FROM CRIMINALIZATION TO REHABILITATION: Abandoning “The War on Drugs” THESIS EDIT | Page 19

would consciously choose drugs over his own life.
Another example: “Under the bridge downtown, I gave my life away,” famous lyrics
sung by Anthony Kiedis, the vocalist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In the song, Kiedis poetically
recalls his experience as a drug addict. The lyrics, again, reiterate the behavior common to
addicts and known to people for ages. And, again, no rational person would give their whole life
to drugs. Clearly, a person must be unwell to make this decision.
The American Law Institute writes on “The Insanity Defense” explaining that a person is
not responsible “for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease
or defect he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to
conform his conduct to the requirements of law is so substantially impaired that he cannot justly
be held responsible ... [or] is in such a state that the prospect of conviction and punishment
cannot constitute a significant restraining influence upon him.” Clearly, this is the case with
addicts, and so it is paradoxical that in the same country that this defense has been established
and widely accepted, drug addiction is still criminalized.
Let’s consider the law in a purely philosophical sense for a moment. Many people in
legal philosophy take one of two sides when it comes to how laws should be formulated. Many,
like myself, believe in a moral approach: that law is, and must necessarily be, based and founded
upon moral values. People who hold this view believe that the reasons behind laws need to be
just and ethical, and that this is an integral part of law-making.
Others try to eliminate morality from the equation entirely, viewing law as a mere
instrumentality, a “coordinating device” that does not embody “lofty moral ideals,” but provides
us with “the security necessary to exercise our autonomy safely and effectively,” (Feinberg). In
this approach, an ethical analysis of a law is unnecessary. It does not need to be determined