Review of Chapter 3 of Peaceful Measures - Canada's Way Out of the Drug Wars
In his book Peaceful Measures: Canada's Way Out of the 'War on Drugs' Alexander (1990) argues that for over a century, drug-control policy around the world and in Canada have been growing increasingly warlike. The costs of this drug war, in both money and human suffering, have been steadily increasing, although its objectives have not been met. Alexander cites extensive research that indicates that illegal drugs are no more harmful or addictive than legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco, and no more likely to cause anybody to go out of control. Opium sticks, for example, used to be sold at corner shops in England in the nineteenth century, without addiction becoming an overwhelming problem. Legal regulation and controlled distribution of drugs, similar policies adopted in Holland, or the methadone maintenance programs provided for some addicts in England, seem more likely to be successful in undermining the harm caused by criminal drug rings, than the prosecution of users (Hale, 1995). Alexander argues that the war on drugs continues because it meets other psychological and social needs that have little to do with the use of drugs as such. People live in a real world characterized by violence that is perpetuated by criminal
Alexander focuses in the topic of drug addiction and criticizes the common usage of the word. 'Addiction' is derived from the Latin addicere, meaning 'give over'. It was commonly used as a word for admirable devotion, or a pursuit. A new definition of addiction emerged in the 19th century when the temperance and anti-opium movement began applying the term to habitual drunkenness and habitual opium use. This new usage narrowed the meaning of the word by linking it to specific drugs, necessarily giving it an unfavorable negative meaning, by identifying withdrawal symptoms and tolerance as aspects of the definition, and by attributing addiction to the drug itself (Alexander, 1990). The temperance movement narrowed the definition of addiction as part of their campaign to arouse distaste towards habitual drunkards and to gain public support for alcohol prohibition In England, another social transformation tied the term addiction with opium by calling it an 'addictive' drug. The underlying aim was to allow medical professionals to expand their territory by changing what had been considered a weakness, into a disease called addiction. If opium use became a disease, then physicians could find employment curing it, and pharmacists could claim a monopoly selling opium, rather than leaving it universally cheaply available. This is but small part of the story on the changing nature of the word 'addiction', yet already the confusion can be seen. Constructionist theory is especially valuable in understanding morality crimes, those often referred to as victimless crimes. These are transactional crimes where the persons are exchanging illicit goods or services do not see themselves as either victims or criminals. Such offences include almost all sexual behaviour like prostitution, and the purchase of illicit drugs, and illegal gambling. (Hale, 1995) The roots of social constructionist theories of crime can be traced to Emile Durkheim's observation that crime is a natural social activity even in healthy societies. Crime is behaviour which violates the conscience collective or the shared beliefs and sentiments of the community. Crime is functional, and perhaps even essential for a society, because in their collective reaction to it people are drawn together to reaffirm their values and social cohesion. (Hale, 1995) The Puritans, for example, who settled in Massachusetts in the 1630s, created an extraordinarily strict and law-abiding community. The labelled many activities that were commonplace (dancing, card playing) as deviant for people like themselves. In doing so, they drew symbolic brackets around their community, defining behavioral boundaries between themselves and others, and thus identifying their group as distinct. Their preoccupation with rooting out deviants functioned to reinforce their community values and identity. Although the War on Drugs makes use of the methods, language, and mentality of regular military wars, it fits more with the patterns of wars of persecution, rather than prototypical wars. Drug users and distributors are currently treated in much the same way as heretics during the Inquisition, the dispossessed English poor during the eighteenth century, and political dissidents in the unstable countries of the Third World. In each case, the miscreants seem to stand for real evils that threaten society, which allays its fears symbolically by organized persecution (Alexander, 1990). From the brief introduction about Alexander's above, one already senses a Durkheimian flavour in his work. However, Alexander does not emphasize the structural system as being the root cause of the drug-related problems. On closer examination, Alexander's view is more interpretive in nature, and his work closely fits the logic of the social constructionists. In social constructionist theory, illegal drug use, or crime in general, is not viewed as an entity, rather it emerges through the accounting processes, as the
Some common words found in the essay are:
War Drugs, Appendix Alexander, Drugs' Alexander, Emile Durkheim's, Third World, war drugs, Alcoholics Anonymous, alexander 1990, drug users, hale 1995, third world, drug war, definition addiction, war measures, 'positive addictions', drug laws, alexander 1990 alexander, Measures Canada's, , withdrawal symptoms tolerance,
Approximate Word count = 2921
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
