Should Drugs Be Legalized

Provides a history of drug use and abuse, presents cases for legalization, decriminalization, and other drug policy reforms, as well as the case for strengthening existing drug policy, and examines policies in other countries.

Should drugs be legalized? A few years ago this question was not taken seriously by mainstream opinion, but more recently an increasing number of leading figures have spoken out for legalization, and polls show that a growing percentage of the public favors legalization. This book gives a fair and balanced presentation of both sides in the debate over drug legalization, as well as some of the intermediate positions. It contains the most important articles to have appeared from the beginning of the legalization controversy and clearly sets out all the key arguments on both sides. - Back cover.

The Big Idea series looks at the use of drugs in human society in this timely reexamination of the debate over the legalization of drugs. Combining a unique visual approach with carefully constructed narrative text, this entry in the Big Idea series provides a survey of the history of drug use, a review of the impact of the War on Drugs, an appraisal of the effects of legal versus illegal drugs, and an evaluation of the impact of the decriminalization of drugs. According to archaeological and historical records, ethanol in the form of beer in Sumer and wine in Egypt were first used recreationally at least thirteen thousand years ago, while psychotropic drugs have been used for thousands of years, mainly for religious purposes. This book sets out the history of the use of drugs since the Neolithic age, and explores the evolution of recreational drug use from the mid-eighteenth century on. It considers the danger and social impact of heavy use of legal alcohol or nicotine in contrast to the hazards to health and society associated with illegal drugs. It evaluates the effects of the fifty-year global War on Drugs on the criminal production and trafficking of drugs on the black market and on the abuse, health, and imprisonment of end users. Finally, it argues for the decriminalization of all drugs and the state regulation of the drug market, with suitable controls and regulation for each drug type.

Retaining the focus and the spirit of the acclaimed First Edition, The Drug Legalization Debate, Second Edition, addresses the major issues involved in the continuing drug legalization debate - including deterrence, treatment, education, and prevention. It also examines drug use trends at the end of the millennium, the use of cannabis as a wonder drug and a look at whether legalizing drugs would really reduce violent crime.

In the United States today, the use or possession of many drugs is a criminal offense. Can these criminal laws be justified? What are the best reasons to punish or not to punish drug users? These are the fundamental issues debated in this book by two prominent philosophers of law. Douglas Husak argues in favor of drug decriminalization, by clarifying the meaning of crucial terms, such as legalize, decriminalize, and drugs; and by identifying the standards by which alternative drug policies should be assessed. He critically examines the reasons typically offered in favor of our current approach and explains why decriminalization is preferable. Peter de Marneffe argues against drug legalization, demonstrating why drug prohibition, especially the prohibition of heroin, is necessary to protect young people from self-destructive drug use. If the empirical assumptions of this argument are sound, he reasons, drug prohibition is perfectly compatible with our rights to liberty.

Examines arguments in support of and against legalizing drugs.

To examine the problem and propose solutions, Jefferson Fish has marshaled contributions from some two dozen creative thinkers representing the disciplines of anthropology, economics, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, and sociology.

If marijuana were legalized the drug problem would be eased. This is an assertion which this volume discusses in full. It describes the history of drug use and abuse and the US government's approach to drug control including deterrence, treatment, education and prevention. Articles confront topics such as the risk of a "war on drugs", an enlightened legalization policy, and ethical and legal dilemmas.