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"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
Product Description
There are currently nearly half a million drug offenders incarcerated in US jails, more than the entire EU prison population. Added to the financial consequences of current drug policy there is the enormous human cost. Police corruption, organized crime, contempt for the law and drugs made dangerous because they are illegal and thus not subject to proper controls are other consequences of current drug policies. Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum are now 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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Unlike many authors supporting drug law reform, Husak says little about the observable negative effects of our current policy of prohibition. Instead, his focus is on justice - whether it is just for the criminal law to impose punishment on people who use illegal drugs (and not impose punishment on those who use legal drugs) for recreational purposes. As such, it is not a charter setting out a system for a legally regulated market - whether or not it should be legal to produce and sell drugs is not the issue; merely whether users should be punished. The book warns about the dangers of generalising from worst case scenarios, or of using anecdotes to endorse any position. Husak notes that where the state wishes to impose punishment on its citizens, the burden of proof should fall upon the state to show that those citizens that they deserve punishment - in this case, that those who wish to criminalize drug users should have to show why that is justified, and he deconstructs several of what he identifies as the best arguments for criminalization. He also observes that when these arguments have been dealt with, prohibitionists usually fall back on the proposition that drug use should be punished because it is morally wrong, but that no good argument has yet been made for why it is morally wrong - indeed, such arguments often turn out to be based on (usually unspoken) religious convictions, which should not be used in a secular society to send people to jail.
This book is a short, easy-to-read exposition of the moral case for decriminalizing recreational drug use, and I would heartily reccommend it to anyone with an interest in this topic.
This book is a short, easy-to-read exposition of the moral case for decriminalizing recreational drug use, and I would heartily reccommend it to anyone with an interest in this topic.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Drug policy is a convoluted mess...
15 April 2003
Format:Paperback
Many get the terms legalization and decriminalization confused; although each term has many variations of definition, the denotation of each term has a definite political, moral, and/or social end -- and this is where the most profound difference lies between them. An important thing to remember is that legalizers want drugs to be legally regulated and accessible to citizens just as alcohol is available, whereas decriminalizers support a policy that does not punish drug users as criminals for carrying and/or using personal amounts of drugs for recreational purposes; nonetheless, they still favor the criminalization of drug producers and drug dealers. Even this dichotomy between legalizer and decriminalizer is oversimplified.
The complexities of drug policy and all the human aspects that are involved in policymaking are both fascinating and intimidating. Douglas Husak is an articulate arguer for the position of decriminalization. He attempts to clarify some of the legal complexities in this excellent, well reasoned argument. He addresses many basic tenets of criminal theory and applies them to how drug users are being treated in this country. Unlike those who embrace the rigid attitude: 'If you're not with us, you're against us,' (meaning good v. evil) a convenient dialectic you will most likely find informing the minds of the current 'drug warrior' regime leaders, you will not find this authoritarianism in Husak's treatise. If he cannot be categorized as a legalization proponent, he is like them in one respect, he is highly disturbed by the inane drug policies of this country and is part of an ever growing population of dissenters who see a need for change.
High recommendation; good start to understanding the issue as whole. An even higher recommendation goes to "Drug War Heresies: Learning from Other Vices, Times & Places" by Robert J. MacCoun and Peter Reuter (2001). This is an excellent, exhaustive, and disinterested study of drugs use in our society and is easy for those not well versed in the complexities of public policy issues (which is most of us)
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Truly Awesome and Important Analysis
10 Nov 2003
Format:Paperback
THIS IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT BOOK.
Here's a splendid, novel, thoughtful view of prohibition that not only teaches readers a ton about the drug war but also educates them about how to think. Unlike other books that focus primarily on the costs and benefits of decriminalization, Husak's work turns to the moral question: Is it just to punish recreational drug users? No matter where you stand on the issue, you will find Husak's accessible, enjoyable prose gets you thinking about morals, justice, drugs, and people in ways you've never thought before. He has a writing style that pulls you right in, making you feel as if you're just having a beer with a buddy. He defends his conclusions so logically and so well that it seems impossible for any rational person to disagree!
Here's a splendid, novel, thoughtful view of prohibition that not only teaches readers a ton about the drug war but also educates them about how to think. Unlike other books that focus primarily on the costs and benefits of decriminalization, Husak's work turns to the moral question: Is it just to punish recreational drug users? No matter where you stand on the issue, you will find Husak's accessible, enjoyable prose gets you thinking about morals, justice, drugs, and people in ways you've never thought before. He has a writing style that pulls you right in, making you feel as if you're just having a beer with a buddy. He defends his conclusions so logically and so well that it seems impossible for any rational person to disagree!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
There is so much more in this book than the title's subject
22 Jun 2008
Format:Paperback
What I took from this book changed my life!
I came across this book while writing a research paper at University. The subject was the Shafer Commission, or Nixon's National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. The research included selecting a few reliable sources on: the History, Politics, Sociology, Law, & International Drug Policy during Nixon's presidency along with the long history of "The War on Drug." After combing literally 100's of books on these subjects, Husak's book was one of the few left standing and I am so grateful it was.
Others have provided testimony on how logical this book is in proving Husak's conclusions for this subject, but how it changed my life was in the methods of approach when analyzing a subject (the logic vs. the subject). Unlike most of the books I found on this subject, Husak takes a mix of philosophical, ethical, and legal (constitutional) approaches, instead of just one (which is usually historical). The topic of drug legalization is only an example to the larger picture of how to think. He teaches you about "anecdotal arguments" and of the flawed methods that most people use in such debates. Then he explains, in an understandable language, how each approach comes to a logical conclusion outside of any biases. It has sincerely helped teach me how to approach and analyze any subject.
The only "love/hate" side-effect I had after reading and understanding this book was that it became so evident how little most people use good logic in such publicly debated subjects. It became hard to watch/listen/read most mainstream media on any controversial subject. I saw how unproductive, flawed, and illogical their narrow quips usually are and had to stop relying on them for information because it was a waste of time.
I came across this book while writing a research paper at University. The subject was the Shafer Commission, or Nixon's National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. The research included selecting a few reliable sources on: the History, Politics, Sociology, Law, & International Drug Policy during Nixon's presidency along with the long history of "The War on Drug." After combing literally 100's of books on these subjects, Husak's book was one of the few left standing and I am so grateful it was.
Others have provided testimony on how logical this book is in proving Husak's conclusions for this subject, but how it changed my life was in the methods of approach when analyzing a subject (the logic vs. the subject). Unlike most of the books I found on this subject, Husak takes a mix of philosophical, ethical, and legal (constitutional) approaches, instead of just one (which is usually historical). The topic of drug legalization is only an example to the larger picture of how to think. He teaches you about "anecdotal arguments" and of the flawed methods that most people use in such debates. Then he explains, in an understandable language, how each approach comes to a logical conclusion outside of any biases. It has sincerely helped teach me how to approach and analyze any subject.
The only "love/hate" side-effect I had after reading and understanding this book was that it became so evident how little most people use good logic in such publicly debated subjects. It became hard to watch/listen/read most mainstream media on any controversial subject. I saw how unproductive, flawed, and illogical their narrow quips usually are and had to stop relying on them for information because it was a waste of time.
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