JEFFERSON'S WORDS LOST

As America turns 225 this July 4, Thomas Jefferson's stirring words from
the Declaration of Independence will ring out once again across our
cherished land: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
Happiness -- "

While life and liberty permeate daily discussion, Americans rarely debate
the pursuit of happiness as a principle. Nevertheless, it was a cornerstone
of the system of individual freedom and limited government that the Framers
established in 1776. This 18th century notion should be revitalized as a
core governing doctrine for the 21st century.

Politicians also should heed these words from Jefferson's first inaugural
address in 1801: "A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men
from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate
their own pursuits of industry and improvement."

Alas, paternalistic officials routinely limit personal freedom to protect
Americans from themselves rather than from others.

Consider the 44 states that annoy adult motorcyclists by making them wear
crash helmets.

"If I'm riding in rural Virginia and I haven't seen a car for hours, I
shouldn't have to wear a helmet unless I want to, " says Michael Caputo, a
Washington, D.C. publicist and sometime biker. "It shouldn't be illegal for
me to do so. My helmet, my choice."

Fair enough, but if Caputo rode head-first into a weeping willow, taxpayers
should not have to finance his medical care. Helmets are optional for
privately insured adults in Louisiana and any Floridian or Texan over age
21 with at least $10,000 in coverage. These sensible states leave
motorcyclists freer while boosting their personal responsibility to face
the potential consequences of their actions.

In contrast, Rep. Bill Goodlatte, R-Va., is expected to reintroduce
legislation this month to ban Internet gambling. Similar language passed
the Senate unanimously in 1999 before Goodlatte's companion measure stalled
in the House last year. It promised up to four years in prison for anyone
operating an online casino.

Goodlatte decried "the crime, bankruptcy, and family problems that come
from gambling."

So why not padlock Las Vegas? Better yet, prohibit California's
government-run lottery. Californians in block-long lines last June 23
purchased up to 54,000 tickets-per-minute while chasing a $141 million
jackpot. The odds of victory were 41 million-to-one, a long-shot unworthy
of a Mob-run numbers racket. Such state-operated lotteries typically prey
on lower-income citizens.

Still, adults should be free to roll the dice digitally. Yes, at least
25,000 Americans belong to Gamblers Anonymous, but some 2.25 million, Bear
Stearns estimates, somehow survive on-line betting.

Uncle Sam, meanwhile, often viciously polices what adults may ingest. As
Milton R. Copulos explained in the July 2 Insight magazine, armed FDA SWAT
teams raided the offices of 16 "compounding pharmacists " in August 1998
for dispensing alternative remedies Washington disfavors.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission's new federal penalties treat the sale of
Ecstasy more harshly than cocaine. Selling 200 grams of this psychedelic
(about seven ounces) now costs five years in prison.

Previously, at least 3,000 grams (6.6 pounds) triggered such a sentence. To
receive the same punishment, one must move at least a pound of cocaine or
220 pounds of marijuana.

For adults who partake, Ecstasy often produces euphoria. True, there were
nine Ecstasy-related fatalities in 1998, according to federal statistics,
even as that year's alcohol-induced deaths stood at 19,515.

Naturally, Seagram's' CEO will not spend tonight in jail.

Is a life filled with motorcycles, gambling and Ecstasy worth living?
Perhaps humans should devote their precious time on Earth to more wholesome
quests for virtue. Priests, ministers and rabbis argue as much. Many follow
their advice, and maybe more should do so.

But proselytizing is one thing. Prosecution is another. The dance club
patron who raves on Ecstasy to techno music until dawn no more deserves
handcuffs than does the obese chain smoker who watches other Americans
frolic with rats on NBC's "Fear Factor." So long as one puts only himself
in harm's way, "I'm pursuing happiness" should be incantation enough to
ward off constables and congressmen.

The words of the author of America's birth certificate remain as worthy as
they were just before this republic turned 40. "No man has a natural right
to commit aggression on the equal rights of another;" Thomas Jefferson
wrote on June 27, 1816, "and this is all from which the laws ought to
restrain him."