and there is little in the universe that cannot be managed if you will give the right agency more money–in their own terms.

One great boondoggle in this country is the drug war. We’re losing it. We have been from the first. Now please don’t put me in the category of folks looking for a new high. I avoid even over-the-counter pain killers. I don’t use alcoholic beverages. I’d like to reduce drug use, but it doesn’t seem to me that we’re managing to do it. So consider me someone dragged toward this point of view against his own will.

OK, I’m not an expert. Watch this video. He does has some claim to being an expert. I dislike the section that looks like a slap at law enforcement (which he immediately denies, but still …). It’s not law enforcement’s fault if they enforce the law. That’s what we pay them for. I do agree that drugs provide an exceptional opportunity for corruption.

Give it some consideration.

(HT: Dispatches)