About Government Getting All Up in Your Bong

About government getting all up in your bong:

When Prohib was initiated, drinking went up. After Repeal, drinking went up.

Prohib increases the lure for those for whom "forbidden fruit" is part of the attraction. Repeal opens up use (with the threat of abuse) to those who would have otherwise obeyed a prohibition.

Under Prohib, you have those who follow the law, and those who shop in the black market. It doesn't actually stop anything, just alters the markets. The numbers from the Great Experiment are hard to parse as far as which had what social effect upon how many, Prohib or Repeal, encouraging or discouraging use and abuse, because it's so difficult to separate the impact of Prohib & Repeal from the other dynamic changes going on in American society in the same period.

Those of us who would obey the law but want to enjoy a cider at the end of the day would be deprived of that luxury under Prohib. If all one wants is to grow a plant and smoke it, is that a prison-worthy offense?

I hold thus:

- Substances are not behaviors. Adults should be legal to do whatever. When you can't handle it, you will be tried on the crimes you commit. It is unfortunate, but we really should have a society that has to wait for a real transgression to be committed.

- Taxes should be flat on all sales. No luxury tax, gas tax, vice tax, or other special rates. Government should not be in the business of attempting social changes or modifying behaviors through force of taxes.

Taxes suppress what is taxed, so savings taxes, property and investment taxes, income taxes, all discourage what we ought to be doing, saving, investing, owning, earning. While taxes of any kind must suck, and we can never stop cheating, seems like the best tax is a flat sales tax; whatever exceptions there might be (e.g. basic foods), anything that's sold is taxed the same. People will pay sales taxes that are within reason, especially if society is healthy and thus sales will happen a lot, and the government you're paying the tax for is what it ought to be.

Yeah, I know.

/dismounting soapbox because I Can't Breath