Libertarians for tyranny

Peter Cuthbertson has replied to me. Obviously his views are rather more subtle than I first thought.

What he seems to be saying is that although in principle he is in favour of drugs legalisation, at present society is in such a morally degenerate state that the consequences of a free market in drugs would be very severe indeed.

He says he wants to avoid the drugs debate which is fine by me because in fact he has initiated an entirely new one - on timing.

I have to confess that I have never really felt that there is much question about it - freedom now. But maybe there are elements of freedom that ought to be delayed. I don't think drugs is one of them but certainly when it comes to road privatisation I think things would have to be thought about. I would certainly not like see people being prevented from going outside their front door.

The reason I think drugs should be relegalised now and in one go is not because I don't think people will do some pretty stupid things - they will. My belief is that after a brief period of madness responsibility will prevail - not least because the pool of irresponsible people will have been diminished.

There is also a tactical reason. I think it is far better to get all the pain over at once. The long the pain goes on the easier it is for wishy-washy politicians to put spanners in the works.

I have one other quibble. He describes illegal drugs as "wicked". To my mind "wicked" is an adjective which can only apply to a being capable of moral choice.