A Libertarian Perspective of the Drug War with Sean Mitsui - TAP023

Challenging Pathos

The libertarian philosophy upholds “liberty” as its principal objective. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and personal freedoms based on a foundation of an individual choosing what is best for itself. They are skeptical of authority and governmental intrusion into the rights of individuals. Libertarians argue that the invasiveness of the state and the abuse by law enforcement that is likely to accompany it presents a greater threat to personal freedom and liberty then drug using behavior itself.
The Libertarian national platform indicated in 2008 that “we support the protections provided by the fourth amendment to be secure in our persons, homes, and property. Only actions that infringe on the rights of others can properly be termed crimes. We favor the repeal of all laws creating ‘crimes’ without victims, such as the use of drugs for medicinal or recreational purposes.”
The Addictive Podcast is joined by Sean Mitsui, President of the Young Americans for Liberty at the University of Hawaii Manoa who provides his perspective on the drug war as someone who stands up for libertarian values which are in direct conflict to the mechanisms that have evolved out of prohibition including civil asset forfeiture, massive incarceration rates, and the personal invasion of the citizenry often through violent means and profiling; in addition to 50 to 100 billion dollars in economic costs annually to the taxpayer with no measurable improvement in personal or societal safety.
Resources:
http://www.yaliberty.org/chapters/university-of-hawaii-at-manoa
https://www.facebook.com/Young-Americans-for-Liberty-at-UH-Manoa-209974032404810/
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/383913/war-drugs-lost-nro-staff
http://bleedingheartlibertarians.com/2013/12/end-the-war-on-drugs-now/
http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Misc/lp-rld.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLsCC0LZxkY
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheDrugClassroom