The article assesses the legitimacy of criminalizing drugs on the basis of relevant liberty-limiting principles. Where appropriate, empirical findings about drugs, drug use and drug policies are used to make the assessment. John Stuart Mill's harm principle is the pivotal element of this exploration and Joel Feinberg's framework of the moral limits of criminal law is used as a heuristic. First, the article considers whether legal moralism or legal paternalism provide arguments convincing enough to justify the criminalizing of drugs. Second, it explores whether individual conduct that does not harm others but causes harm to society by accumulation provides sufficient justification. The article concludes that drug use falls within the jurisdiction of individual choice that Mill identifies in his principle of liberty and the ‘accumulative harm’ perspective does not carry enough weight to justify their prohibition, and therefore society is not morally authorized to criminalize drugs.

本文根据相关的自由限制原则评估了将毒品定为刑事犯罪的合法性。在适当的情况下，使用关于药物、药物使用和药物政策的实证结果进行评估。John Stuart Mill 的伤害原则是这一探索的关键要素，Joel Feinberg 的刑法道德界限框架被用作启发式。首先，本文考虑了法律道德主义或法律家长作风是否提供了足以令人信服的论据来证明将毒品定为犯罪是正当的。其次，它探讨了个人行为不伤害他人但通过积累对社会造成伤害的行为是否具有充分的正当性。