Showing ID & signing in to buy OTC cold medicines?

[ShadowHM]

The problem with only enforcing behavior after the fact is that it fails to prevent problems in the first place.

Kind of like the drug laws? ;)

And socialization that doesn't emphasize that people are in fact responsible for their own choices has allowed many problems to exist. Misbehaviour while drunk used to be one of those 'Boys will be boys' kind of things that was socially permissible.

I would argue that some form of 'the devil made me do it' has been all too common in our society as a permissible excuse. Sadly, I fear it is getting worse, not better, too. Having a paternal government tell you what is safe and what is not, by caveat, is part and parcel of the problem.

My argument is that there ARE drugs (whether we can agree on exactly which ones or not) that are inherently too dangerous; it is not possible to use them responsibly.  Therefore, it IS society's responsibility to ban those drugs, to the benefit of all.

I disagree. If the effects of recreational drugs are made known to the individual before they make their choice, then they, as individuals, should get to make that choice. Sure, there will be people who exercise poor judgement. (Like the guy who gave himself a heart attack with an overdose of Viagra.) What else is new?

My point was simply that there are many times, in law and in common sense, where it's impossible to accurately make a specific distinction between safe and harmful; between good and bad.

There are always going to have to be lines drawn in the sand for 'reasonable' when it comes to public safety. In the driving analogy, 90 km/hour has been chosen as that line. Rules for the public have to be specific, just to make the playing field even. There are cases where 90 km/hour is far too fast - like fog, for example. The rule about legal drunkeness for purposes of driving is also arbitrary. If I have .08 % alcohol in my system, I am far past my ability to drive safely. For someone else, that might be the equivalent of a light buzz.