What Are The Beliefs Of James Q. Wilson And Douglas N. Husak

In my writings I am going to be discussing the beliefs of James Q. Wilson and Douglas N. Husak. They both have very different views on drugs, Wilson is more of the conservative who believes drugs should be banned altogether, as opposed to Husak, who believes the use of drugs should be a personal choice. First, I am going to talk about James Q. Wilson and his views against the legalization of drugs. One of Wilsons claims is that the lack of availability would lead to less drug use and addiction. Wilson believes that if drugs were to be legalized then it will be easier for addicts to recruit other people into trying new drugs. He states that the way people are recruited to do drugs are usually influenced by acquaintances and friends that peer
Husak and Douglas both hold different views on determining how an individual should live their life. Husak has a pro-choice approach and feels that it is our moral right to use drugs. As opposed to Douglas who has a paternalistic view point and feels that we should police against drug use. Douglas feels that the amount of harm that drug use does to an individual is enough to know that it is morally wrong. They also disagree on how we use the term “drug” or “illegal drug”. Douglas bases his judgements on drugs that are illegal based on laws that were already established. Husak on the other hand doesn’t believe that a drug should be labeled illegal by the creation of a law. James Q. Wilson shows legal moralism by believing the popular social norm that drugs are bad, so now they should automatically be illegal. Husak would counter Douglas stating that old social norms can’t be relevant in the topic of todays’ age, certain drugs need to be reevaluated if we want to make that call. He would argue that there were many prejudices against other racial groups when many of these drugs became known as illegal. Drugs that are more common in poor neighborhoods would be targeted more than drugs that circulate upper-middle to upper class
Whether its drugs, abortions, or tattoos, that decision should be based on that individuals’ moral perspective. I would best label myself as an Ethical egoist, also believing in rights ethics. The reason being is that many people who follow this theory believes that people can make rational decisions on their own and that we are all born with the right to do so. Much like Douglas N. Husak, I believe in one’s right to make rational decision for themselves without the influence of outside forces. If someone chooses to do heroin, that is their decision as to what they want to put into their bodies. The problems occur when harm is inflicted upon other people and is no longer only harmful to yourself but becomes dangerous for the people around. Everyone has their own moral code within society, I don’t believe there is sufficient research that can determine if drugs are as dangerous, like how they have been made out to be. It is hard to tell where to draw the line when it comes to ethical egoism. People may try to counter my argument and say that, allowing others to hurt themselves and alter their realities is enough to say we shouldn’t allow drug use because not only does it hurt oneself but also may hurt loved ones of that person. In rebuttal to that I would say that because most of the drugs already have laws against them, they haven’t been able to produce enough evidence