Legalizing Drug Criminal Law

19 Pages Posted: 25 Nov 2009

See all articles by Markus D. Dubber

Markus D. Dubber

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law

Date Written: November 24, 2009

Abstract

This paper investigates American drug criminal law, or rather the American drug penal regime, from the perspectives of two fundamental modes of governance, police and law. In particular, it inquires into the possibility of drug criminal law as law, rather than as a police action designed to identify and eliminate threats to public welfare. The topic of this paper thus is not “the legalization of drugs,” whatever that might mean, but the legalization of the drug penal regime. It is concerned with the possibility of legitimate state action that brings the law power of the state in general, and its penal law power in particular, to bear on persons on account of their interaction, relationship, or association with drugs.

Keywords: Criminal law, legal theory, drug law

JEL Classification: K14, K30

Suggested Citation

Dubber, Markus D., Legalizing Drug Criminal Law (November 24, 2009). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1512718 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1512718

Markus D. Dubber (Contact Author)

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law ( email )

78 and 84 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C5
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/full-time-faculty/markus-dubber

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