The Criminalization of Drug Use Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Criminalization of Drug Use - Essay ExampleHusaks background is in the philosophy of law. He wants to examine the reasons why drug determination is criminalized and why golf club attaches such elevated punitive measures to it. He believes that criminalization is counterproductive and that we should move on from it towards something to a greater extent equitable. He feels that it provides no unfeigned benefit and in feature produces harm. He asks a number of important questions in the course of the term and examines the nature of the debate. In the end, he concludes that drug use should non be criminalized and that drug users should be odd to their own devices unless they commit a serious shame. Incarceration only makes their problems worse while costing society massive amounts of money. The authors thinking on this subject is logical and reasonable. He breaks down the debate and examines the premises that twain sides use to make their point. Importantly, he suggests tha t those who entertain the status quo should have to present evidence that it is working. The burden is not merely on those who oppose the current laws. The author tries to understand why alcohol and tobacco ar not banned, while marijuana is, and concludes that there is a dissonance in the current policy. Only the fact that alcohol and tobacco are backed by big businesses prevents them from being banned based on the same logic as the criminalization of marijuana. He explores a number of gaps in the reasoning of those who support the continued criminalization of drugs. He focuses on the issue of justice, which is an important foundation for all law. He explains how this root word can be lost in a swirling debate based on a cost-benefit abbreviation Considerations of justice will probably seem unimportant if we are fixated on objectives. Justice should not be conceptualized as a goal our policies should try to achieve, but as a constraint that limits what we are allowed to do in pu rsuing these objectives. In other words, justice rules out some strategies that we otherwise would be permitted to contract in trying to attain our ends (505). Husak does not spend much clip exploring flaws in his argument. His argument is to a greater extent or less sound, although his conclusion is a little too strongly worded. The idea of mental health courts is a good one. Most proponents of criminalizing drugs would argue that drugs are remarkably dangerous and cause harm. They are super addictive and therefore cause a great deal of crime. They are not something we want more of they are something we want less of. These ideas are absent from Husaks article. Ideally, the author would have spent more time discussing drug courts. He does say in his conclusion Drug courts impress both conservatives and liberals. Admittedly, these courts represent an feeler over traditional criminal courts most drug users would prefer treatment to incarceration. But this concession provides ner veless praise for the drug court movement. Virtually anything is preferable to incarceration (513). He then concludes by dictum that drugs should be legalized and there should be no requirement to go to a drug court. Of course, he is authorize to this opinion, but it would have been better to spend more time on this issue. These courts represent an effective fondness ground in this polarizing debate. They have proven to be fairly successful in reducing crime rates and getting people sober. There can be little doubt that drug use leads to additional criminal behavior