Reply #136: I think another aspect of the license idea, which I also came up with

[Warren DeMontague]

at some point, would be that it could balance the competing impulses in our society to let people make their own choices and to protect them from themselves with regards to things that might be harmful. Lots of things can be very bad for you, from hard liquor to triple bacon cheeseburgers. Maybe if people want the freedom to indulge in those things, they have to sign a release as part of the license process...

Another, side aspect of the 'war on' hard drugs like opiates is the fact that these drugs do have legitimate usage that is made more difficult via the 'war on drugs' as well. Honestly, if I ended up with crippling pain due to terminal bone cancer, worrying about becoming addicted to morphine would be pretty far down my list of concerns. And I certainly wouldn't want my doctor terrified to prescribe me adequate pain management medication because of the DEA- which is the situation we have now.