First of all I appreciate your post and let me say that I am sorry for th pain you are experiencing and have apparently for some time. My dad was in constant pain during the last part of his life and it was terrible.
Although I agree that the government is too heavy handed regarding regulation of some substances , marijuana and many other drugs are examples, I disagree strongly with just letting people take whatever they want and dealing with things no matter how they turn out. You must be aware of the current synthetic odiods and other substances that are ravaging the US and other parts of the world as well. if you let people take whatever they want, they will get addictions that they simply cannot let go of and there will also be many more unnecessary deaths. Additionally there will be a huge drain on society from the healthcare required by these people. I am not sure if you are aware of the cost and resources it takes to treat and care for these people. It is incredible. so to say just let it happen when these same people cannot fund their healthcare and recovery is irresponsible.
Instead what I think that you should do is to advocate for common sense changes in the law to allow substances like Kratom to be part of therapies. I currently live in Thailand and there is a Kratom problem here in the country. It is abused and is a drain on the country's resources. So there needs to be some regulation but is does seem to be a superior alternative to typical opiods. Again, if you want things to change, advocate. Or even better, do like I did because I did not like the way the Us handled so many things, move out of the country. It sounds drastic, but so does your current situation my dear. God bless you.
Hi David, I am a Libertarian so I think there is an inherent right of all people to choose what risks they take to their own body and to make those decisions free of state interference. People can choose to destroy their lives if they wish - but I submit many more lives are lost by the black market since substances are untested, no legal resource to the courts, and the violence in any black market.
No one should be forced to pay for anyone else's healthcare either and without state meddling there are charitable organizations that would arise.
I would advocate the therapeutic use as you say as an interim step but I fundamentally deny the right of the state to limit. I do advocate - I am currently on the Libertarian National Committee (the third largest political party in the US).
Thank you and God bless you too!
Thanks and I have libertarian leanings as well. But what do you say to the fact that people will be incapacitated from some of these drugs and need government care paid for by others to care for them? How does that not step on the liberty of others? Yes you have the right to kill yourself but do you also have the right to force other people to care for you because you took a huge risk in doing something that may have killed you but instead made you a vegetable for life? Or do we just let these people die because they did what they wanted and we should have no responsibility for them? Please let me know your thoughts.
That is the horns of a false dilemma. Why should you be allowed to eat things that might cost me money? Or skydive? Or any number of things. No should be forced to care for other people under ANY circumstance. That does not imply no responsibility - that is up to each person. But it does imply no coerced responsibility.
I think I understnd. So if someone willingly takes a drug and goes into a coma we should just let that person die. Is that what you are saying? What about people who are hit by an automobile and is not insured? Do we let that person die also? People who skydive must have insurance or the company sponsoring the skydive must be insured. These are real things that happen in the world. I am not trying to argue only to understand your point of view. Thanks.