Because it seems to me, flippant as though it may sound to you, that what gives us the power to do what we're doing, what gives the government the power to do what it is doing, state and federal, in cigarettes, is that it's a legal substance regulated by the federal government. And they don't have any such power and control over drugs because it's illegal. So let's legalize them and then go after them the same way ...

Now if you want to go after drugs on the same basis you've got to make it a target for money and the only way that I can think of to do that is either [let] the government become the pimp and sell the stuff, make it prescription with the government as the pharmacist; or you legalize drugs, let them come into the country, get a whole bunch of generations of people using these things and then decide some years later that 'This is terrible. We must stop this. This is horrible. Those drug manufacturers have lied to us about the safety of the product. They said they we're going to control the amounts and they haven't. We're suing them.' And then go and get some money from the Cali drug cartel legally."

Maybe it's time for Rush to champion rehab for all addicts.

On a related note, Hit and Run has some interesting threads going on Rush.