I'm gonna take a chance here and say that you're not a partizan zealot but someone that really worries about losing Civil Liberties.
I've been wrong before... might be now
... but I'm willing to think optimistically of you and try and have a fruitful discussion.
The thing is that some things are more dangerous than others and affect others and society more negatively than others.
I've always thought things like seatbelts laws with fines for adults were ridiculous. Having done both, don't see how alcohol can be legal and pot cannot. Don't see legal gambling as a problem or as any different if it's in a casino or a state lottery. Think legal prostitution ran the way it is in Nevada makes a whole lot of sense. And I think going after food products is stupid as well as you do. So your point that Civil Liberties are often taken away without good reason is valid.
But things like heroin or crack that create a physical need so bad that it hugely encourages violence and theft & robbery... these things are worse on society than the loss of the Liberty to do them IMO.
Guns are a device that a law abiding person without a criminal record or mental condition should be able to obtain. But there's nothing wrong... in fact it's good for society... that we do try and check for these things and have some regulation.
Tobacco smoke is something that very negatively affects the health of others not smoking. So on this one I'm fine with taxing or removing it from the market all together for that matter.
So I agree with some of your trend of thought but ask that you also look at the some of the other drivers other than just power & taxation.
On all of the so called "moral issues" the Radical Right pandering to Christian Conservatives make it their game plan to work against the legalization of many things that in reality would be less of a problem if just simply made legal. And you are correct that in many cases even the Left holds up a stance that seems almost equally unenlightened.
But that to a great extent is because they don't want to be bashed by the Right as some kind of immoral monsters.
Do you see what I'm saying... possibly agree to some extent?
