Table of Contents:
  • 1. Drugs, drug use, and criminalization. The war on drugs. Medical and legal definitions of drugs. Legal regulation of drugs. Constitutional issues. Recreational drug use. The decriminalization movement. Arguments for criminalization
  • 2. Drugs and harm to users. Consequentialism and drug use. Autonomy and drug use. Analogies. Addiction and autonomy. Addiction, slavery, and autonomy. "Soft" paternalism and drug use. "Hard" paternalism and drug use. Conclusion
  • 3. Drugs and harm to others. Utilitarianism and drug use. The evaluative assumptions in utilitarianism. Harm and disutility. The nature of criminal harm. Anticipatory offenses. Drugs and crime. Conclusion
  • 4. Restrictions on drug use. Local controls and the importance of community. Reasonable regulation of drug use. Special cases: Pregnant drug users. Adolescents and adults. A moral right to use drugs: Misinterpretations.