Which alternative imposes greater costs on society: permitting the use of drugs or prohibiting their use?
Proponents of the current policy argue that the harm caused by drugs is not restricted to the users. I believe they deal effectively with the so-called “libertarian” point of view that is espoused by at least a minority of respectable persons from diverse walks of life74 _ people who say that criminal sanctions cannot, and should not, prohibit personal conduct which does no harm to others. It is not the business of government, they say, to protect people from themselves. An individual should be free to engage in the private use of drugs because the right to ingest substances is part of the right to self-determination. For starters, I note that this alleged right to self-determination rests on a constitutional foundation yet undeclared. More important, however, drug use does cause harm to others. Proponents of the current policy point to such secondary effects as crime, accidents, and public nuisances. All those things have innocent victims quite apart from the users. Drug use also impo
