Legalizing or Not Legalizing Drugs
| Date | 01 July 1993 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X9306600309 |
| Author | L. F. Lowenstein |
| Published date | 01 July 1993 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DRL. F.
LOWENSTEIN
LEGALIZING OR NOT
LEGALIZING DRUGS
In what
follows
there will be a discussion based on the research most
recently carriedoutontheattitudes
towards
legalizing softand harddrugs
ornot legalizing. What
follows
therefore hasbeendividedintothreeparts
witha
fourth
setting outsomeoftheresearch carriedout inoneparticular
therapeutic
community
with
young
peopleand children who have been
engaging in
substance
abuseovera periodof time. Theresearch literature
has beendivided into the
following:
1.
Arguments
forlegalizing softdruguse.
2.
Arguments
forlegalizing harddrugs.
3.
Arguments
for not legalizing softor hard drugs.
4.Research intothe diagnosis and treatment of substance abusein a
therapeutic community and viewpoints derived
therefrom.
1.Arguments for legalizing soft drugs
Asaresultofmoreliberal, or "defeatist", thinking, there hasbeen a great
increase inrecent yearsin theviewthat softdrugsandtheir useshouldbe
legalized. Included inthesedrugsis
marijuana.
Frequently mentioned is
theviewthatmarijuana andsimilarsubstances are no worsethan the use
ofalcoholor
smoking
and
hence
should
notbe considered illegally
used.
Rockwell (1972) suggested that the controversy concerning the
dangerousness of marijuana was a
sociaVpolitical
rather than medical/
scientific issue. An attemptwasmadetoprovethispointbyanalogywith
theparallel socialproblem of alcohol. The history of alcohol as a social
problem, the
temperance
movement,
thesocialization ofalcohol use,the
alcoholism
movement
andgeneral patterns ofillegal
consumption
offences
for
alcohol
and drugs were described and discussed. He felt that the
present
system
of
social
control
was
counter
-productive.
Recommendations
werepresented forthe
medical
profession torecognize thesocial-political
issuesinvolved in "drug abuse" to aid in de-polarizing attitudes and to
improve
the socialization
milieu
andgeneraldrugeducation.
Studentattitudes
towards
thelegalizing of marijuana concerned Hardy
(1973).
He investigated the relationship
between
the attitudes for the
legalization of marijuana and the social statusof college students. The
subjects were 128maleand 184
female
upper-level undergraduates who
responded on the 1960 revision of the PurdueMaster
Attitude
Scaleto
determine attitudes
towards
marijuana legalization. Social status was
measured by the WarnerIndex StatusCharacteristics. The subjects had
favourable attitudes at the .01 level of significance toward the sale of
marijuana.
No
significant
differences
were
found
among
subjects
discerning
296 The Police Journal July 1993
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