The penalty overall though, the continued unjustifiable erosion of your God given rights, is pretty disgusting
What right does the government have regulating what I put in my own body? When have they been the decider of what I do in private with another consenting and informed adult?
We've allowed and some of us have been highly supportive of making darned sure government could tell us that stuff.
Do I really, really want to go get high? No, not really. I sure don't though because the government says I will lose my job and my guns if I do (weed anyway). If it is something other than weed, I'll also go to jail or prison.
I think it is abhorrent and against the principals and morals of WHY we choose to have the government we do for them telling me what I can do with my own body.
So I advocate and vote the way I do to change things I don't like. But the penalty is high, even if the risk of being a middle aged white guy if I were smoking dope in the privacy of my own home are really low of being caught.
If I wouldn't lose my job or be sanctioned at work, if I wouldn't lose my guns, if all I faced was a nominal fine and loss of the thing, I'd probably just ignore the law.
I speed sometimes because my risk is I'd probably get a ticket that is fraction of a day's pay check so long as I believe I am being safe (unless I was REALLY booking, then I might loose my license and have other penalties, which is why I don't ever speed a LOT).
Can this all lead to an erosion of rights? yes. Hopefully though we can correct that through the ballot box. Outright ignoring them has great risk. Complying with them also carries risks of further erosion of rights or of having complied ends up causing you property loss, injury, death, etc.
Everyone has some line they won't cross. And I am well aware of how you boil a frog. Me personally though, I am not going to simply ignore laws because I find them immoral. It is all risk vs reward. What is the government going to do or likely to do to me for not following it, as well as risk of discovery. What is the reward for not following the law (moral reward, financial, personal, etc.)
If I had 0% chance of being caught robbing a bank, I wouldn't do it because I strongly disagree with robbing banks and I'd have a moral risk/punishment well above any financial gain I would enjoy. The government doesn't need to punish me or be able to catch me to prevent me from robbing banks.
If I had a 0% chance of being caught owning some belt fed new manufactured machineguns and I could take them to the range and shoot them and enjoy them and I knew I'd never be caught. Well, the government can outlaw that all they want. I see no moral issues with doing any of what I'd be doing. So the government can go take a flying leap.
Or maybe I'd have a decent chance of being caught, but the government would fine me $100 and ask I don't do it again and they wouldn't take my property. Just pinky swear I get rid of it.
Guess what I am still going to do?
Laws I think are wrong I am going to advocate my law makers change them. Or try to elect law makers that will change them. Laws that I think are wrong and my risk levels (risk of being caught and punishment) are extremely low, well I might not comply with them and do that whole advocate and vote thing. Laws I think are wrong with medium or high risk, I am going to follow them and advocate and vote. If I think something is wrong enough then I'd do more than advocate and vote, but there still has to be some "reward" in doing that. If I think defying the government over an odious law is just going to lead to me getting sent to prison for some indeterminately long time or being killed almost for certain and I think the chance I can change the law or the government that created and is enforcing that law...why would I do that? Sometimes something can be so odious, living with it is worse than not being alive. I get that. There are things that could be for me. Hyperbolic example, but if the government passed a law that the government was to take my children and turn them in to soylent green, well I just would not be able to live with that even if I thought there was a 0% chance of changing the outcome.
I think EVERYONE is the same way. Well, except plenty of people won't vote or advocate. They'll just bellyache about it.
And to be clear, I am not saying it isn't disgusting. We shouldn't just "live with it and be happy and ask the Government I'd like some more". I am going to be pissed every time I have to do it. I've written my legislators. I'll probably continue writing my legislators and certainly evaluating what candidates for office say they support or don't.