[The political uses of prohibitionist "science:" The case of cannabis and psychedelics].

Prohibitionist drug policies present their political-moral agenda as ideologically neutral science. This article examines cannabis and psychedelics to show that prohibitionism selectively uses only scientific findings that support its predetermined conclusions while ignoring contradictory evidence. The authors argue that drug policies should instead be grounded in scientific evidence and core values—public health, social cohesion, and human rights. They advocate analyzing the power relations that shape the contradictory relationship between science and drug policy.

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Abstract

This article analyzes the use of science as a political tool in prohibitionist logic, adopting an externalist perspective. Prohibitionism strives to have its political-moral precepts be considered scientific, that is, the result of an ideologically neutral research process. The article analyzes the case of cannabis and psychedelics to show how prohibitionism has only resorted to "science" to hide its political-moral agenda, while ignoring the results of scientific research that did not fit its apriorisms. Finally, we argue that drug policies should be based on scientific evidence and on certain basic values - the defense of public health, social cohesion, Human Rights - such that an analysis in terms of power relations would allow us to better understand the contradictory relationships between science and drug policies.