Some people might argue that our drug laws are so incredibly tough because we have to protect ourselves from the dangers of drugs – in other words, they argue that extra tough sentencing for drug violations is really a matter of public health and safety. They are necessary to protect us from harming ourselves; and, besides, drug use is illegal, therefore, immoral. However, when growing numbers of people are seeing their lives ruined by being caught in the teeth of the criminal justice system (prison; loss of income; separation from family, community and legitimate organizations; loss of student loans; eviction from public housing; loss of voting rights; severely reduced ability of ex-cons to find a job or a place to live; etc.), we see that the repercussions, all too often, are much, much worse than the use of the drugs themselves. In addition, the rate of illness and spread of contagious diseases in the cramped confines of overcrowded prisons is exactly the opposite of a public health strategy. And that’s only the problems caused by ILLEGAL drugs – what about all of the deaths, adverse reactions, and problems of addiction, over-medication and drug mixing related to LEGAL drugs (i.e., prescription drugs)?

USING THE CLASS NOTES, ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: Seeing drugs in this context and thinking about this in terms of surveillance and bodily and social control, what conclusions can you draw?

Using what you’ve learned in this class, I want you to construct an argument that tries to make some sense of this issue. Everything we’ve covered in class so far is relevant for your analysis but the UNITS ON SURVEILLANCE, MEDDLING, LANGUAGE AND ACCOUNTS, AND THE POLITICS OF FEAR ARE ESPECIALLY USEFUL. You will be graded on how well you are able to use what you’ve learned in your analysis.
You must draw from course readings: -Altheide’s Terrorism and the Politics of Fear -Staples’ Everyday Surveillance -Health Nazis

*Your task is to use the issue of drugs (use, addiction, death, dealing, trafficking, smuggling, cartels, etc.) as a way to demonstrate your grasp of surveillance, meddling, language and accounts, and the politics of fear. I want to see that you understand those course concepts by using them to discuss how the topic of “illegal drug use” has been used by media and politicians to create fear throughout the population, and then to show how that fear has influenced beliefs, values, voting behavior, policy and law surrounding drugs.

In other words, you need to talk about how the “discourse of fear” and the “politics of fear” has been used by media and politicians to shape our attitudes about and our responses to illegal drug use.

In a nutshell, if you don’t discuss surveillance, meddling, language and accounts, and the politics of fear and the discourse of fear in your essay (I dont’ mean “mention,” I mean discuss them) you will not get a very good grade on your paper.