Adults should have the right to do what they want with their own bodies.
This basic principle serves as the bedrock of liberal societies. Unfortunately, the bodily autonomy most claim to believe in is put under threat by laws which seek to criminalise homosexuality, mandate that women wear particular clothing, and yes – ban the consumption of certain substances.
If someone were to call the police at the sight of someone eating their third kebab of the day, we would laugh at them. That’s because, in most other cases, we recognise that – even if someone causing themselves harm – it is not the role of the police to interfere with the personal choices made by consenting adults. We are free to stuff our faces with unhealthy food, to drink any amount of alcohol, to never exercise, and to smoke as much tobacco as we please.
Of course, if someone’s alcohol consumption does put someone else’s safety at risk, we rightly step in to protect the other person. Drink driving, assault on a night out, and child neglect, are all rightly illegal. These same laws can be, and already are, applied to other drugs.
Politicians regularly laugh about using drugs
Can you think of any other law that swathes of politicians openly admit to having broken, often laughing about it with their interviewers?
Unfortunately, thousands of ordinary people are in prison for breaking the very same laws politicians laugh about breaking.
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