I'm by no means a libertarian in the philosophical sense, having too much evidence available for Original Sin! On the other hand, I think the state takes far too much on itself and should leave people alone to sort out their problems rather more than it does at present.
I have always been suspicious of the "war on drugs" as an excuse for increasingly authoritarian bossiness. So I was really rather disappointed that the Portuguese effort in decriminalisation appears not to have produced the results claimed for it.
Strange to think that a hundred years ago I could have bought drugs and firearms over the counter with no questions asked yet crime was indubitably a tiny fraction of what it is now. I suppose that people (young men, in particular), were perforce too busy scraping some sort of living rather than bored out of their skulls on social security.
The Devil finds work for idle hands and all that.
Edward Spalton
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