Deck 13: Legalization, Decriminalization, and Harm Reduction

Question 1

A defense of the punitive policy toward drug possession and sale is that criminalizing drugs:

A) keeps the level of drug use and abuse lower than what it would be under legalization.
B) can wipe out drug use and abuse entirely.
C) forces dealers to sell safe, pure drugs because that is what users demand.
D) keeps the price of illicit drugs low.
E) none of the above.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

As a general rule, illegal drugs have:

A) a higher continuance rate than legal drugs.
B) a lower continuance rate than legal drugs.
C) the same continuance rate as legal drugs.
D) an unpredictable continuance rate in comparison with legal drugs.
E) none of the above.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The dominant current approach to the control of illicit recreational drugs in the United States is:

A) depenalization.
B) legalization.
C) prescription.
D) prohibition.
E) none of the above.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Harm reduction is:

A) a moralistic drug program.
B) an idealistic drug program.
C) a program of full and complete drug decriminalization.
D) a program of full and complete drug legalization.
E) pragmatic or consequentialist in its intent.

Question 5

A major plank in the legalizer's platform is that drug use/abuse:

A) will not rise significantly under legalization.
B) will rise significantly under legalization, but it will be worth it.
C) will actually decline under legalization.
D) could rise significantly, decline significantly, or remain stable, under legalization; no one knows, but let's legalize anyway and "let the chips fall where they may."
E) none of the above.

Question 6

According to the text, criminalizing illicit drugs increases the hassle factor, which:

A) is harmful to addicts and abusers and to society as a whole; all drugs should be depenalized.
B) keeps drugs hard to get, expensive, and increases the likelihood of arrest and hence decreases the rate of use of those drugs that are criminalized.
C) argues that some drugs should be legalized while others should be kept criminalized.
D) is a major factor in keeping the poor in poverty.
E) none of the above.

Question 7

According to the text, the "doomsayers" who argue that, in all likelihood, the worst-case scenario-a huge increase in harmful drug abuse-will come about under drug legalization are:

A) right.
B) wrong.
C) could be right or wrong-who knows?
D) are optimists-the outcome will be even worse than the "doomsayers" prediction.
E) none of the above.

Question 8

The drug control policy that prevails in the Netherlands and Switzerland is:

A) full legalization.
B) full decriminalization.
C) harm reduction.
D) a full prohibitionist and punitive policy.
E) none of the above.

Question 9

A needle exchange program, which operates in some countries of Europe and some cities in the United Kingdom, is an example of which of the following policies?

A) harm reduction
B) legalization
C) decriminalization
D) maintenance
E) none of the above

Question 10

Legalizers believe that:

A) the demand for drugs is variable and elastic.
B) the currently illegal drugs are much more harmful than the legal drugs are.
C) criminalization deters use.
D) prohibition encourages the distribution and use of weaker, less dangerous drugs.
E) an illicit drug market tends to sell contaminated and dangerous drugs; legalization would enforce controls on purity and potency.

Question 11

The harm reduction strategy relies on the logic of:

A) absolute deterrence.
B) relative deterrence.
C) both absolute and relative deterrence simultaneously.
D) neither absolute nor relative deterrence.
E) none of the above.

Question 12

Most of what drug legalizers have written has focused on:

A) detailing the particulars of a viable and workable drug legalization program.
B) explaining how drug legalization can usher in the socialist revolution.
C) detailing existing alternate legalization programs, such as those that have been instituted in Western Europe.
D) criticizing the flaws of current punitive policy.
E) none of the above.

Question 13

Drug legalization:

A) represents a single proposal: Remove all criminal penalties on the possession and distribution of all currently illegal drugs.
B) is likely to be instituted for all the currently illicit drugs within the present decade.
C) is the drug policy that prevails in all countries of Europe.
D) is not, according to Drugs in American Society, a serious proposal; it has no hope of implementation at any time in the foreseeable future.
E) none of the above.

Question 14

A policy of harm reduction is:

A) a moralistically driven proposal.
B) an ideologically driven proposal.
C) a program of full and complete legalization.
D) a program of full and complete decriminalization.
E) a pragmatic or consequentialist-driven proposal.

Question 15

Treating heroin addicts with methadone is more properly referred to as the:

A) prescription model.
B) maintenance model.
C) partial decriminalization model.
D) legalization model.
E) depenalization model.

Question 16

The term "decriminalization," which refers to the controls placed on small-quantity marijuana possession in a dozen or so states, should more properly be called:

A) full decriminalization.
B) partial decriminalization.
C) pseudo-decriminalization.
D) legalization.
E) medical marijuana.

Question 17

The majority of drug legalizers believe and argue that:

A) the currently illicit drugs should be available to everyone, including minors.
B) cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine should be sold under laws that are even less restrictive than those that currently prevail for alcohol and tobacco.
C) there should be no laws governing driving while intoxicated on heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine.
D) advertising for heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine should be legal, uncontrolled, and completely legal.
E) none of the above.

Question 18

The Iron Law of Prohibition states that the stricter and more intense the enforcement of the laws against recreational drug use, the:

A) more popular a given prohibited drug will become.
B) less popular a given prohibited drug will become.
C) more potent the prohibited substance will become.
D) less potent the prohibited substance will become.
E) none of the above.

Question 19

Several states have made the possession of small quantities of marijuana a civil infraction, similar to a parking ticket. This policy is referred to as:

A) legalization.
B) maintenance.
C) full decriminalization.
D) partial decriminalization.
E) none of the above.

Question 20

The drug policy in the Netherlands is:

A) full legalization for all psychoactive substances, which are brought under state control, as with alcohol.
B) full decriminalization for all psychoactive substances, which means no legal controls whatsoever.
C) de facto but not de jure legalization for all psychoactive substances.
D) de facto but not de jure legalization for marijuana and keeping the sale of the hard drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, illegal.
E) none of the above.

Question 21

What are the main fatal flaws in the current system of criminalization according to legalizers?

Question 22

Some legalizers mistakenly believe that the drugs whose possession and sale are illegal in the United States have been legalized in Western Europe-for instance, in the Netherlands. Explain the policy toward drug use that prevails in the Netherlands, pointing out how it differs from a genuine policy of drug legalization.

Question 23

The current system of criminalization is something of a hodgepodge of different laws and policies for different psychoactive drugs. Explain how, currently, different psychoactive substances are handled differently by the law and law enforcement.

Question 24

Does criminalization lower the demand of, and hence the use of, illicit drugs?

Question 25

Summarize the four main proposals to reform the drug laws.