| Description |
vii, 312 pages ; 24 cm |
| Series |
Cambridge studies in philosophy and public policy |
|
Cambridge studies in philosophy and public policy.
|
| Contents |
1. Drugs, drug use, and criminalization. The war on drugs. Medical and legal definitions of drugs. Legal regulation of drugs. Constitutional issues. Recreational drug use. The decriminalization movement. Arguments for criminalization -- 2. Drugs and harm to users. Consequentialism and drug use. Autonomy and drug use. Analogies. Addiction and autonomy. Addiction, slavery, and autonomy. "Soft" paternalism and drug use. "Hard" paternalism and drug use. Conclusion -- 3. Drugs and harm to others. Utilitarianism and drug use. The evaluative assumptions in utilitarianism. Harm and disutility. The nature of criminal harm. Anticipatory offenses. Drugs and crime. Conclusion -- 4. Restrictions on drug use. Local controls and the importance of community. Reasonable regulation of drug use |
| Summary |
This timely and important book is the first serious work of philosophy to address the question: Do adults have a moral right to use drugs for recreational purposes? Many critics of the "war on drugs" denounce law enforcement as counterproductive and ineffective. Douglas Husak argues that the "war on drugs" violates the moral rights of adults who want to use drugs for pleasure, and that criminal laws against such use are incompatible with moral rights. This is not a polemical tract but a scrupulously argued work of philosophy that takes full account of all available data concerning drug use in the United States today. The author is careful to describe the properties a recreational drug would have to possess before the state would be justified in prohibiting it. Since criminal laws against the use of recreational drugs are justified neither by the harm users cause to themselves nor by the harm users cause to each other, Professor Husak concludes that such laws are, in almost all cases, unjustified. This book will be of particular interest to philosophers in applied ethics and philosophers of law, but it will prove provocative reading for anyone with a serious concern in the issue of drug use and drug control. -- Publisher description |
| Analysis |
Drug abuse Control |
|
Decriminalisation |
|
Drug use and abuse |
|
Government regulation |
|
Overseas item |
|
Philosophy |
| Notes |
This timely and important book is the first serious work of philosophy to address the question: Do adults have a moral right to use drugs for recreational purposes? Many critics of the "war on drugs" denounce law enforcement as counterproductive and ineffective. Douglas Husak argues that the "war on drugs" violates the moral rights of adults who want to use drugs for pleasure, and that criminal laws against such use are incompatible with moral rights. This is not a polemical tract but a scrupulously argued work of philosophy that takes full account of all available data concerning drug use in the United States today. The author is careful to describe the properties a recreational drug would have to possess before the state would be justified in prohibiting it. Since criminal laws against the use of recreational drugs are justified neither by the harm users cause to themselves nor by the harm users cause to each other, Professor Husak concludes that such laws are, in almost all cases, unjustified. This book will be of particular interest to philosophers in applied ethics and philosophers of law, but it will prove provocative reading for anyone with a serious concern in the issue of drug use and drug control |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-306) and index |
| Subject |
Drug abuse -- Government policy -- United States.
|
|
Drug abuse -- Government policy.
|
|
Drug control.
|
|
Drug legalization -- United States.
|
|
Drug legalization.
|
|
Drugs of abuse -- Law and legislation -- Philosophy.
|
|
Narcotic laws -- Philosophy.
|
|
Narcotic laws -- United States -- Philosophy.
|
|
Legislation, Drug.
|
| LC no. |
92004407 |
| ISBN |
0521417392 |
|
0521427274 |
|
9780521417396 |
|
9780521427272 |
|
