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Research Article

Active Drug Users as Social Change Agents: Some Ethical Dimensions

Pages 596-598 | Published online: 19 Mar 2012
 

Notes

6 See Kleinig (Citation2006).

7 The classic US case is that of “Whitey” Bulger. See, e.g., Lehr and O’Neill (2000). More generally, see Billingsley, Nemitz, and Bean (2001).

8 See, in particular, the concerns about Portugal's drug policy in Specter (2011).

9 See, e.g., the classic discussion of Smith (Citation1973).

10 I think here of the vigorous and somewhat distasteful American debate about the employment of illegal immigrants. Whatever one may posit as an ideal world, the tendency is for people to be sacrificed to politics or ideology.

11 Not that any form of regulation will be without its drawbacks. The claim is a comparative one.

12 The problems are formidable enough for those with a history of drug use and who are seeking to change their situation. See Klee, McLean, and Yavorsky (2002). The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) offers only limited respite. See, e.g., Weber, Moore, and Bruyere (2001). For those who remain active drug users, the problems are even more formidable.

13 For some movements in this direction, see Osborn and Small (Citation2006), Tops (Citation2006), and van Dam (2008).

14 Although the involvement of HUD drug users in developing social policy is often construed in terms of their empowerment, the idea of empowerment is itself problematic. I prefer to construe their involvement as a recognition of their human dignity. See Fielding (Citation1996).

Additional information

John Kleinig, Ph.D., is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Criminal Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, New York, USA, and in the Ph.D. Programs in Philosophy and Criminal Justice, Graduate School and University Center, City University of New York, New York, USA. He is also Professorial Fellow in the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Professional Ethics (Canberra, Australia). Educated in Australia, he taught philosophy at Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia) before coming to John Jay College in 1986. His philosophical interests are in the areas of ethics and social philosophy, with a focus on professional and practical ethics, particularly in the fields of education, bioethics, law, and criminal justice. He is the author or editor of 20 books and a member of the Editorial Board of Substance Use and Misuse.

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