Roar Mikalsen - HUMAN RISING - radiofri..

DEL 3: DEN MAKTPOLITISKE
DIMENSJONEN VED
NARKOTIKAFORBUDET
Narkotikalovenes tilblivelse og tidlige historie
“The issue of race in drug policy (…) should be pursued historically from its legislative
roots. The investigation should start from the proposition that society ‘constructs’ its
own problems. That construction process is very selective, as Kevin Ryan observes:
‘The constructive process involves the selection of certain sets of circumstances and
the treatment of them as problematic, while othe sets of circumstances are ignored. A
large body of research explores the dimentions of this ‘picking out’ process.’ The
people who do the ‘picking out’ are moral entrpeneurs — activists who claim to
represent public values as they push a specific policy agenda. Sometimes, as in the
case of the war on drugs, they help to create a ‘moral panic’ that speeds up, and may
overwhelm, democratic deliberation. Punitive policies like the contemporary war on
drugs are the typical result of moral panics.”
Veien mot narkotikaforbudet
145
Doris Marie Provine. 266
Vi må huske at kriminaliseringen er et relativt nytt fenomen. Både opium og
cannabis var legitime medisinske varer gjennom det meste av 1700 og 1800tallet,
og det samme gjalt etter hvert også kokain. Dette er selvfølgelig i seg selv
ingen garanti for disse stoffenes medisinske nyttegrunnlag i dag, men noe
skjedde underveis, og vi skal nå se nærmere på veien mot kriminalisering for
disse stoffene.