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Hard and soft drugs are illegal all over the world, and their consume is punished, directly or indirectly. Even so, the war on drugs seems to be lost, everywhere. But the real motive behind drugs illegality rests within the moral rather than the protection of people. Legislation is moralistic rather than paternalistic. Immorality is seen in drugs themselves, while the consequences of their use are only marginally relevant. After all, statements by drug czars claim that «the destruction of moral sense» is a consequence of drug use.

Introduction
Chapter 1 – Why are drugs illegal?
Chapter 2 – The argument of harm and danger to others
Chapter 3 – The argument of harm and danger to self
Chapter 4 – The argument of harm to society
Chapter 5 – The argument of the war on drugs
Chapter 6 – The argument of harm reduction
Chapter 7 – Moral issues
Conclusions

Persio Tincani is a professor of Philosophy of Law at the University of Bergamo.
He published essays in Il Mulino, Micromega, A-Rivista anarchica and various academic journals. He is the author of Argomenti di giustizia distributiva (Giappichelli, 2004), “Ovunque in catene”. La costruzione della libertà (M&B Publishing, 2006), Le nozze di Sodoma (L’ornitorinco, 2009). He edited Viva la rivoluzione! (Rizzoli, 2006).