Selling Dangerous Things

Yesterday I thought about the Bali 9 stuff, my mind going in all directions. I thought about the various opinions I've been seeing—one being that we shouldn't forget the tragic victims of the drug trade. People die from taking drugs, right? So in our sadness over the death of Chan and Sukumaran, we shouldn't forget those they would have harmed if their heroin adventures had not been thwarted.

We shouldn't forget that Chan and Sukumaran were villains.

For a moment, I wondered if perhaps I agreed with that.

But that was a quick moment, because then I remembered the tobacco and alcohol industry. Those industries lead to the death of many others.  My own sister had severe and lasting injuries because some guy had way too many drinks and then got into his car.  Why is it legal to be in some industries that have the potential to cause harm to others, but illegal to be in other such industries?

I just checked the Wiki travel guide, and it says alcohol is legal in Indonesia. So, why is that okay and drugs are not?

And for those who think Chan and Sukumaran were awful people because they planned to bring heroin into Australia—do you have the same ill thoughts towards those who bring in and sell alcohol and tobacco?

Anyway, I was thinking of writing a long detailed post about this; but then this morning I found an article that pretty much expressed my thoughts and feelings. So I thought I'd just provide the link. Is that lazy?  Yeah. Probably.

David Van Mill, the writer of the article, believes drugs should be legalized.  I'm not sure if I believe all should be legal. Well...I probably do. I'm not 100% sure.  But what he says makes sense to me.