The Criminalization of Drug Addiction in the Light of the Principle of Legal Paternalism

Legal paternalism is one of the principles of criminalization. Criminalization on the basis of patriarchy is based on the prohibition of harm to self. Since drug abuse and addiction known as victimless crimes and cause immediate harms to the individuals, there is a question that what can justify the criminalization of addiction and abuse of drug? Regardless of the necessity of criminalization in drug abuse and addiction, for the legitimate criminal intervention, the principle of patriarchy seems more appropriate. In this paper in addition to the brief review of criminalization principles, the criminalization of drug abuse and addiction based on the paternalism will be scrutinized.