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3 Options That Are Better Than Legalization

People are constantly pushing for legalization for whatever their causes, whether it’s marijuana, prostitution, or the many other regulations on liberty. This article will propose three alternatives to the traditional idea of legalization that the American justice system allows and regularly uses. It will also explain why legalization is not the best option when trying to expand and preserve liberty.

What’s wrong with legalization?

The first thing that needs to be addressed is really mean it hasn’t been legalized? It is simply people asking the government for permission to do something the same way a child would ask his parents to go to his friends house to play. If not only is the government authority over this aspect of life, it sets a precedent for government to grant itself authorization and power to regulate what has been legalized.This is evident in the way that all of the states that have legalized marijuana still experience lots of weed related crime and burdensome regulations. People they are not actually able to walk around smoking a joint without being bothered as activists have been touting. Consumption is still criminalized in plenty of ways. Not to mention, the regulations regarding the production and distribution or more cumbersome than alcohol, and licensing is expensive.This is the reality every time something is legalized. The government basically claims the authority to grant people permission to do something. Instead, people should push to get the government out of the discussion for issues regarding an individual’s choice.That is why it is prudent to choose one of these three options instead:
  1. Decriminalization
  2. Nullification
  3. Enshrinement

Decriminalization

The case for decriminalization is that basically makes an action none of the government’s business. It all but it eliminates The government’s authority to regulate or interfere with transactions regarding commodity or service that is being decriminalized. And example of this is the raw milk debate. This is obviously not as popular as marijuana, but it is the same idea. And most things, if not all, it is illegal for someone to milk the cow and sell it to their neighbor as it is. That is how people drink milk for thousands of years without issue. The real question is, however, does the government have the right to tell you that you can’t buy this commodity? As an adult, shouldn’t you be able to buy something as basic as milk in any form that you would like? This is where the criminalization is key. Instead of legalizing the sale of milk and regulating it, the people should push for the government to have no say in how these transactions occur. There should be no law or mention of raw milk sales in any law. Instead, any bad milk that is sold, gives the person who is hurt the right to sue for damages in a court, but the seller should not be jailed.

Nullification

Notification is one of the most important functions of government that the Founding Fathers enabled. Several of them wrote about the topic of length, especially Thomas Jefferson. It is basically the States deeming a Law unjust, and refusing to follow it, which results in the repeal of an unjust law. Two prime examples of the results of Nullification are the 13th and 21st amendments. The power of this tool is that it admits to the government overreach of power or mistake, and returns Liberty and Authority to the people. The 10th Amendment Center is highly dedicated to this idea, and as a card-carrying member, I can attest to the importance of their message. This reassertion of states rights gives people more power and influence over the laws that are enacted on their behalf. Meanwhile, it reduces the size and scope of the federal government’s power. However, this tool is not always affective. But when it is, the results are tremendous.

Enshrinement

Enshrinement is the preservation of a Liberty or Right in law. The Bill of Rights exemplifies this concept, protecting and enshrining the rights to govern oneself and defend oneself against tyranny. This is important, because it is creating laws that restrict government authority. By creating laws to restrain government, the people have rules that they can wield against the expansion of government authority. These Rights are negative, not positive, which means they are a defense against government intrusion rather than having something provided by government. This is crucial because there are laws specifically mentioning the limitation of the government. This is been effective in preserving the rights in the Bill of Rights for over 200 years. Obviously, there have been attempts to infringe upon these Rights, but they are normally restored eventually. Take Free Speech for example. Each time a law is passed that restricts it, the courts come along and strike it down, or the people push back against it because they recognize the danger one law poses to the Right as a whole. People recognize that when a government doesn’t follow the rules it says for itself, danger lives just around the corner. So, putting guidelines in place to restrict government is a way of signaling to the people when they need to act against or reign in government power.

Last Words

Because Legalization makes people prone to the expansion of government, it is necessary to look for other ways to allow for people to take personal liberty without granting power to the government. Decriminalization tells the government that an action is none of their business and people should be able to exercise their liberty for that instance. Nullification is the states reclaiming their authority to govern their citizens and pushing the federal government out of people’s lives. this also ensures that people are being governed by an institution in which they have the most influence. Enshrinement protects citizens from tyranny by providing them with guidelines and standards for their government. With proper institutions and checks and balances, the people can restrain government authority and preserve liberty. Each of these must be applied to the different situations carefully. They are effective for different scenarios and different expansions of authority. Sometimes more than one may be needed in succession to fully preserve liberty.

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