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adriand | on: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
Is it unjust to prohibit the sale of illegal drugs, weapons, etc.? Society has good reasons for regulating certain goods. I regularly see people in my community who are enslaved by fentanyl and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. The society I live in decided to make selling it illegal. What is unjust about that?
l0ng1nu5 | parent | next
As I recall weapons weren't permitted on the platform.

The society didn't decide, the ruling class decided to use drug policy to attack their own citizens.

History shows that prohibition is an abject failure. The fent epidemic is symptomatic of this failed policy.

If they actually cared about the epidemic, addicts would have access to regulated, pharmaceutical grade heroin whilst also having ready access to treatment.

But then we'd have empty prisons and the police would be free to solve real crimes so we can't have that.

adriand | root | parent | next
> addicts would have access to regulated, pharmaceutical grade heroin

We tried that, it was called the opioid epidemic and Purdue was the pharmacist. We had readily available, doctor-prescribed, high quality narcotics available to anyone who wanted them and the result was an epic disaster that cost thousands of lives.

> weapons weren't permitted on the platform

My mistake.

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jsheard | root | parent | next
Is Trump pushing for broad drug decriminalisation? I feel like that would be necessary for this pardon to make sense on the basis of current drug laws being unjust.

Last I heard he was promising to make drug dealers eligible for the death penalty: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-wants-e...

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| root | parent | next
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0dayz | root | parent | next
Not exactly, fentanyl epidemic was specifically started by one family seek profit and ousted doctors to over prescribe it while claiming it was mildly addictive.

The war on drugs have caused immeasurable harm due to failure to understand most people use drugs either as escapism or as a tendency.

That's why it has failed.

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foogazi | root | parent
So we like drug markets now ?

How are cartels terrorist organizations?

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ndriscoll | parent | next
There are healthier middle grounds we could explore where e.g. advertisements are banned and individuals could register themselves as being banned from participating in certain addictive vices because they don't consistently have the willpower to quit or don't want to tempt fate trying it (and make it a crime to sell to an individual who has voluntarily banned themselves), but it's hard to argue that The War on Drugs has been in any way just.

I expect in such a society, certain groups (e.g. Mormons) would normalize banning yourself from vices the day you turn 18.

mystified5016 | parent
What is just is decided both by an individual and the society they exist in. "It is one's moral obligation to fight injustice" is a pretty common tenent to hold. Injustice can be city laws encouraging anti-homeless spikes. Injustice can also be genocide in a remote country. Those injustices get fought in very different ways. One can be handled by individual vigilanteeism and peacefully petitioning local governance. The other might require global war.

In my personal belief, everyone[0] has the right and moral obligation to fight the injustice they care about at the level they can manage. If that's handing out water at the protest or inventing penicillin, do what you personally can do to improve the world.

[0]the average layperson, obvious exceptions for power/money apply

adriand | root | parent
Sure, but the facts matter. Making millions of dollars by operating a marketplace for illegal drugs is not even close to the same ballpark as protesting a draconian anti-homeless law, let alone resisting genocide!

The only reasonable argument for drug legalization, in my opinion, is the libertarian one - the idea that you should be free to take the drugs you want to take. I am sympathetic to this argument. I am someone who is able to make wise decisions about the drugs I take. But I also recognize that millions of my fellow citizens are not. The harm to society from drug addiction and overdoses outweighs the benefit to me getting high whenever I want.