C H A P T E R 1 7
‘’ Drugs, Guns, and Personal Liberty
C H A P T E R 1 7
‘’ Drugs, Guns, and Personal Liberty
In our personal lives, in society, and in morality itself, few values are counted more precious than individual liberty, our right of self-governance or self-determination. Countless moral conflicts that cause both personal anguish and social strife begin with perceived threats to individual freedom. Often the heart of the matter is someone’s claim- ing a right to exercise personal freedom by doing something—using drugs, owning a gun, having an abortion, marrying a same-sex partner—while oth- ers declare that no such right exists. No such right exists, the argument usually goes, because exercis- ing it causes harm to persons or society at large. Debates about drug use and gun ownership thus have much in common. They also seem to be blaz- ing as hot as ever on social media, in the news, and anywhere ethics and arguments are taken seriously.
ISSUE FILE: BACKGROUND
Drugs: Social Harms versus Personal Freedom
No matter how drug use and its accompanying harms are measured, the conclusion to be drawn is the same: the damage to society’s institutions and people’s lives has been both pervasive and tragic. In 2016, over 64,000 Americans died from overdoses of illicit drugs and prescription opioids. Between 2006 and 2010, excessive alcohol use led to 88,000 deaths. Cigarette smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke cause almost a half million deaths per year. In 2015, over 27 million Americans (aged twelve and older) were users of illegal drugs. That’s 12.5 percent of males in this age group, and 7.9 percent
of females.1 Marijuana was the illicit drug most com- monly used (19.8 million users), followed by the nonmedical use of prescription drugs (4.5 million), cocaine (1.5 million), hallucinogens (1.3 million), inhalants (496,000), and heroin (289,000).2 The resulting injury to the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, brain, and many other systems is well documented, and annual drug-related deaths number in the tens of thousands. The National Institute on Drug Abuse sums up the effects of drug abuse like this:
Drug-related deaths have more than doubled since the early 1980s. There are more deaths, illnesses, and disabilities from substance abuse than from any other preventable health condition. Today, one in four deaths is attributable to alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use.3
Some commentators say the war on drugs has caused more misery than the actual use of drugs. Violence has always accompanied drug trafficking by dealers and cartels, and death and injury are unavoidable in efforts to enforce drug laws. Thou- sands have been killed in drug-related violence, including many innocents who had nothing to do with illegal drugs. In 2016, there were 1,572,579 arrests for violating drug laws. The great majority of these were for possession; only 15.3 percent were for selling or producing drugs.4
State and federal prisons have been filled to capacity with people arrested for drug violations, many of them sentenced to long prison terms for pos- sessing small amounts of marijuana. Thousands of lengthy prison terms for breaking drug laws have been handed down because many statutes—often enacted as part of zero-tolerance drug policies—require
622 Á PART 4: ETHICAL ISSUES
the word drugs, they mean substances designed to treat or prevent disease. In this category are all prescription drugs and nonfood over-the-counter (OTC) medicines (not including vitamins, which are considered food substances). Drug abuse and drug habit usually refer to the nonmedical, pro- scribed use of psychotropic (mind-altering) sub- stances. Marijuana, prescription medicines (used nonmedically), alcohol, nicotine, and cocaine are all drugs in this sense.
Several terms prominent in discussions of drugs are important but are often misused and misunder- stood. Drug addiction, like drug, is a term whose definition is debated by experts and nonexperts alike. An authoritative medical manual says that drug addiction is
an intense craving for the drug and compulsive, uncontrolled use of the drug despite harm done to the user or other people. People who are addicted spend more and more time obtaining the drug, using the drug, or recovering from its effects. Thus, addiction usually interferes with the ability to work, study, or interact normally with family and friends.7
Drug dependence is a condition in which dis- continuing the use of a drug is extremely difficult, involving psychological or physical symptoms. In physical dependence, discontinuing the drug leads to
mandatory minimum sentences. Some states, how- ever, have repealed laws that mandate tough sen- tences for nonviolent drug offenses, and two-thirds of Americans agree with these changes.5
In the United States, attitudes toward drug use and drug law enforcement are changing. Two- thirds of Americans now think the government should pay more attention to treatment for users of hard drugs (cocaine and heroin, for example) than to prosecution of these users. Some states are abandoning mandatory prison sentences for those guilty of nonviolent drug offenses. In 2001, only 47 percent thought such a move was a good idea; in 2014, 63 percent thought so.
