The Criminology of Pleasure - Essay Example

THE CRIMINOLOGY OF PLEASURE Political ities have introduced various rules and regulations for the smooth running of public affairs within a social set up by devising laws and appointing law enforcing agencies for the proper implications of these laws. The Contract Law, Evidence Law, Companies Act, C. P. C, Cr. P. C. and others are included in the long list of the acts and statutes articulated and devised time and again for the best interest of the public. Pleasure regulations are also the part of such laws that apply some restrictions and limitations on the activities of the people while seeking pleasure in one way or the other. The basic motive behind imposing regulations while seeking pleasure, on the part of the political authorities, is to protect the members of society from harms and troubles caused by dint of the pleasure seeking activities of others. “An optimal system of regulation”, Posner submits, “is a function not only of the social costs of the practices one seeks to regulate but also of the cost of the effective regulation. History and current practice appear to teach that laws regulating sex are inefficacious because most sex crimes are either de jure or de facto, victimless.” (Abramson & Pinkerton, 1995: p 55) Renowned psychoanalyst and philosopher of 20th century Sigmund Freud also lays stress upon the surrendering of some enjoyments in the best interest of the fellow beings, though he remained confined to the sexual pleasures only. “Man should”, Freud suggests, “relinquish some sex pleasures for the good of society.” (1961: p 38) But there are other activities and enjoyments too that look for the implementation of rules and restrictions. The same is the case with the drug consumption. With the advent of 20th century, drug consumption became order of the day for the individuals belonging to divergent societies and cultures of the world. The unabated demand for drugs and their usage created many problems for both the governments and societies. “Drugs are”, Burger states, “chemical compounds that modify the way the body and mind work. Most people think that these biological activities should help or heal sick people or animals.” (2001: p 4) History of the drug usage seeks its roots in ancient times, where drugs were consumed for the medical purposes. The medical practitioners of ancient Greek, Rome, India, China and Egypt suggested drugs for the relief from pains as well as for different diseases. “The ancient Greece”, Arata writes, “was the most popular area of Vedic medicines, and ingredients of medicine for Greece were imported from different parts of the Mediterranean, where Egypt was the most pharmaceutical country in which people used different types of drugs as medicine.” (2005: p 35) People used to take extra dose of the drugs, which relax their limbs and produce some intoxication in them, the flavour of which was unforgettable for them. It is therefore they turned addicted to the drugs and chemicals, although the chemical dependency was not in vogue at a massive scale. During last three centuries the use of drugs witnessed great increase and people invented various methods of consuming drugs and chemicals through oral and physical drugs. Though various types of chemicals and drugs have been in use of the people, yet marijuana has been the most popular drug among common people since 19th century. “Marijuana cultivation began in the United States around 1600 with the Jamestown settlers, who began growing the cannabis sativa or hemp plant for its unusually strong fibre that was used to make rope, sails, and clothing. During the 19th century marijuana plantations flourished in Mississippi, Georgia, California, South Carolina, Nebraska, New York, and Kentucky.” (Quoted in pbs.org) Marijuana is the drug that relieves pain and causes sleep; since there was no great advancement in the field of medicine, people used to seek physical relief by using this drug for the temporary respite from their sufferings. They forgot altogether the very fact that the excessive use of the drug could make them completely dependent of the drug. In addition, alcohol, cocaine, ephedrine, tobacco and Ritalin also include the most often consumed drugs all over the globe. “During the 19th century”, Wilson & Kolander view, “public attention was more focused on alcohol than on other drugs, in part because other drugs were fewer in number and were used by less number of population.” Consequently, the governments had to articulate laws and they established anti narcotics departments to combat with the mania. There exists a group of theorists that takes drug consumption as a harmless activity, which should not be treated as a crime against the very rules and laws of society. Drug consumption is