Friedersdorf: The War On Drugs Is Far More Immoral Than Most Drug Use

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It's easy for philosophers to forget that the terms 'moral' and 'morality' have been so corrupted by the right that they are now thought by some to concern only puritanical prohibitions against, e.g., sex, drugs and, well, you know...

Friedersdorf is absolutely right when he points out that throwing a kid in jail with murderers and rapists is far more immoral than smoking weed. And that's not to mention all the other immoral aspects of the "war on drugs," e.g. bringing death and destruction to Mexico and much of the rest of the Americas.

But Friedersdorf doesn't mention the most salient immoral aspect of the drug war: denying individuals their right to freedom in the private sphere. It's not as consequential as encouraging murderers to murder...but it's in some sense the central, original crime of the state in all this.