The legalization of marijuana is receiving much more support from the public than it did a few years ago. In 2004, 60 percent of Americans were against legalization; 32 percent were for it. In 2016, only 37 percent were against legalization; 57 percent were for legalization.6
The term drug has been surprisingly difficult to define to everyone’s satisfaction. A general defi- nition that can aid our discussions is “a nonfood chemical substance that can affect the functions or makeup of the body.” Thus, cocaine and marijuana are drugs, but so are nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine. When doctors, nurses, and medical researchers use
’ Between 1999 and 2006, ten states legalized medi- cal marijuana: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. How did these changes affect recre- ational marijuana use among teenagers? Existing data show that during this period there was no statistically significant rise in teen marijuana use in any of these states. There was, however, a statisti- cally significant drop in four of the states: Alaska, California, Hawaii, and Montana.*
What do these data suggest about teen mari- juana use? Do they show that marijuana use is harmless? Do they prove that medical marijuana should be legalized in every state? What claim about medical marijuana do they disprove?
*Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin- istration (SAMHSA), National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), 1999–2006; Statistical Assess- ment Service (STATS).
CRITICAL THOUGHT: Does Legalizing Medical Marijuana Encourage Use among Teenagers?
CHAPTER 17: DRUGS, GUnS, AnD PERSonAL LIbERTy Á 623
decreasing the number of users or the quantity of available drugs in society, but on reducing the harm that arises from drugs and drug laws. Douglas Husak explains this option:
Many sensible and enlightened commentators pro- pose that the best drug policy is whatever will mini- mize harm. Their basic insight is that current drug policy initiatives are almost always evaluated by a criterion we should reject: the test of use-reduction (or prevalence-reduction). In other words, at the present time, no suggestion about how to improve our pol- icy will be accepted unless it offers the potential to reduce the numbers of persons who use drugs. Theo- rists who favor a standard of harm-reduction point out that the total amount of harm that drugs cause in our society might actually decrease, even though the number of drug users would increase. If the average harm caused per user were reduced, total social harm might go down while the number of users went up.
The most promising harm-reduction programs are needle exchange programs for heroin addicts and medical programs for patients whose symp- toms are alleviated by smoking marijuana. Both of these ideas can effectively reduce harm in society.9
uncomfortable physical symptoms of withdrawal— symptoms that can be physically painful, even life threatening. In psychological dependence, there is both a strong craving (an acute desire to repeat tak- ing the drug) and an unpleasant experience of with- drawal (an intense distress when not taking the drug).
The intense desire and compulsion to use a drug lead to using it in larger amounts, more frequently, or over a longer period than at first intended. People who are psychologically dependent on a drug give up social and other activities because of drug use. They also continue to use the drug even though they know that the drug is physically harmful or interferes with other aspects of their life, including family and work.8
Debates about the morality of producing, selling, or using illicit drugs are often muddied by misunder- standings of the terms legalization, criminalization, and decriminalization. Legalization is the making of the production and sale of drugs legal—that is, making their sale and production no longer a pun- ishable crime. Drugs could be legalized by giving the government the exclusive right to regulate and sell them to the public, much as states now regulate and sell alcohol. Or they could be legalized by allow- ing individuals to freely buy and sell them without incurring criminal punishment. Criminalization is making the use (and possession) of drugs a crimi- nal offense. Under a criminalized system, merely possessing drugs in a specified amount can be pun- ished by fines or prison. Decriminalization is allowing people to use drugs without being liable to criminal prosecution and punishment.
How different states apply these policies can vary. They can criminalize the use of particular drugs or virtually all of them. They can punish the produc- tion and sale of drugs while decriminalizing their use. (Even in full decriminalization, drug use under partic- ular circumstances—while driving a car or flying an airplane, for example—would likely remain a crime.) Or they can opt for a strict zero-tolerance policy and outlaw their use, production, and sale.
A much-debated alternative to punishing peo- ple for drug offenses is what experts call harm reduction. The idea is to concentrate not on
’ DIVERSE VIEWS ON LEGALIZING MARIJUANA Percentage of U.S. adults saying use of marijuana should be . . .
