ABSTRACT
Feminist ethics can be used to “de-moralize” specific political arenas by calling into question the universal applicability of the moral judgments embedded in social policy. No arena stands in more need of “de-moralization” than the political regulation of illicit drug use by women, until recently considered a problem so minor it deserved little attention. Both foreign and domestic drug policy differently impact particular communities of women. Public policy may maximize or minimize the harm done by drug use and traffic. Advocates point out that harm is the exercise of power upon particular bodies; what counts as “harm” depends on where you look, the political position from which you document harm done. Harm reduction is little supported in the United States, a nation slow to recognize that measures short of “zero tolerance” might accomplish more than punitive “drug war” policies.
