Some of the most admired New Zealanders have achieved success getting high. Many have been addicted to it, and self-confessedly so.

Their particular fix has come at a cost. Several have suffered terrible physical harm from their habit, losing fingers and toes – and even limbs – and the biggest high kills nearly 1 in 50 of them. The costs have not just been borne by the addicts, but no doubt also by their families. Not to mention the costs to ACC and the national health system.

Remarkably, in this day-and-age where we try to protect people from themselves, this particular high is not only legal, but also celebrated.

If you are scratching your head at this point, you can be forgiven for that. We’ve almost come to expect that regulation will prevent us from exposing ourselves to such risks. Fences, scaffolding, and even handrails, are mandated to protect us from harm. And when it comes to drugs, it’s straight out prohibition.

This just makes it all-the-more strange that mountain climbing remains unregulated.

Mountain climbers are clearly a breed apart. Led by the legendary Sir Edmund, they alone it seems, may assess for themselves the risks of getting strung-out, smashed or stoned – literally. No regulations. No red tape. Come one, come all. Caveat emptor rules supreme for these adrenaline junkies in their quest to get high. Indeed, the higher, the better.

Perhaps there are lessons in this for the rest of us. If we want to free ourselves from our protective state, should we just clad ourselves in Gore-Tex and crampons as we go about our daily business?

Or perhaps there’s a lesson in this for those wanting to protect us from ourselves. Maybe, just maybe, we should be allowed to make a few more decisions for ourselves.

There are after all, downsides with prohibitions too. For example, last week’s report from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research found that the prohibition on marijuana had not stopped 10% of New Zealanders from using marijuana, yet was costing the country $300 million annually in enforcement costs and foregone tax revenue.

Perhaps there is a better way to manage those who want to get high. We may not all be mountain climbers, but if we want to take risks, shouldn’t that be our own business?