Legal (%) Illegal (%) Total 57 37 Men 60 34 Women 55 40
. Countless moral conflicts that cause both personal anguish and social strife begin with perceived threats to individual freedom. Often the heart of the matter is someone’s claim- ing a right to exercise personal freedom by doing something—using drugs, owning a gun, having an abortion, marrying a same-sex partner—while oth- ers declare that no such right exists. No such right exists, the argument usually goes, because exercis- ing it causes harm to persons or society at large. Debates about drug use and gun ownership thus have much in common. They also seem to be blaz- ing as hot as ever on social media, in the news, and anywhere ethics and arguments are taken seriously.
ISSUE FILE: BACKGROUND
Drugs: Social Harms versus Personal Freedom
No matter how drug use and its accompanying harms are measured, the conclusion to be drawn is the same: the damage to society’s institutions and people’s lives has been both pervasive and tragic. In 2016, over 64,000 Americans died from overdoses of illicit drugs and prescription opioids. Between 2006 and 2010, excessive alcohol use led to 88,000 deaths. Cigarette smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke cause almost a half million deaths per year. In 2015, over 27 million Americans (aged twelve and older) were users of illegal drugs. That’s 12.5 percent of males in this age group, and 7.9 percent
of females.1 Marijuana was the illicit drug most com- monly used (19.8 million users), followed by the nonmedical use of prescription drugs (4.5 million), cocaine (1.5 million), hallucinogens (1.3 million), inhalants (496,000), and heroin (289,000).2 The resulting injury to the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, brain, and many other systems is well documented, and annual drug-related deaths number in the tens of thousands. The National Institute on Drug Abuse sums up the effects of drug abuse like this:
Drug-related deaths have more than doubled since the early 1980s. There are more deaths, illnesses, and disabilities from substance abuse than from any other preventable health condition. Today, one in four deaths is attributable to alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use.3
Some commentators say the war on drugs has caused more misery than the actual use of drugs. Violence has always accompanied drug trafficking by dealers and cartels, and death and injury are unavoidable in efforts to enforce drug laws. Thou- sands have been killed in drug-related violence, including many innocents who had nothing to do with illegal drugs. In 2016, there were 1,572,579 arrests for violating drug laws. The great majority of these were for possession; only 15.3 percent were for selling or producing drugs.4
State and federal prisons have been filled to capacity with people arrested for drug violations, many of them sentenced to long prison terms for pos- sessing small amounts of marijuana. Thousands of lengthy prison terms for breaking drug laws have been handed down because many statutes—often enacted as part of zero-tolerance drug policies—require
622 Á PART 4: ETHICAL ISSUES
the word drugs, they mean substances designed to treat or prevent disease. In this category are all prescription drugs and nonfood over-the-counter (OTC) medicines (not including vitamins, which are considered food substances). Drug abuse and drug habit usually refer to the nonmedical, pro- scribed use of psychotropic (mind-altering) sub- stances. Marijuana, prescription medicines (used nonmedically), alcohol, nicotine, and cocaine are all drugs in this sense.
Several terms prominent in discussions of drugs are important but are often misused and misunder- stood. Drug addiction, like drug, is a term whose definition is debated by experts and nonexperts alike. An authoritative medical manual says that drug addiction is
an intense craving for the drug and compulsive, uncontrolled use of the drug despite harm done to the user or other people. People who are addicted spend more and more time obtaining the drug, using the drug, or recovering from its effects. Thus, addiction usually interferes with the ability to work, study, or interact normally with family and friends.7
Drug dependence is a condition in which dis- continuing the use of a drug is extremely difficult, involving psychological or physical symptoms. In physical dependence, discontinuing the drug leads to
mandatory minimum sentences. Some states, how- ever, have repealed laws that mandate tough sen- tences for nonviolent drug offenses, and two-thirds of Americans agree with these changes.5
In the United States, attitudes toward drug use and drug law enforcement are changing. Two- thirds of Americans now think the government should pay more attention to treatment for users of hard drugs (cocaine and heroin, for example) than to prosecution of these users. Some states are abandoning mandatory prison sentences for those guilty of nonviolent drug offenses. In 2001, only 47 percent thought such a move was a good idea; in 2014, 63 percent thought so.
