The Christian Case for Drug Law Reform

You do not have to smoke marijuana, inject heroin, or understand The Wire to realize that the War on Drugs is unconstitutional and immoral. Indeed, the drug war is anathema to individual liberty, and the thinking Christian should reject it on every level.

Occasionally, there are even thinking Christians in office like Ron Paul, or my friend in the Texas House Representative David Simpson (keynote speaker at the first Christians for Liberty Conference last August). Yesterday, Rep. Simpson introduced legislation (HB 2165) that will completely decriminalize marijuana and make it the equivalent of “tomatoes, jalapenos, or coffee” in the eyes of the law.

This would be a heroic stance for any politician to take, as it would stop thousands upon thousands of people from being incarcerated for no commission of aggression, but Rep. Simpson takes it a step further and is arguing publicly that decriminalization is the best Christian position one can take:

As a Christian, I recognize the innate goodness of everything God made and humanity’s charge to be stewards of the same.

In fact, it’s for this reason that I’m especially cautious when it comes to laws banning plants. I don’t believe that when God made marijuana he made a mistake that government needs to fix.

Regrettably, that’s not the course we have pursued on more than one occasion. In the name of protecting the public, certain substances have been declared evil and contraband. So evil are these substances that state and federal agents are empowered to enforce laws with little to no regard for constitutional protections of individual rights, the sanctity of one’s home or the right to travel freely.

You would think that our country’s history with alcohol prohibition — an era marked by bootlegging, organized crime, government corruption and a rise in crime in general — would have prevented us from making the same mistake again.

But our current “war on drugs” policies, though well intended, have accomplished the exact opposite, spurring a proliferation of ever-changing exotic designer drugs and a disregard for constitutional protections in the name of eliminating drugs at any cost. Just think of no-knock warrants, stop-and-frisk, civil asset forfeiture and billionaire drug lords.

Read the rest at Tribtalk.org.

At LibertarianChristians.com, we are categorically against the War on Drugs as one of the greatest evils perpetrated against the entire world by the U.S. federal government, not because we desire to participate in taking drugs but because we are categorically for individual liberty. A government powerful enough to tell you what you can and cannot do with your body will also consolidate greater power unto itself in order to make sure you do what it says – and that is precisely what we have seen from the U.S. government. The War on Drugs has destroyed financial privacy, clogged the judicial system, made the U.S.A. into the #1 incarcerated nation in the world, destroyed civil liberties, and corrupted law enforcement. The War on Drugs is a war on freedom.

We can only hope that all Christians will recognize these truths and further support measures to free prisoners and dismantle government power.

Check out the host of other posts on LCC about the War on Drugs.