ABSTRACT
A broad consensus exists on all points along the political spectrum that western countries (and the United States in particular) punish too many people with too much severity (Chettiar et al. 2015). If we hope to make a dent on both overcriminalization and overpunishment, drug offenses would be a sensible place to begin (Husak 2008). Although the impact of drug prohibition on overpunishment is frequently exaggerated, sentencing experts estimate that a more just and effective drug policy has the potential to reduce the state and federal prison population by approximately 19%. 1 The grounds supporting this recommendation are not merely pragmatic. Even though those who challenge the core of our drug policy are typically asked to provide a compelling rationale for decriminalization, I have long argued that criminalization presents the more basic challenge. To my mind, a persuasive case for punishing users of any illicit drug that actually exists has not been made (Husak 1992, 2002), so these offenses are among the best examples of overcriminalization on our books today. Decriminalization is the default position in the absence of a strong rationale to continue along our present punitive course.
