You can’t choose consequences for actions

The current debate over the needle exchange programperhaps raises the need for a deeper discussion about the wisdom of the underlying strategy of harm reduction; an approach that often abates the immediate problem but usually ends up normalizing a previously prohibited activity (in this case, heroin use) over the long run.

We have now had nearly a century of experience with harm reduction, beginning with the repeal of prohibition, and then accelerating afterWorldWar Two with the liberalization of divorce, legalization of various forms of gambling, loosening of restrictions on pornography, and the normalization of marijuana use across broad segments of the population. Earlier in life, I enthusiastically endorsed this drift toward social libertarianism, but in more recent years find myself not so sure.

Here in Butte County, for example, we now find ourselves in the puzzling quandary of having numerous “help wanted” signs on display, while our parks and public spaces are filled with the tents, belongings, and debris of the chronically unemployed. Most of these folks appear to be working- age white males, considered by some to be America’s most privileged demographic group. My guess is that regular use of various euphoric substances, over time, has rendered them now incapable of participating in, or contributing to, the commonwealth.

As it is with respect to ourselves, so it is with our society: We are free to make our choices, but we are not free to choose our consequences.

— Carl Ochsner, Chico