Prawo w służbie utopii – problematyka uzasadnienia prohibicji narkotykowej
Reasons for drug prohibition

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the paper is the possibility (or lack thereof) of creating a cultural reality by means of penal law tools, based on historical examples of stimulant, alcohol, and drug prohibition. Using a cross-comparison of examples of removing legal supplies of psychoactive substances, it juxtaposes seemingly noble premises with the consequences of breaking the rules of rational criminalization. The idea of controlling abuse of psychoactive substances by making recreational use illegal seems to have caused the rise of social pathology on a global scale. Instead, the ideology-free, culture-based approach should be suggested. It would consider law in general as reactive and subsidiary, complementing the cultural normative system of psychoactive substance consumption. Norm socialization process - a condition of its de facto functioning, as well as the phenomenon of axiological limits of normative regulation, are vital concepts in this context. Consequently, the author accepts an assumption that both the commonly substance-abusing society and the one hardly using them are dysfunctional in a very similar way, as both are stressful environments, firmly missing substantial conditions for optimization of both social communication and introspective reflection for its members. This is just an example of how legislation that is breaking cultural patterns is not able to fulfill its purpose, even if and when implementing a totalitarian-scale repression policy based on stern moral principles.

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