Essay on Douglas N. Husak's A Moral Right to Use Drugs
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Douglas N. Husak's A Moral Right to Use Drugs
In Douglas N. Husak’s A Moral Right to Use Drugs he attempts to look at drug use from an impartial standpoint in order to determine what is the best legal status for currently illegal drugs. Husak first describes the current legal situation concerning drugs in America, citing figures that show how drug crimes now make up a large percentage of crimes in our country. Husak explains the disruption which this causes within the judicial system and it is made clear that he is not content with the current way drugs are treated. The figures that Husak offers up, such as the fact that up to one third of all felony charges involve drugs, are startling, but more evidence is needed than…show more content… Just why does Husak use the phrase “perceived problems,” does he leave room for the allowance of hard drug addiction to not necessarily be considered a problem? I believe a brief discussion on the numbers of recreational users verses abusers is needed. True this data, as with any data concerning an illegal and disapproved behavior, may be skewed, but if Husak is right in asserting that these “problems” only occur in “a few” then he should attempt to prove this. The line between use and abuse may be unclear, but it should be sketched out if a relevant discussion of legalization is to be had.
Husak believes a large part of the reason the drugs are so looked down upon in our society is simply because they are used as a scapegoat. Politicians are able to use drugs to explain away crime, poverty, unemployment, the destruction of the American family and many other hot button issues. Because of the fact that drugs are so taboo it is a widely held belief that drugs are just so powerful that no one can be blamed for what he or she might do while under the influence. This translates into groups of people not being responsible which means that those in charge of maintaining the order of these groups are not at fault. Therefore, in a society riddled with problems nobody is to blame, we must simply blame the drug. This is an