# At what point does potential personal harm trump personal freedom, if ever?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-does-potential-personal-harm-trump-personal-freedom-if-ever/547108>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [July 18, 2010, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-does-potential-personal-harm-trump-personal-freedom-if-ever/547108 "2010-07-18T09:05:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-does-potential-personal-harm-trump-personal-freedom-if-ever/547108/61 "2010-07-25T17:40:47Z")

</div>

> [@Babale](#):
>
> > [@MrDibble](#):
> >
> > The difference is, you’re not locking them up with rapists, murderers and thieves. You’re providing therapy and possibly substitute medication if that works for their particular addiction. Prisons, despite the pretence otherwise, are a place to punish wrongdoers. Care facilities are a whole different animal.
> 
> Heroin users ARE wrongdoers, though. Whether it’s right or not, Heroin is illegal, and therefore those who use it are breaking the law, making them criminals.

This was a hypothetical about what I think \*should \*happen, not about how things currently are in the US. Heroin users _shouldn’t_ be criminals.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-does-potential-personal-harm-trump-personal-freedom-if-ever/547108.md?page=3)