Peer-Reviewed Journal Details
Mandatory Fields
Earp, B.D., Lewis, J., Hart, C., with Bioethicists and Allied Professionals for Drug Policy Reform
2021
January
American Journal of Bioethics
Racial Justice Requires Ending the War on Drugs
Published
()
Optional Fields
racial justice drug policy legalization decriminalization war on drugs bioethics public health
21
4
4
19
Historically, laws and policies to criminalize drug use or possession were rooted in explicit racism, and they continue to wreak havoc on certain racialized communities. We are a group of bioethicists, drug experts, legal scholars, criminal justice researchers, sociologists, psychologists, and other allied professionals who have come together in support of a policy proposal that is evidence-based and ethically recommended. We call for the immediate decriminalization of all so-called recreational drugs and, ultimately, for their timely and appropriate legal regulation. We also call for criminal convictions for non-violent offenses pertaining to the use or possession of small quantities of such drugs to be expunged, and for those currently serving time for these offenses to be released. In effect, we call for an end to the “war on drugs.”
1536-0075
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15265161.2020.1861364?src=
10.1080/15265161.2020.1861364
Grant Details