Assignment 12-2 Harm Reduction CJUS 370

Reading: Chapter #12 Global Drug Policy
Most of the harmful aspects of heroin use are the result of its being illegal. We permit a wide assortment of dangerous behaviors such as cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol, skydiving, and football, acknowledging freedom to enjoy activities that may be injurious to health. Why do we single out psychoactive chemicalsbut only some of them?
On the pro side of the argument, decriminalization would allow drug criminal justice resources to be used elsewhere, curtail secondary criminality, weaken or destroy drug-trafficking organizations, and allow drug users to lead healthier and more normal lives by using pharmaceutical-quality substances.
The con side argues that greater availability would mean that more people would be tempted to use drugs and would signal a societal acceptance of drug use. There would be no incentive for addicts to enter drug treatment, and drug use might continue beyond the typical age of remission.
Offering intelligent policy alternatives requires understanding the cause(s) of drug use: is it biological, psychological, sociological, or a combination of these? Although medical maintenance using opiates or methadone has been suggested for heroin addicts, cocaine is more problematic.
A number of countries have decriminalized marijuana, but even its medical use is a federal crime in the United States (although it is legal in some states).
In Western Europe, official and unofficial harm reduction policies have become popular, most notably in the Netherlands. Dutch drug abuse prevention efforts treat alcohol and tobacco, as well as heroin and cocaine, as dangerous drugs; legal versus illegal is not considered a sound basis for differentiation. Despite U.S. objections, Canada has been experimenting with harm reduction.