Yesterday TN senators voted to not make pseudoephedrine HCl (Sudafed) a prescription drug because it would be inconvenient for consumers. Meanwhile this drug is used to illegally produce methamphetamine in Meth labs, an activity that leaves young children without parents and tears apart poor communities. Yet TN senators are unwilling to accept a minor inconvenience to help these children and their communities. This type of selfish behavior has become widespread, in part due to the influence of philosopher Ayn Rand, who taught that the moral purpose of life was to serve ourselves and make ourselves happy rather than to serve others, literally the antithesis of the teachings of Jesus Christ. These same conservatives glorify soldiers for their self-sacrifice in war, yet they are unwilling to make any sacrifice of their own in the war on drugs. The word hypocrisy comes to mind.
Meth is a drain on our countries' resources. The cost to our police forces and judicial systems is great. The cost to poor communities is immeasurable. Every life lost to meth is the loss of a potentially productive member of society. Government should take every possible step to guard the wellbeing of children, even if those steps are "inconvenient," because children are our future, and they can help keep our country strong.
