Sociology of Law

Sociology

Whether or not to legalize drugs, and if so how, is a major political issue. Unfortunately, healthy and rational debate on drug legalization is difficult in the political sphere. As Johnson (2000) points out, political careers can be ruined simply by taking an honest pro-legalization stance. Drug law is in dire need of reform, however. Beaver (2010) focuses on the dismal Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which mandated stricter penalties for crack vs. powdered cocaine on the ratio of one hundred-to-one. The sentencing guidelines were based on data showing that in crack form, cocaine was more dangerous. What politicians failed to pay attention to was that crack is cheaper than cocaine and therefore more crack users than cocaine users are likely to be poor -- and non-white. Racial disparity is one of the main reasons why drug policy in America should be reformed. Healthcare is another reason. Drugs are a major healthcare issue, but because some drugs remain illegal their usage is shifted over into the criminal justice system. Drug use should return to the domain in which it belongs: healthcare. If drugs were legalized, as Johnson (2000), Sullivan (2001), and Lowry (2001) argue, access to quality services related to addiction and other issues would improve. Remove the stigma of criminality, and drug use becomes no different from alcohol or tobacco use. In fact, one of the most commonly-used arguments in defense of legalization is the fact that some of the most harmful drugs in circulation are those that are legal. Legalization would enable regulation and education, notes Johnson (2000). This would reduce, not increase, the harm drugs present to any society.

Most arguments against the legalization of drugs are irrational or biased. For example, Wisher's (2001) argument, and Linker & Feder's (2001) case are based more on emotion than reason. Likewise, Nagel (2001) fails to offer a convincing case as to why marijuana should not be legalized for medical use. The claim that no proof exists as to the efficacy of the drug on alleviating key healthcare issues is groundless, given the plethora of medical data cited by Rosenthal & Kubby (1996). Grant's (2002) conviction that legalizing heroin would harm the poor is spurious, too. The legalization of heroin would not necessarily mean that prices and access to safe needles would remain in the province of the wealthy classes. Laws and regulations would need to be established to prevent class-related problems. Those class-related problems already exist in our society and in fact, are more pronounced while drugs are illegal. Beaver's (2010) frank assessment of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 provides ample proof that the poor suffer the most from the criminalization of drugs.