I saw this:

Maine Gov. Paul LePage said people who aren’t old enough to buy cigarettes shouldn’t have access to the overdose antidote naloxone at pharmacies.

The Republican governor told New England Cable News that he opposes the 18-year-old age threshold in the rules because Maine has raised the legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21. LePage said he believed the age for naloxone should also be 21.

…and I wasn’t surprised by the restriction itself – LePage is a well-known Drug Warrior. I was surprised that the legal age to buy cigarettes was 21. I don’t smoke, so I don’t keep track.

So I poked around and found out that the smoking law doesn’t take effect for several more months… and that LePage opposed it and sneered at it as “social engineering”.

Which makes it a bit puzzling that LePage is using it to support his proposed naloxone law. Is he:

• coming around to the Legislature’s view that 18-year-olds are children?
• a stickler for the rule of law, even laws he disagrees with? (Heh.)
• trying to spite the Legislature? (“Okay, you raised the legal age for this, I’ll try to raise the legal age for that, how d’you like them apples?”)
• or simply couldn’t come up with a better talking point to support his unreasoning hatred of druggies?

My head hurts.

There was a time when I liked LePage. He annoyed all the right people, he kept other politicians out of the governor’s office, and I still thought of myself as some sort of righty. But damn. At least other politicians can consistently lie about their principles.

 

And of course the bureaucracy went along with it. Why wouldn’t they?