often viewed as a victimless crime, where it does not harm any group or community of society; rather, it merely focuses on satisfying the desire of two or more persons, without challenging the rights of others on the one hand and sabotaging the affairs of the government on the other. Theorists are of the view that there should not be any restriction on the victimless crimes at all, because they do not aim to damage or hurt others. “Crimes without victims”, Schur observes, “may be limited to those situations in which one person obtains from another in a fairly direct exchange, a commodity or personal service which is socially disapproved and legally proscribed.” (1965: p 170) But the modern society admits the very reality that the affects of drug addiction are not confined to two individuals only. On the contrary, they leave indelible impacts upon the whole society at large. Modern civilization and technological advancement are also responsible for the drug addiction among children. Doweiko also assesses the drug addiction in this scenario. “Child abuse”, according to him, “is one of the most significant causes of chemical co-dependency among adolescents. Further, decline in family relationship has also paved the way in this direction.” (2006: p 229) As family is the basic unit of a society and plays primary role in nourishment and socialization of young generation. Decline of the family bondage as well as non-observing of ethical values and moral obligations have resulted in the deterioration of the youth of society. “According to different surveys, $53-73 billion in direct medical costs per year, while $47-82 billion in lost productivity per year.” (Anczak & Nogler, 2003: p 31) The drug consumption has created lots of problems, which make people completely dependent of drug addiction, telling upon their nerves and weakening their mental and physical strength. “Globally”, Mokdad, et al quote, “3 million people die each year, 435000 in the U.S. (approximately 1:5 deaths)” (2004: p118) It has aptly been said that man is frail by nature. He undergoes countless rejoicing as well as gruesome moments in life. Happiness drives his instinct towards getting indulged in revelries and celebrations. In the same way, one seeks escape in intoxication in state of misery and depression. In order to forget troubles and avoid tensions, though for the time being, people use alcohol and get support of chemicals. So many domestic, emotional and financial crises drag man towards the consumption of drugs and liquor, which is awfully damaging for man’s mental and physical health. Substance enslavement serves like slow poisoning and leaves man in a precarious situation of uncertainty and weakness. Craving for the use of chemicals not only haunts both the young and the old, but also teen-age children fall victim to the chemical consumption too. Hence, in this perspective drug legislation came into existence. Twentieth century witnessed rapid increase in drug consumption and chemical dependency all over the globe. China has always been notorious for drug usage since ever. The country also underwent the same problem in twentieth century. “The 5000-year tradition of natural drugs continues to flourish in China even today. A curious philosophy underlies their reasoning: Diseases are evil occurrences that are counteracted by good influences, they say, and nature is good and therefore healing. The traditional Chinese physicians overlook the fact that nature is not always kind.” (Burger: retrieved from www.a1b2c3.com/drugs) The use of opium, hash, cocaine, marijuana and other drugs became very popular along with tobacco with the passage of time. “Well into the second decade of 20th century”, Hagan observes, “addicts in America were able to buy most opiates across the drug counter, which gave a go to the introduction of Harrison Act, 1914.” (1988: p 30) Schess has vehemently criticized the Harrison Act, the first drug law in history, by declaring it a tool to promote drug addiction. “The Harrison Act, according to Robert Schess in a 1925 American Mercury article, "made the drug peddler, and the drug peddler makes drug addicts."” (law.jrank.org) The excess of drug addiction and its consequent affects created troubles for the United Kingdom. Subsequently, further drug regulation laws were introduced in the country, where the government strived to eliminate drug dependency with an iron hand. The researches view that the United Kingdom has the highest level of dependent drug use and among the highest levels of recreational drug use in Europe. One of the foremost motives behind introducing laws in the beginning of the twentieth century was the involvement of youth in drug addiction. The British government has realised the very fact that the use of drugs had deteriorated