(November 3, 2010 at 11:43 am)theophilus Wrote: What if you put something into your body that alters your behavior so that you harm others? Doesn't the government have the right to prevent that from happening?
Last time I looked they hadn't quite perfected the mind control chips, but let's pretend you are talking about an imaginary drug instead.
If there was a drug that caused 100% of it's users to go on a mindless rampage (there isn't) then yes I'd say that would be a good candidate for a government ban as it's only purpose is to make the user hurt others. This is not the case for "real world" illicit drugs, although PCP can be pretty close to what you describe.
Here is a car analogy:
Quote:What if you drive your automobile in a fashion that harms others? Doesn't the government have the right to prevent that from happening?
Sure they do, but they do not have the right to ban automobiles. In other words, we already have laws to prevent dissuade people from harming others.
"How is it that a lame man does not annoy us while a lame mind does? Because a lame man recognizes that we are walking straight, while a lame mind says that it is we who are limping." - Pascal
