Ron Paul Is Right On "The War on Drugs" But I Still Won't Vote For Him

I heard Mr. Paul last night in one of the political
forums with Juan Williams of that villianous (chuckle)
Fox News.

As previously stated,
(http://robbemorris.blogspot.com/2007/09/ron-paul-why-i-cant-vote-for-him.ht
ml ), I won't vote for Ron Paul but he is right
on the war on drugs. It was a lost cause from the word
go. As is often also the case with liberalism, good intentions
don't always equal good results.

I'd like to see a different set of disincentives for drug
use. Imprisonment has too high a direct and indirect cost
to those in society that don't abuse drugs. Perhaps
taxing drugs (ala make them legal) or possibly alter the
punishment to include forced rehab and community service.
Perhaps loss of social security or medicare benefits if
convicted x number of times? Maybe a lost of right to vote?
A national registry of drug offenders?

Are their actions we could take that would make drug
abuse be viewed with the same disdain as a sexual predator?

Don't know...

I'm sure all sorts of creative punishments could be derived.
Will it stop drug use? For some yes for others no. I'm not
sure that should be the mandate. Lowering the cost to society
for tolerating their drug use should be.

There is a case to be made for protecting society against
the "likely" actions of some drug users while under the
influence. It is similar in some ways to that Tom Cruise
movie called Minority Report. At the end of the day, do
we criminalize the behavior or the cause of the criminal
behavior. Criminalizing both hasn't been terribly successful
to date.

I've often wondered about the geo political affects of
reduced cost and risk for producing these types of drugs. One
could assume fewer revenues to groups and governments
unfriendly to capitalist societies. Poppy crops in
Afghanistan come to mind. Those farmers don't harm me.

One word of advice to Mr. Paul. He comes across as
angry and bitter every time I see him. I know he is
passionate but it doesn't translate into calm and confidence
in his ability to solve problems or at least get things
going in the right direction. Newt Gingrich is a good
example to follow in this area.