NCJ Number
136422
Journal
Boston College Law Review Volume: 32 Issue: 3 Dated: (May 1991) Pages: 575-627
Date Published
1991
Length
53 pages
Annotation
While advocates of continued criminalization of illicit drugs point to statistics indicating a downward trend in drug use, the government's drug policies will never eradicate drug use in the U.S.
Abstract
There are several reasons for this: legal deterrents are ineffective against addicted users, the increase in the price of drugs due to effective enforcement has but a slight effect on addicted users, and there are simply insufficient resources with which to battle drug dealers and traffickers. But drug enforcement profoundly affects the criminal justice system by filling the courts and the prisons. This article addresses some of the practice consequences of legalizing drug use by discussing the relationships between drug use, crime and violence, death, and addiction. Three prominent ethical theories relating to the morality, immorality, or amorality of drug legalization are analyzed. The author concludes that drug legalization is a pragmatic and morally defensible approach to the drug problem. 385 notes