Aug 15, 2007
The Free Pursuit of Happiness
We could argue that all of the positive effects of moderate intoxicant use would be better achieved through such practices as prayer, meditation, good works and simple clean living. At the same time, all of the obvious negative effects of intoxicant overuse and abuse would best be avoided altogether. So we might all be better off, and better people, if society just eliminated the use of all intoxicants. There are some individuals who have already achieved such purity; it might indeed be a better world if everyone did likewise.
But which is the better path to such a world? Prohibition, moral‑mongering, judgment and punishment? Or freedom, individual responsibility, education and growth.
We are gradually coming to understand that human beings learn better when treated with respect, given the truth, and encouraged to make intelligent choices. Positive reinforcements work better than negative conditioning. People of all ages grow more sound and vigorously while in the free pursuit of happiness than while reacting to threats and punishments.
Simply stated, the free pursuit of happiness works. To the extent that intoxicant use is truly enhancing one’s happiness, it is enough to gratefully enjoy such use and all that it brings. When instead one is overusing or abusing, and thus diminishing happiness, the challenge is to learn, to moderate present and future behavior, and to get one’s life moving on a more positive track.
Society’s challenge, in turn, is to provide an environment in which such positive learning and growth is strongly supported. This means taking all of the immense effort and resources of our failed war against drugs and shifting to a policy of honest education, compassionate treatment, and reasonable regulation. This means, in essence, becoming fully committed as a society to the basic entitlements of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Leave a reply