And from Argentina, a Bill Hicks quote…
November 8th, 2009 by 
Matt Straw, IDS Columnist
News that I missed…
The Buenos Aires Herald reported that the Argentinian Supreme court ruled that marijuana will no longer be treated as a criminal offense for users, stating that
“…it is unconstitutional to punish marijuana consumers, if that action does not harm third parties. The decision would put an end to a long-term debate, in which users had claimed that the incumbent drug law violated privacy rights.”
Surprisingly, this is in accord with their federal government, who held
“The government has backed the initiative to decriminalize drug consumers, as it would allow the government to focus its policies on drug trafficking networks instead of users. Cabinet Chief Aníbal Fernández said the decriminalization would allow users “to be treated as addicts instead of criminals.”
It was interesting to hear a government effectively echo the words of Bill Hicks not once, but twice, who stated nearly 20 years ago, that “people who do drugs may be sick, but what sense does it make to put sick people in jail?” And his quote that I am periodically surprised hasn’t been attempted to be co-opted by libertarians -
“… What business is it of yours what I do, read, buy, see, or take into my body as long as I do not harm another human being on this planet? And for those of you out there who’re having a little moral dilemma in your head about how to answer that question, I’ll answer it for you – none of your business.
Oddly, I didn’t find much about this in the Mainstream U.S. Press. CNN had a small article, as did MSNBC . However, the closest stories found through a search of Fox News turned up this story, and this one.
