[quote]DrSkeptix wrote:
So, on the one hand, the addict–distinct from the drug user–by definition cannot make responsible choices, and on the other hand, the drug user cannot be abandoned by Society as “having made his own choice”–someone pays.
Ain’t no absolute winners in this discussion.[/quote]
Well said, on a number of levels, Doc - and I concur with a lot of it. After all, my “scenario” of absolute liberty/absolute responsibility is a hypothetical, presented as Devil’s advocacy to highlight the problems and, indeed, absurdities of any “perfect fix”.
Suddenly we see a world of libertarian drug-users having to face uncomfortable choices when other non-drug users get to exercise absolute freedom as well - and suddenly the concept of spreading risk across a “society” (whether publicly or privately) takes on a new, sobering importance.
Society will always have to absorb the costs of the bad choices of some of its members in the Real World, we can’t escape it, nor should we, if we want to live in a civilized society. The “absorption” should be limited - I am not championing Universal Health Care - but there will always be some element of it.
That said, if society is going to dole out some benefits and help underwrite the risks if individual drug use, society reserves the right to issue some conditions of its own, just as any insurance pool would. Those conditions include, at its most base level, disapproval of the activities that continue to be a drain on society with no added benefit - which is precisely what drug use amounts to.
