FROM CRIMINALIZATION TO REHABILITATION: Abandoning “The War on Drugs” THESIS EDIT | Page 10

walk away; that they continue using because they do not care about the consequences of their
actions. Essentially, many people who hold this view tend to believe that addicts are simply
irresponsible hedonistic people who lack a moral foundation, and deliberately choose to live
reckless lives.
This is a very dangerous view to hold as law makers, especially as authors of criminal
law. Criminal law focuses on the notion of “mens rea,” criminal intent: “the state of mind
indicating culpability which is required by statute as an element of a crime” (Legal Information
Institute, “Mens Rea”). Although most drug charges do not require mens rea, because individuals
may simply be charged on the basis of possession, I am interested in the psychological
implications of calling a drug user a criminal, in the context of mens rea serving as the
general rationale in justifying criminal punishment. Law influences society’s views and
shapes the values we develop as a community. When the majority of severe crimes that are
known to the general public tend to be associated with criminal intent, an instant stigma is
created around the idea of crime, and consequently, around criminals. This phenomenon casts a
shadow on a whole category of people.
Since drug users are subject to criminal punishment (like incarceration) there is an instant
stigma that attaches to drug users that is similar in color and impact as the stigmas attached to
rapists and murderers. This is not due to a similarity of the crimes involved. We can all
acknowledge that rape and murder involve the harming of people other than the person
committing the crime. In fact, in the most severe cases there is a clear intention and motivation
within the murderer or rapist to hurt the victim of the crime, or to recklessly disregard the other
person’s well being.
This is not the case for drug users. If we disregard the crimes (like theft) that are