Drug War Cowboys: Myths of the Drug Crisis in America (From Mythology of Crime and Criminal Justice, P 149-169, 1993, Victor E. Kappeler, Mark Blumberg, and Gary W. Potter)

• NCJ Number: 157360
• Author(s): V E Kappeler; M Blumberg; G W Potter
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 21 pages
• Sale Source: Waveland Press, Inc.
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

This chapter discusses issues pertaining to the public policy debate over the problem of drug abuse, that is, whether drug use and abuse should be dealt with by the criminal justice system or by the public health care system.

Abstract

The first section discusses the effects of different drugs, and their potential to harm users; the discussion differentiates between those harms resulting from the abuse of drugs and harms resulting from the illegality of drugs. The second section, which examines the purported relationship between drug use and criminal behavior, also uses the distinction between dysfunctions caused by the drugs themselves, and dysfunctions arising from their illegality. The authors examine the nature of current antidrug policies, and their impact on drug use trends in the U.S. Finally, the chapter considers the viability of noncriminal justice approaches to the drug problem, and suggests that policy makers need to contemplate seriously the legalization of drugs.