Drugs and Rights
$99.99 (C)
Part of Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Public Policy
- Author: Douglas N. Husak, Rutgers University, New Jersey
- Date Published: July 1992
- availability: Available
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9780521417396
$
99.99
(C)
Hardback
Other available formats:
Paperback
Looking for an examination copy?
This title is not currently available for examination. However, if you are interested in the title for your course we can consider offering an examination copy. To register your interest please contact [email protected] providing details of the course you are teaching.
-
This timely and important book is the first serious work of philosophy to address the question: Do adults have a moral right to use drugs for recreational purposes? Many critics of the "war on drugs" denounce law enforcement as counterproductive and ineffective. Douglas Husak argues that the "war on drugs" violates the moral rights of adults who want to use drugs for pleasure, and that criminal laws against such use are incompatible with moral rights. This is not a polemical tract but a scrupulously argued work of philosophy that takes full account of all available data concerning drug use in the United States today. The author is careful to describe the properties a recreational drug would have to possess before the state would be justified in prohibiting it. Since criminal laws against the use of recreational drugs are justified neither by the harm users cause to themselves nor by the harm users cause to each other, Professor Husak concludes that such laws are, in almost all cases, unjustified. This book will be of particular interest to philosophers in applied ethics and philosophers of law, but it will prove provocative reading for anyone with a serious concern in the issue of drug use and drug control.
Read more- Was the first serious book to discuss the moral rights of adult drug users
Reviews & endorsements
"No one seriously interested in criminal justice in the United States can afford to ignore this book....Husak's book is certainly the best book by a philosopher on the right to drug use in recent years and will hopefully encourage philosophers and others to engage this issue with the kind of critical rigor it surely deserves." David A. J. Richards, Ethics
See more reviews"Douglas Husak's Drugs and Rights is an extremely interesting and well written inquiry into whether adults have a moral right to the use of recreational drugs....While Husak primarily wants to make his case on moral grounds, this book also provides a useful overview of what we know about those who use drugs. The skillful blending of moral philosophy with empirical social science is certainly one of the strengths of this work....One can only hope that before we fight another losing battle in the drug war, Husak's analysis is given a wide reading." Donald W. Crowley, Legal Studies Forum
"[A] sensitive and reasoned contribution...to an area of debate far too often clouded by prejudice and collective hysteria." Will Self, Times Literary Supplement
Customer reviews
Not yet reviewed
Be the first to review
Review was not posted due to profanity
×Product details
- Date Published: July 1992
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9780521417396
- length: 322 pages
- dimensions: 229 x 152 x 22 mm
- weight: 0.64kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
1. Drugs, drug use, and criminalization
2. Drugs and harm to users
3. Drugs and harm to others
4. Restrictions on drug use.
Sorry, this resource is locked
Please register or sign in to request access. If you are having problems accessing these resources please email [email protected]
Register Sign in» Proceed
You are now leaving the Cambridge University Press website. Your eBook purchase and download will be completed by our partner www.ebooks.com. Please see the permission section of the www.ebooks.com catalogue page for details of the print & copy limits on our eBooks.
Continue ×Are you sure you want to delete your account?
This cannot be undone.
Thank you for your feedback which will help us improve our service.
If you requested a response, we will make sure to get back to you shortly.
×