CJS 215 - Drugs and Society

Semester Hours: 4

In this class we examine drug-related issues in an objective manner, as informed by historical context, medical research, social scientific theory and data, policy analysis and, briefly, comparative perspectives. We pay special attention to the treatment of drug use and abuse within the criminal justice system. We consider questions that include: Do more lenient drug use laws necessarily produce greater drug use? How does the harm to society of the War on Drugs compare to that of drug use? What general costs and benefits surround drug regulation, and what unintended consequences does it produce? While both alcohol and tobacco are medically and legally considered to be drugs, given the broad scope of this topic we focus our attention on substances usually or sometimes considered to be illicit drugs.

Intellectual Perspective: ST