NASCAR's Drug Problem

Another great article Brandy. My two cents.

Frankly, I’m a libertarian, and most of my opinions are formed from this position. What anyone chooses to do with themselves (and if it does not encroach on someone else’s pursuits – the only reason we need a ‘state’ at all) is their business and no one else’s. Paternalism really bothers me – I am not a child and I absolutely do not require anyone telling me what I should do and not do. Leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone.

The only problem to my mind would be drivers getting stoned or drunk on race day (well, what they choose to do after the race doesn’t bother, concern or affect me one iota actually) only because they place other drivers at risk of serious injury or worse. However, I would EXPECT Kurt Busch to get sloshed every Sunday night on Miller Lite (not that they have anything to celebrate this season). I think that it would be EXPECTED for Clint Bowyer to line up shots for his crew after a race. I don’t think anyone would have a serious issue with this (even the ‘nose pokers’ – my term for those who interject at every opportunity). But smoke a joint or do something else that affects absolutely no one and harms no one (expect the ‘nose pokers’) – for some reason they become horrible, broken human beings, in need of ‘improvement’ and ‘fixing’.

And please spare me the readymade arguments which I’ve already heard and dismissed. The truth is this – Drugs are illegal for only two reasons. The first is racism – drugs are an excellent way to marginalize people who have nothing to begin with. Also, the ‘War on Drugs’ is merely epiphenomenal of big business in competition (not that there is anything wrong with that per say, but let’s not be so naive to make it some sort of moral issue because it is plainly not so) and in fact we can point to the sponsor of the 24 car for most of this nonsense (notice you don’t see any hemp rope anymore although it is much much stronger than it’s synthetic counterpart?). The most bothersome of these anti-drug messages (more fallacies) is the typical ‘we can’t have our children exposed to this filth can we’? Yes we can – your children are not made of glass and are much smarter than you give them credit for. And they ARE exposed to this stuff at every turn anyway – ignoring this issue doesn’t help (if any help is actually needed).

So, to my mind, nothing actually needs to be done. Heroin and driving is and should be considered criminal behaviour (only because of the harm subjected to the other drivers) and those involved should be dealt with in this arena. And it should be made clear that anyone who might tip a few back before a race will also be dealt with by the state. Anything else is punitive and none of our business.