Dilemmas in harm minimization.
This paper discusses the dilemmas inherent in pursuing a philosophy of (drug) harm minimization. The dilemmas arise (i) because all drug control policies produce harms as well as benefits; (ii) because many of these harms and benefits cannot be measured; and (iii) because even when they can be measured, judgements about what harms matter the most are irreducibly political. The paper concludes by proposing that the interests of drug policy might be better served if we abandoned the idea of an overarching goal in favour of a set of goals dealing with specific identifiable problems.
Weatherburn
Don
D
NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Sydney, Australia. don_j_weatherburn@agd.nsw.gov.au
D003657:Decision Making; D004335:Drug and Narcotic Control; D040261:Harm Reduction; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012308:Risk Management; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*