NCJ Number
194707
Journal
Criminal Justice Policy Review Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2002 Pages: 21-31
Date Published
March 2002
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article proposes the application of Pepinsky's (one of the authors) peacemaking theory as a strategy for addressing problems that stem from drug use; under this theory, drug-related harms are reduced by encouraging responsible, healthy drug use.
Abstract
Such peacemaking entails letting go of attachment to outcome, focusing instead on the process of sharing information and exercising personal responsibility. Both zero tolerance for drug use or its legalization detract from noticing and celebrating the peacemaking, which focuses on sharing information about what constitutes responsible drug use. Through stories, advice, and experience, drug users build a tradition of mores, lore, and norms of drug use that often contribute to a decrease in harmful drug experiences. Individual users accumulate experiences with a drug and communicate those experiences to one another. Consensus develops about the drug's subjective effects, duration, proper dosages, predictable dangers, and how the dangers may be avoided. Effective drug education thus consists of drug users and professionals communicating the risks associated with certain drug-use behaviors. Such exchange of information intended to reduce the harms of drug use fits well with strategies such as needle exchange programs and methadone maintenance. The challenge in realizing the peacemaking approach lies in finding ways to conduct research with and learn from illicit drug users without objectifying or pathologizing them. Unfortunately, the stigmatization of certain drugs, coupled with the threat of prosecution, has marginalized users to the point that most are fearful of speaking out about healthy lifestyles that include responsible drug use. Peacemaking posits that leaving control of drug use in the hands of freely conversing drug users is preferable to having politically oriented legislators deciding what citizens should ingest. 38 references