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Legalize This!

The Case for Decriminalizing Drugs

By: Douglas N. Husak, Colin McGinn (Editor)

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Paperback | 17 August 2002 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
210 Pages

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21.59 x 13.97 x 1.91

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Recreational drug users (other than those who take harmful substances like alcohol and tobacco) are regularly imprisoned. Nearly half a million drug offenders are incarcerated in US jails, more than the total number of prisoners in 1980 and more than the entire EU prison population. In some states more is spent on maintaining the prison system than on education. Current drug policies lead to immense personal suffering, as well as police corruption, organized crime, and contempt for the law, and make drugs more dangerous because they are illegal and thus not subject to proper controls. Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum are beginning to ask: is it worth it?

In arguing that criminalization is unjust, Douglas Husak explodes many of the myths that surround drug use. In some years, more than half of high school seniors take drugs, yet the US is not overrun with drug-crazed addicts. Horror stories of the dangers of drug use abound, but the truth is more prosaic; although recreational drugs are sometimes bad for users, there are between 80 and 90 million US citizens who have used illicit drugs without ill effects.

Industry Reviews

"In his remarkable book, philosopher and legal scholar Doug Husak brings the drug debate to a new level. Avoiding hyperbole, he reasons along lines that should appeal to the majority of just, sensible human beings. That he does this so well is perhaps the more remarkable because, justifiably so, he is outraged at the incarceration of, and threats to, Americans whose entire identified criminal behaviour is using a substance that other people dislike." ... Stanton Peele, author of Love and Addiction and Recovery: The Meaning of Addiction

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Politics & Government Sociology & Anthropology Society & Culture Ethical Issues & Debates Law Laws of Specific Jurisdictions Social Law Public Health & Safety Law

Acknowledgements
Editor's Introduction
Introduction	p. 1
Understanding Drug Policy	p. 3
Conflicting anecdotes	p. 3
Asking the right question	p. 10
A few bad answers	p. 19
The concept of a drug	p. 27
Drug policy preliminaries	p. 33
Punishment as policy	p. 44
The right answer: decriminalization of drug use	p. 48
Reasons for Criminalizing Drug Use	p. 64
Possible good answers	p. 64
Drugs and children	p. 67
Drugs and crime	p. 82
Drugs and health	p. 93
Drugs and immorality	p. 109
Disadvantages of Prohibition	p. 125
Positive effects of drugs	p. 125
Negative effects of prohibition	p. 133
The world of decriminalized drugs	p. 151
Harms versus benefits	p. 165
Getting there	p. 178
Notes	p. 191
Index	p. 194
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

Legalize This!

The Case for Decriminalizing Drugs

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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