Decriminalization of drugs and sex work advances abolitionist decarceration

Evidence

The Netherlands also has a history of legalized sex work, another area in which there has been extensive campaigning for decriminalization. In the cases of drugs and sex work, decriminalization would simply require repeal of all those laws that penalize individuals who use drugs and who work in the sex industry. The decriminalization of alcohol use serves as a historical example. In both these cases, decriminalization would advance the abolitionist strategy of decarceration—that is, the consistent reduction in the numbers of people who are sent to prison—with the ultimate aim of dismantling the prison system as the dominant mode of punishment. A further challenge for abolitionists is to identify other behaviors that might be appropriately decriminalized as preliminary steps toward abolition. — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 291

Categorization

• XREF: Alcohol prohibition repeal as a historical model for decriminalization. — connects to: Abolition requires a continuum of alternatives, not prisonlike substitutes — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 284; Drug decriminalization advances decarceration when paired with free treatment — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 287; Slavery’s abolition parallels the conceivable abolition of prisons (+4 more)

Related

• Drug decriminalization advances decarceration when paired with free treatment (similarity 0.88)
• Abolition requires a continuum of alternatives, not prisonlike substitutes (similarity 0.83)
• Free voluntary treatment outside criminal justice is the abolitionist standard (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Free voluntary treatment outside criminal justice is the abolitionist standard #expands (0.75) — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 290
• Slavery’s abolition parallels the conceivable abolition of prisons #expands (0.60)
• Abolitionist ‘prostitution’ language reinforced the myth of Black female wantonness #corroborates (0.50) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 101