Pubdate: Tue, 15 Jul 2014
Source: Tennessean, The (Nashville, TN)
Copyright: 2014 The Tennessean
Contact: http://www.tennessean.com/SITES/OPINION/submit-editor.shtml
Website: http://www.tennessean.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/447
Author: Michael Gerson

CORRUPTING CITIZENS FOR FUN AND PROFIT

Two of the larger social trends of our time - the growth of payday
gambling and the legalization of marijuana - have two things in
common: They are justified as the expansion of personal liberty and
they serve the interests of an expanding government.

The ideological alliance behind these changes is among the strangest
in American politics. Libertarians seek to lift governmental
restraints on consensual acts. State governments seek sources of
revenue without the political inconvenience of requesting broad tax
increases. Both find common ground in encouraging and exploiting the
weaknesses and addictions of citizens. (And business interests and
their lobbyists, of course, find new ways to profit from reliable vices.)

The financial appeal is forthright. Maryland did not legalize gambling
in order to expand the realm of personal autonomy. It collects a 61
percent tax on slot machine revenues. Colorado expects about $114
million in taxes and fees during its first year of marijuana
legalization. "If Colorado is able to rake in substantial amounts of
tax revenue," according to one news account, "legalization advocates'
pitches to legislatures in Oregon, Massachusetts and Alaska become
that much easier."

Consider the perspective of a state legislator. Your state has
incurred a variety of unfunded obligations. Voting to raise taxes
might cost your job. Legalizing gambling or pot, in contrast, will
bring in new revenues and perhaps new campaign donations. And some
people will call it the advance of freedom!

This is a tribute to a hardy weed - in this case, the hardy weed of
government, which can grow in any political environment. If you are a
progressive who wants universal health coverage, government expands.
If you are a libertarian who wants people to be able to waste their
money at casinos, or smoke and ingest whatever they damn well please,
government expands as well.

But this particular enlargement depends on minimizing and dismissing
the consequences for individuals and communities.

Gambling is merely entertainment - though modern slot machines are
really sophisticated computer programs designed to elicit Pavlovian
responses until victims "play to extinction." An estimated 40 percent
to 60 percent of slot revenues come from problem gamblers. And casinos
are often sited to attract working-class people.

Pot is harmless - though we really have little information on the
health and cultural effects of the widespread legal distribution of
modern, potent methods of consuming THC (the chemical name). We do
know that the substance is addictive in about one of nine cases (more
like one in six when use starts in the teens); that it can make
structural changes in portions of the brain controlling emotion and
motivation; and that regular use undermines memory, attention span,
problem-solving skills and the ability to complete complex tasks. What
possible use could these attributes be in a modern economy?

There is also little doubt that an expanded legal market in pot also
expands the illegal market for reselling (or giving) to children and
teens. And the product - especially Colorado's ingestible pot
lollipops and gummy bears - is particularly suitable. The social
message of normalization, of banalization, is intended - and received
by young people. The first $40 million of Colorado's pot revenues is
slated for public school construction. What were once "drug-free
school zones" are becoming drug-funded schools. Will there be a
celebratory plaque in seventh-grade classrooms: "Brought to you by the
potheads of the Centennial State"?

Parents no longer expect much help from government in reinforcing the
cultural and moral norms necessary to the raising of responsible,
successful children. But now some states are profiting from actively
undermining those norms. Apparently, only consenting adults matter.
Libertarian utopias are always childless.

For the strongest ideological advocates of this approach, the outcomes
are largely irrelevant. It ultimately doesn't matter if teen drug use
increases by X percent, or gambling addiction rises Y percent. Ending
"consensual crimes" is a matter of principle - not just on pot and
slots but on heroin and meth. The idea of a political community
upholding standards, in order to help other institutions (such as
families) pass healthy cultural norms between generations, is anathema.

But libertarians are now, paradoxically, providing ideological air
cover for irresponsible government. State officials just want the
money, however it is blessed, without requesting it through the normal
democratic process. Rather than building social competence and
capital, politicians increasingly benefit when citizens are addicted,
exploited, impoverished and stoned. And that deserves contempt, not
applause.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D