The legalization of marijuana is receiving much more support from the public than it did a few years ago. In 2004, 60 percent of Americans were against legalization; 32 percent were for it. In 2016, only 37 percent were against legalization; 57 percent were for legalization.6
The term drug has been surprisingly difficult to define to everyone’s satisfaction. A general defi- nition that can aid our discussions is “a nonfood chemical substance that can affect the functions or makeup of the body.” Thus, cocaine and marijuana are drugs, but so are nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine. When doctors, nurses, and medical researchers use
’ Between 1999 and 2006, ten states legalized medi- cal marijuana: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. How did these changes affect recre- ational marijuana use among teenagers? Existing data show that during this period there was no statistically significant rise in teen marijuana use in any of these states. There was, however, a statisti- cally significant drop in four of the states: Alaska, California, Hawaii, and Montana.*
What do these data suggest about teen mari- juana use? Do they show that marijuana use is harmless? Do they prove that medical marijuana should be legalized in every state? What claim about medical marijuana do they disprove?
*Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin- istration (SAMHSA), National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), 1999–2006; Statistical Assess- ment Service (STATS).
CRITICAL THOUGHT: Does Legalizing Medical Marijuana Encourage Use among Teenagers?
CHAPTER 17: DRUGS, GUnS, AnD PERSonAL LIbERTy Á 623
decreasing the number of users or the quantity of available drugs in society, but on reducing the harm that arises from drugs and drug laws. Douglas Husak explains this option:
Many sensible and enlightened commentators pro- pose that the best drug policy is whatever will mini- mize harm. Their basic insight is that current drug policy initiatives are almost always evaluated by a criterion we should reject: the test of use-reduction (or prevalence-reduction). In other words, at the present time, no suggestion about how to improve our pol- icy will be accepted unless it offers the potential to reduce the numbers of persons who use drugs. Theo- rists who favor a standard of harm-reduction point out that the total amount of harm that drugs cause in our society might actually decrease, even though the number of drug users would increase. If the average harm caused per user were reduced, total social harm might go down while the number of users went up.
The most promising harm-reduction programs are needle exchange programs for heroin addicts and medical programs for patients whose symp- toms are alleviated by smoking marijuana. Both of these ideas can effectively reduce harm in society.9
uncomfortable physical symptoms of withdrawal— symptoms that can be physically painful, even life threatening. In psychological dependence, there is both a strong craving (an acute desire to repeat tak- ing the drug) and an unpleasant experience of with- drawal (an intense distress when not taking the drug).
The intense desire and compulsion to use a drug lead to using it in larger amounts, more frequently, or over a longer period than at first intended. People who are psychologically dependent on a drug give up social and other activities because of drug use. They also continue to use the drug even though they know that the drug is physically harmful or interferes with other aspects of their life, including family and work.8
Debates about the morality of producing, selling, or using illicit drugs are often muddied by misunder- standings of the terms legalization, criminalization, and decriminalization. Legalization is the making of the production and sale of drugs legal—that is, making their sale and production no longer a pun- ishable crime. Drugs could be legalized by giving the government the exclusive right to regulate and sell them to the public, much as states now regulate and sell alcohol. Or they could be legalized by allow- ing individuals to freely buy and sell them without incurring criminal punishment. Criminalization is making the use (and possession) of drugs a crimi- nal offense. Under a criminalized system, merely possessing drugs in a specified amount can be pun- ished by fines or prison. Decriminalization is allowing people to use drugs without being liable to criminal prosecution and punishment.
How different states apply these policies can vary. They can criminalize the use of particular drugs or virtually all of them. They can punish the produc- tion and sale of drugs while decriminalizing their use. (Even in full decriminalization, drug use under partic- ular circumstances—while driving a car or flying an airplane, for example—would likely remain a crime.) Or they can opt for a strict zero-tolerance policy and outlaw their use, production, and sale.
A much-debated alternative to punishing peo- ple for drug offenses is what experts call harm reduction. The idea is to concentrate not on
’ DIVERSE VIEWS ON LEGALIZING MARIJUANA Percentage of U.S. adults saying use of marijuana should be . . .
Legal (%) Illegal (%) Total 57 37 Men 60 34 Women 55 40
