The brief:
Choose a drug or group of drugs (i.e. opiates, hallucinogens, NPS etc.) and produce a systematic study of it covering:
- The history of its production and use;
- A critical review of state responses to it (policy, treatment, decriminalisation etc.);
- An evaluation of evidence-based solutions to the drug(s)’ associated problems, informed by wider notions of ‘justice’.
The planning
Here are some things to think about/ensure you cover as you undertake this work:
- The history of its production and use.
- You need to demonstrate that you know what the drug(s) is/are, how and where it is generally produced and what it is used for
- A critical review of state responses to it (policy, treatment, decriminalisation etc.)
- What is/are the current policy/policies to this (group of) drug(s)?
- What sort of interventions are available for this (group of) drug(s)?
- Remember that policy and practice can differ e.g. cannabis policing, where possession is illegal but in practice is often deprioritised (overlooked).
- Solutions to the drug(s)’ associated problems, informed by wider notions of ‘justice’.
- What are the objectives and impacts of current policy/policies?
- How do these policies work out in practice?
- Are they meeting their aims?
- Do they have unintended consequences?
- Is there an evidence base to support these current policies?
- Are the impacts of the policy just/fair?
- An outline of what is meant by justice would be useful here, informed by theoretical notions of justice (Mills? Rawls?)
- A discussion about whether the criminal justice system is the place to deal with drug problems, from a (social) justice perspective
- A discussion about what (if anything) the criminal justice system does to facilitate or prevent people achieving what the laws demands (i.e. when the Criminal Justice System tells people not to not use/possess/deal drugs, do they provide treatment, economic policy, social policy etc that will support that change?)
- What are the objectives and impacts of current policy/policies?
