After Trump was elected and embraced by Republicans, I changed affiliations from GOP to Libertarian in UT. I'll admit it is a pointless political affiliation - especially in Utah. I want to see a 3+ party system, or a no party system. I tried to believe in Libertarianism and their party, but their hyper focus on dropping all vice (and sometimes safety) related laws makes them unelectable. Legalizing prostitution, drugs, and no seat belts will never be a winning platform. Abolishing all (we mean ALL) taxes sounds nice, until you consider the things for which taxes are necessary and helpful.
However, this article in the Deseret News made the Libertarian inside me scream, laugh, and cry a little. The war on drugs is like most government programs, well-intentioned ideas with poorly executed operations, and potentially unattainable objectives. People like to get high, drunk, gorked, or jacked. They have sought ways to alter consciousness since time began, and will do so until the end of time.
Some aspects of the war on drugs may be helpful. Educational campaigns like DARE have helped many kids make smarter decisions about drugs. However, enforcement has done little but increase prison populations, empower and enrich cartels, and led to more inventive, less indictable, but potentially dangerous ways to get high.
The article provides the example of the approach NY state has taken to keep kids from getting high from legally obtainable items. NY has banned canned whipped cream for people under the age of 21. Some teens have been using the nitrous oxide in whipped cream cans to get high, and it is potentially lethal if excessive amounts are inhaled (although I would be surprised if a can of whipped cream has enough NOS to be lethal).
What are we doing?
To be straight, I think it makes more sense to legalize and tax less harmful drugs like marijuana. If whipped cream cans need to be banned - I think the war on drugs may have been lost.
For NY state teens that just want whipped cream for non-drug reasons, here is a quick recipe from All Recipes
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