Gadling

I would like to challenge all Gadling readers to come up with a single argument against decriminalization that holds water.

When you make something a crime, you create more criminals, plain and simple. The only things in life that should be criminalized are acts in which one person or entity infringes upon the rights of another. A person's right to destroy their own body with drugs, alcohol, or anything else is their right. The only crime is when their use of the drug leads to an act that infringes upon another's rights.

Think about it this way. I drink beer. Sometimes I drink beer to excess and become drunk. When I do this, I had my keys to a sober person so I do not get into a car and drive and risk causing an accident. Am I a criminal for this? No.

If I drank to excess and got behind the wheel and caused an accident would I be a criminal? YES!

My right to drink alcohol to excess ended where the person whose vehicle and/or life was destroyed became involved. The mere act of drinking alcohol, even to excess, is not, nor should it be, a crime. The act of driving under the influence, however, is, and should be, a crime.

The same should be applied to drugs. If I smoke a joint and sit back on the couch and watch cartoons and eat funyuns am I a criminal? Apply a test of rights. Whose rights would I infringe upon if I were to do this? Aside from my own aspirations of success, I would have harmed noone!

Okay, fine, it's not that hard to convince people that marijuana isn't that bad... let's try something harder.

If I snort a line of cocaine and spend the next three hours running in circles and grinding my teeth, am I a criminal? Again, were this to happen, upon whose rights would I be infringing? Back to the alcohol analogy, if I snort a line of cocaine and get into a fight and beat someone to death, then I am a criminal.

So what makes the criminal, is it the act of consuming the drug? Or is it the act that follows? I personally do not use cocaine or marijuana, but if I used either one or both every single day for the rest of my life in copious amounts and I never harmed another human being in the process, where is the crime? Who will I have hurt other than myself?

I would LOVE to see this country decriminalize drugs! Empty the prisons of people whose only crime is enjoying a quick high on the weekend and make room for the real criminals, the child molesters, the murderers, the rapists, and the politicians! :)

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