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To: Schmedlap
I don't understand why we need pre-conditions for the government to stop trampling on people's rights.

One of the biggest complaints I hear from proponents of the War on Some Drugs is the health-care costs attributable to substance abusers. It's a valid concern: consider how much abuse of alcohol and nicotine is costing Medicare.

But, they are inextricably linked. The government's involvement in health care is why the government feels they have the power to tell you what is and isn't healthy for you. And, the voters support that view, especially for behavior they don't approve.

We have already had the war on the cigarette manufacturers. They lost (or rather, the smokers did). The CDC tried to use the same approach on guns, treating it as a "public health" problem. They got slapped down by Congress, but that hasn't kept them from trying again. We have already heard the first shots fired in the War on Fast Food.

I believe that the government's involvement in health care is also trampling on freedom. By low-balling how much they will pay for a procedure or treatment, it inflates the cost for the rest of us (to make up the difference). And of course, there are the taxes extracted from us to pay for it.

So, it's an interesting negotation point: what if we were to deny tax-funded medical treatment for illness and injuries caused by substance abuse? That takes that issue off the table, and it's usually a smokescreen anyway.

68 posted on 08/29/2002 3:24:17 PM PDT by justlurking
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To: justlurking
"So, it's an interesting negotation point: what if we were to deny tax-funded medical treatment for illness and injuries caused by substance abuse?"

Why limit it to substance abuse? Why not any sort of abuse of self, of right or of privelege? And if we impose such limitation through the Government, aren't we still allowing the Government too much power?
101 posted on 08/31/2002 10:33:17 PM PDT by KrisKrinkle
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