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IN SEARCH OF WHAT IS RIGHT: THE MORAL DIMENSIONS OF THE DRUG DEBATE
Author(s) -
Bush Bill,
Neutze Max
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
australian journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1839-4655
pISSN - 0157-6321
DOI - 10.1002/j.1839-4655.2000.tb01090.x
Subject(s) - project commissioning , transparency (behavior) , publishing , sociology , set (abstract data type) , epistemology , law and economics , empirical evidence , empirical research , law , positive economics , political science , economics , computer science , philosophy , programming language
The protagonists in the drug debate are talking past one another. While some argue that the drug debate is a health and social issue and should primarily be analytical and based on empirical evidence, others, explicitly or implicitly, treat it as a moral issue: overwhelmingly, in Australia, based on Christian beliefs. The aim of this paper is to set out a framework for the debate which explicitly recognises its moral as well as its empirical and analytical dimensions. It is hoped that greater transparency will facilitate the debate and may help the formulation of common positions. Heroin maintenance is used as an example to illustrate the arguments.