What I was thinking about was how this specifically relates to the international drug trade which im writing my PLIR memo about. Nothing is inherently morally wrong about using drugs, rather we as a society have defined it as such, and that has specific repercussions for all of us.
I read a quote online that marijuana literally grows like a weed, and if it was legalized would sell for way less on the open market then it does today on the black market. By making certain drugs illegal and limiting the supply, we have artificially increased demand and profit margins for suppliers. This is an economic incentive for them to continue in the drug trade. By defining it as deviant within our society, we have ensured that it will persist.
From my limited experience, I'm pretty sure that penal law does little if anything to eliminate deviance within a society. Rather, we should either institute restitutive law or have none at all regarding deviance. Perhaps the punishments for engaging in deviance should simply be the social stigma that follows.
Good, thoughtful points. However, you lead to the assumption that the use of illegal drugs has a social stigma.
ReplyDeleteMany would argue that for some illegal drugs (marijuana, alcohol for <21) there are positive social benefits for using them. If not positive, not quite negative either, maybe just equally as accepted as not doing it.
The excitement and enthrallment in using drugs can be highly attributed to its "forbidden fruit" appeal-- so if they were made legal, would you still consider it deviance as it would become more commonplace in society?
It may not have a social stigma in smaller groups, but on a national scale (where its legally regulated) it certainly has a social stigma. Some drugs do have positive social benefits, but that doesnt mean that the public at large wants us using them. For example drinking underage at parties will certainly help you meet new people and have a good time, but that doesnt mean that society at large wants you to do it, hence, its illegal.
ReplyDeleteThe forbidden fruit idea i think really fits in with what i was saying here, that defining something as deviant by making it illegal often ensures that it will continue despite law enforcement efforts. If it were to become legal, i think that it would represent a step in the direction of becoming not deviant, but that doesnt mean that the social stigma would disappear immediately.
Deviance is a function of what the society at large defines it to be, and the law that society uses to govern itself is a reflection of that, I think.