Libertarian reaches out to youth

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Libertarian Mark Brophy of Fort Collins is out to win the youth vote this November. Brophy, 43, is running for a seat in the state legislature from House District 53.

Brophy's top three priorities are all geared to the college-age voter. He wants to lower the legal drinking age to 18, legalize marijuana and make meningitis vaccinations for college students optional.

"We have a college campus in this district," Brophy pointed out, and he thinks this age group is neglected in terms of representation in the state legislature. "They have basically given up on the system," he said, "and I'm trying to give them hope."

Brophy makes his living as a private investor. He said he is used to "doing research and reading boring documents," abilities that would be useful in the state legislature.

Brophy defends the notion of lowering the legal drinking age by saying society is "prolonging childhood" with its restrictive drinking laws. "We're not teaching them how to drink responsibly," he said, "so they go to college and they kill themselves." He noted that the legal drinking age in Canada is 18, and he claims they have fewer problems with alcohol abuse.

His position on marijuana is about personal choice. "The role of government is to protect life, liberty and property," Brophy said. "You decide what goes into your body, not the government." Current laws, he added, teach people to disrespect the law.

Brophy believes government should take a hands-off approach with regard to many issues. For instance, he said, the government should get completely out of health care, including Medicare and Medicaid. There is no authority in the Constitution for this type of governmental involvement, he pointed out.

He is also against any government program designed to redistribute wealth, including welfare.

When it comes to illegal immigrants, Brophy does not believe government should "harass" business owners about the status of their employees. "It's against freedom," he stated. He thinks it is the federal government's responsibility to control the borders and that illegal immigrants should be deported if they commit crimes.

In general, Brophy follows the Libertarian principle of limiting government. "I would get rid of 50 to 80 percent of government," he said. "The government is far too large." The only laws he favors are those protecting life, liberty and property. "Most laws protect people from themselves or redistribute wealth," he said.

Brophy would also eliminate many regulations, except those that protect the environment.

On other matters, Brophy had this to say:

• State highways: He favors building more toll roads. "When people have to pay for something, they ration it," he said.
• Same-sex marriage: State marriage licenses should be eliminated, according to Brophy. He favors Referendum I, which would allow certain rights for domestic partnerships, noting that discrimination against same-sex partners should not be allowed.

Brophy said he is the best-qualified candidate because he is "the only one that wants to reduce the size of government."

"When you vote for more government, you vote for less liberty," he said.