the Chinese and Turk youths. It is therefore, the Chinese forces experienced shameful defeat at the hands of Japanese might in 1905 Sino-Japanese War, while Turkey was humiliated by the small Balkan states in 1911. In this critical situation, where the writers, philosophers, intellectuals, students and labourers were getting involved in chemical dependency, the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 came into being. With the intensity of relations with German-led Triple Alliance, the USA predicted an imminent war in the near future. It was really impossible for an addicted nation to combat with the forces of the world. It is therefore, there was an urgent need of making and implementation of anti drugs laws to protect the USA from downfall at the hands of rival powers. “Through most of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries”, Reuter & Stevens view, “the anti-alcohol forces in the United States were gaining ground. The anti-opiate forces, in contrast, remained weak and poorly organized. After the Spanish-American War, when the United States War Department took over the chore of governing the Philippine Islands, it inherited a whole system for licensing narcotics addicts and supplying them with opium legally-a system established under Spanish rule.” (2007: 8-9) It is therefore, the War Department of the USA adopted and followed the Spanish system of narcotics control, which helped the country, came out of chemical dependency at massive scale. The same is the case with the UK, which also devised many laws beginning of the twentieth century. Though drug addiction was also considered as an unpleasant activity during 18th and 19th centuries too, yet the articulation of anti drug laws was started appearing from 1908, when the Poisons and Pharmacy Act was introduced, where the control the on sale of poisons and drugs was made. In the next year, London Country Council bylaw gives the council powers to suspend or revoke the licenses of lodging-house keepers who allow opium-smoking on their premises. It significantly discouraged the drug addiction activities in the country. In 1916, the government imposed the Defence of the Realm Act, which applied restrictions on the unauthorised possession of opium and cocaine. The work hours of pubs were also re-determined. The consequent death of a famous actress, due to extra dose of cocaine, forced the government apply restrictions upon the cocaine. Subsequently, “the Dangerous Drugs Act introduces controls on the trafficking, manufacture, sale and possession of various drugs, including opium and cocaine.” (Retrieved from 20thcenturylondon.org.uk) It was a sonorous expression of the people’s voice, whose children and family members were undergoing drug usage problem. Moreover, the intoxication and excessive use of drugs had caused immoral activities in society. Taking alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and then heroine had caused the physical paralysis of the users, which were turning as the useless stratum of society. It is therefore, the drugs regulations were one of the most wanted laws from the authorities on the part of masses at large. REFERENCES: Abramson, Paul R. & Pinkerton, Steven D. (1995) With Pleasure Oxford University Press pp 55-57 Arata, Luigi. (2005) Nepenthes and Cannabis in Ancient Greece. University of Genoa. (Quoted in http://www.janushead.org/7-1/Arata.pdf) p 35 Burger, Alfred. Understanding Medications. (Retrieved from http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/gen001.htm) Doweiko, Harold E. (2006). Concepts of Chemical Dependency Wadsworth Pub Co. ISBN: 053463284X p 229 Fortson, Rudi. (2006) Setting Up a Drug Consumption Room: Legal Issues http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/ebooks/Fortson-DCR-F.pdf Hagan, John. (1988) Modern Criminology. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Singapore pp 39-43 Mokdad, Ali H., Marks, James S. and Stroup, Donna F. (2004) Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000 JAMA p 291 Reuter, Peter & Stevens, Alex. (2007) A Analysis of UK Drug Policy UKDPC London p 6 Schur, Edwin. (1965) Crimes without Victims Englewood Cliff, N. J. Prentice Hall p 170 Wilson, Richard W. & Kolander, Cheryl A. (2003) Drug Abuse Prevention: A School and Community Partnership Jones & Bartlett Publishers p 16  http://law.jrank.org/pages/12460/Drug-Laws.html A Social History of America’s Most Popular Drugs: (Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/buyers/socialhistory.html) http://www.internationaldrugpolicy.net/reports/BeckleyFoundation_BriefingPaper_03.pdf http://www.ukdpc.org.uk/docs/UKDPC%20drug%20policy%20review.pdf Drugs. (Quoted in www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/server.php?show=conInformationRecord.32) Read More