True Temperance

This was the approach initially advocated by the American temperance movement: moderation enforced by self-discipline. Eventually activists concerned about alcohol abuse adopted a different goal, demanding abstinence enforced by law. That change was driven by the conviction that voluntary temperance was a dangerous illusion because alcohol was inherently addicting—the same sort of false belief that underlies the prohibition of the currently illegal intoxicants. I realize Caulkins is merely following semantic convention when he uses temperance to mean abstinence. But the equation of temperance with abstinence lies at the heart of the ideology behind the war on drugs, according to which all use of illegal drugs is abuse.

The essence of the war on drugs is that the government has the power to arrest you if your drug of choice does not meet with their approval whether it is, say, cocaine or trans-fats.