Confronting Drug Policy

by Bayer, Ronald; Oppenheimer, Gerald M.; Milbank Memorial Fund

• ISBN13: 9780521446624
• ISBN10: 0521446627
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-12-01
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

As the financial and social costs of the war on drugs become increasingly clear, there has been renewed debate about drug control in American society. Why, for instance, do the current policies lump less dangerous drugs with more dangerous ones in making possession of any illegal drug a criminal offense? And why does the United States government spend more on law enforcement to repress drug sales than on treatment for individuals who are addicted to drugs? One alternative to the current prohibitionist policies is decriminalisation - a proposal that has drawn both supporters and critics from across the political spectrum. In its most radical form, decriminalisation would entail legalising all drugs; but it could also mean ending the prosecution of small-scale offenses, or treating drug use as a medical, as opposed to a criminal, problem. In this volume, leading analysts of drug use and drug policy evaluate the prospects for decriminalisation as well as its potential impact on public policy, law, medicine, society, and the individual.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction: the great drug policy debate - what means this thing called decriminalisation?

The social demography of drug use

Drug policy: striking the right balance

Drug legalization and the minority poor

Social behaviour, public policy, and non-harmful drug use

From prohibition to regulation: lessons from alcohol policy for drug policy

To build a bridge: the use of foreign models by domestic critics of U.S. drug policy

Drugs, the criminal law, and the administration of justice

Compulsory treatment for drug-dependant persons: justifications for a public health approach to drug dependency

Helping women helping children: drug policy and future generations

Medicalization of psychoactive substance use and the doctor-patient relationship

Legalizing drugs: lessons from (and about) economics

Notes on contributors

Index

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