Ludwig von Mises (1881 - 1973)
Biography
Ludwig von Mises (September 29, 1881 - October 10, 1973), a notable economist and social philosopher, was born Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_von_Mises [Aug 2005]
Mises.org [...]
Drugs [...]
1949 Ludwig von Mises, leading modern free-market economist and social philosopher: "Opium and morphine are certainly dangerous, habit-forming drugs. But once the principle is admitted that is the duty of government to protect the individual against his own foolishness, no serious objections can be advanced against further encroachments. A good case could be made out in favor of the prohibition of alcohol and nicotine. And why limit the governments benevolent providence to the protection of the individual's body only? Is is not the harm a man can inflect on his mind and soul even more disastrous than any bodily evils? Why not prevent him from reading bad books and seeing bad plays, from looking at bad paintings and statues and listening to bad music? The mischief done by bad ideologies, surely, is much more pernicious, both for the individual and for the whole society, than that done by narcotic drugs." [Ludwig von Mises, *Human Action*, pp. 728-729]
your Amazon recommendations