Thirty-three states have legalized the medical use of marijuana, ten states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, and at least twenty states and more than fifty localities in a dozen states have either fully or partially decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Although this trend toward legalization and decriminalization (albeit with many regulations and restrictions) has been going on for decades now, many conservatives—and especially religious conservatives—are still aghast that this is taking place right before their very eyes.

My comment as a conservative Christian libertarian is simply this: Of course marijuana should be legal! It is not the business of government to make illegal the possession of any substance that it deems it to be harmful, hazardous, immoral, addictive, destructive, unsafe, or dangerous.

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Following the lead of Denver, Colorado, the city of Oakland, California, recently decriminalized magic mushrooms. The Oakland City Council, in a unanimous vote, “directed law enforcement to stop investigating and prosecuting individuals for possession or use of plant-derived hallucinogens.” Magic mushrooms are illegal under both federal and state laws.

Again, my comment as a conservative Christian libertarian is simply this: Of course magic mushrooms should be legal! And again, it is not the business of government to make illegal the possession of any substance that it deems it to be harmful, hazardous, immoral, addictive, destructive, unsafe, or dangerous.

But that’s not all

New York lawmakers on Monday introduced a state-wide bill to decriminalize sex work—the first proposed legislation of its kind in the country. The Stop Violence in the Sex Trade Acts “is a package of bills that seeks to amend state statues in order to decriminalize sex work between consenting adults while upholding existing anti-trafficking laws.”

On this issue, my comment as a conservative Christian libertarian is the same: Of course sex work should be legal! It is not the business of government to make illegal actions between consenting adults that are immoral, depraved, sinful, debauched, risky, or degrading. If it is legal for a woman to provide free sexual services as often as she wants and to as many people as she wants, then how can it be illegal for her to charge for her services? How can something that is legal to give away be illegal if one charges for it?

Now, I am no libertine or hedonist. And neither do I smoke marijuana, eat magic mushrooms, or employ sex workers. I wouldn’t do any these things even if they were free and legal. But that doesn’t mean that I think the government should seek to prevent people from doing them and punish them if they do.

And here are thirty-five more things about which libertarians would say the same thing.

Of course selling beer that you brew at home should be legal!

Of course snorting coke should be legal!

Of course buying as much Sudafed as you want should be legal!

Of course selling one of your kidneys should be legal!

Of course ticket scalping should be legal!

Of course online gambling should be legal!

Of course the purchase of alcohol by adults under age 21 should be legal!

Of course businesses opening on Sunday should be legal!

Of course price gouging should be legal!

Of course businesses not having handicapped parking should be legal!

Of course discrimination in employment should be legal!

Of course businesses not having handicapped restrooms should be legal!

Of course owning a bump stock should be legal!

Of course a business selling alcohol at any time on Sunday should be legal!

Of course smoking crack should be legal!

Of course hiring a willing worker for less than the minimum wage should be legal!

Of course desecrating a flag that is your property should be legal!

Of course shooting up with heroin should be legal!

Of course businesses not paying overtime should be legal!

Of course having a garage sale without a permit should be legal!

Of course discrimination in rental housing should be legal!

Of course traveling to Cuba should be legal!

Of course popping ecstasy pills should be legal!

Of course cutting hair without a license should be legal!

Of course importing Cuban cigars should be legal!

Of course depositing more than $10,000 in cash your bank account should be legal!

Of course making crystal meth should be legal!

Of course blackmail should be legal!

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Of course making more than six withdrawals from your savings account every month should be legal!

Of course allowing smoking in your restaurant should be legal!

Of course running a neighborhood blackjack game should be legal!

Of course prohibiting an employee from wearing a yarmulke or hijab should be legal!

Of course refusing to serve someone in your place of business should be legal!

Of course making moonshine should be legal!

These things should be legal because government shouldn’t be monitoring, regulating, controlling, or prohibiting peaceful, private, voluntary, consensual actions that don’t aggress against the personal or property rights of others. The only actions that should be illegal are those that aggress against the rights of others without their consent.

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