Some Say Legal Marijuana Is an Issue of Personal Liberty

We like to believe Idaho respects liberty, and for the most part, I would agree with the assertion, but some say we need work.  I remember the first time I ever met Governor Butch Otter.  He was at an event in Hansen, and I told him about going to Shoshone Falls and passing a place that looked like it was home to Ma and Pa Kettle.  He explained that was the price of freedom, if you want to respect property rights.  He was spot on!  People want to be left alone, and all too often, government (or people in government) believe you need to be controlled.

There are Limits to Personal Freedom

Liberty doesn’t mean a right to speed or club your neighbor with a shovel.  Oliver Wendell Holmes said your right to swing your fist ended at the tip of my nose.  However, if I leave you alone, and you do the same, we’ll get along.  Or I should think.

This Looks to Be About Legal Dope

The CATO Institute is a libertarian think tank based in Washington, D.C.  It posts a list of the freest states every year.  Idaho is only 15^th on the list.  The state tops the list of states with the fewest business regulations.  We lose, according to CATO’s index on individual liberty.  I assume the libertarians use that measure and that it’s based on smoking dope.  Remove that issue, and we probably climb higher on the list.  I remember talking to a police detective who later became a lawyer, who explained that the majority still didn’t favor drug legalization, prostitution, or gambling.  We’ve seen that erode in the 30 years since our conversation.  This November, those dominoes may start to fall.