OUR VIEW
We figure out that since we are going to be blamed for our ideas anyways (and everything in between) why not go all the way. Our point of view is quite simple: whatever one injects, eats, rubs, smokes, inhales, sniffs, permeates, sprays and/or uses in any possible way is none of anybody business but our own. Least than anybody the government (for a lengthier explanation of the topic see Drugs For Everybody). This is not to say that we do consider most (not all) users idiots (why would anybody voluntarily choose to fry their own brain is beyond us), but that's just our opinion… to which we are fully allowed, particularly in a Libertarian society. We will fight to the death (metaphorically speaking) your right to do it… as long as you do not interact with other peoples' property without a previous voluntary agreement. If you do, then you are fully responsible for your acts and hence fully liable.
BETTER PRODUCTS
Now, moving on, one of the most persistent criticisms regarding these ideas is that drug addicts cause mayhem, death and destruction. We have dealt with this criticism in our previous article (referenced above) and so we won't repeat it. The second most persistent criticism is that even if we could somehow stem the tidal wave of mayhem, death and destruction (plagues, God's wrath, the end of the world as we know it and the collapse of all parallel universes -just to be on the safe side-) which inevitably follows drug use, this does not prevent "street" drug manufacturer's from adulterating their products making them infinitely more dangerous. Unfortunately, this type of thinking is government-based thinking which is to say incredibly one-dimensional.
Drug manufacturing and retailing is fantastically profitable simply because there is ban on drugs. It is the ban that makes the product scarce hence increasing the bid on it. Simple supply and demand. It is funny and one of the biggest jokes on governments (and on your pockets) that the very laws prohibiting the production and sale of drugs are the very laws that make this trade possible. When (yes, that's right, it is inevitable), when those laws are either repealed or made irrelevant by the public, the ban will vanish. Once this happens drug prices will drop like stones and so will profit margins. Once this happens drug addicts will become hot commodities. You see, in the current twisted process if addicts are damaged or killed by a drug, this is irrelevant to the bottom line because the profit is so large. But once profits drop every addict will count towards the bottom line. Therefore what drug sellers will want is repeat business but this demands to take good care of their clients since dead addicts are notoriously reluctant shoppers… not to mention that they all have really awful credit ratings.
In a situation where there is a large competition and small profit margins it is in the best interest of all sellers to protect their customer base. This means providing good drugs (i.e. chemically pure) with no extra cheap psychoactive additives or dangerous fillers. Furthermore, it means advising addicts how to use them properly and with care to prevent the discontinuation of repeat business. In other words, to build good reputation based on excellent service and reasonable prices.
But this all hinges upon the idea that drug manufacturers' won't cheat. Not everybody has and HPLC-GC-Mass-Spectrograph in the basement to analyze street drugs. And so there is no way to know what's in the powder or capsule…unless the free market comes to the rescue.
ENTER THE FREE MARKET
In a free market the only way to make money is to serve consumers… and therefore where there is a need there is a market solution. As addicts become more and more conscientious of the danger of "bad stuff", they will begin to become informed consumers. As such they will have the need for trustworthy analysis of drugs. In a strange manner it is what Ronald Regan (an ex-actor and former US president that went postal in his old age) said about Russian disarmament treaties: trust but verify. Drug addicts will have the need to verify their purchases to make sure they are "good stuff".
As this can only be done in a lab, many such labs will sprout all over the place where for a low, low fee they will analyze your purchase. In so doing they will make a profit, you will be safer from "bad stuff" and the reputations of vendors will be either destroyed or made. This process of the free market cleaning itself of low quality drug providers is what will ensure safer drugs (and lives) for those preferring synthetic happiness. Of course this is all hypothetical right?
Well…no.
Take a look at the company Ectasydata. This company accepts samples (for a small fee), gets them analyzed and publishes the results. Unfortunately, since this company operates in the US what the labs can disclose is only a fraction of the information that would otherwise be available and therefore the information is only a fraction as useful as it could otherwise be. But something is something. Consider this. If in this uber-paranoid world, particularly in the uber-schizoid and uber-righteous US of A such an organization exists, it is patently clear that these organizations are viable. Furthermore, even today one can engage a lab directly and get an analysis; it is just that this kind of service is not advertised because the second you send a sample in, you automatically become a suspect. However, in a Libertarian setting there is nobody to "suspect" anything about you and you could engage any lab you may wish. Furthermore, as many labs get in the game, the price and convenience of such analysis will become cheaper, easier and faster making the lives of drug addicts so much safer.
Moving away just a modicum of distance from street drugs, we find a company that does nutritional supplement analysis for consumers and has been doing it for a very long time. See ConsumerLab. They are financially viable and if they can make it so will others.
The truth is that for as long as something is banned, this ban will create far more problems that it will solve. The best (but not perfect) solution is a free market. This works with everything including "street" drugs.
A BETTER DRUG ADDICT
There are many marketing, propaganda and informational campaigns out there teaching people to be better consumers. A drug addict is just another consumer that should not have to suffer due to government stupidity in preventing safer and purer drugs. A better drug addict is an informed drug addict. The point in case is that informed drug addicts have higher demands and expectations and they vote with their pockets, which are a far more efficient way to change things, far more efficient than bullets and ridiculously more efficient than votes. Furthermore, this relentless pressure on providers towards quality and service for some clients spills over to all their clients. A small set of customers may initiate the trend but in the end all benefit.
CONCLUSION
A better drug addict is a drug addict armed with scientific and objective evidence enabling them to make better consumer choices. Yet, governments all over the world go to great lengths to prevent drug addicts from becoming better consumers hence condemning them to needless misery, pain and suffering. It is direct government action that is directly responsible for all these tragedies. It is direct government action that prevents people from being free to experiment with whatever they may want in a safer and more responsible manner. Furthermore, all this direct action is paid by… you guessed it… your money extracted from your pockets through the unholy trinity: tax, borrow and print. This is our case and it is compelling.
Unless your opinion differs. But then again, you are free to allow yourself to be robbed and your money misused for the detriment of humanity. Hope you are happy now.
Note: please see the Glossary if you are unfamiliar with certain words.
