For the Love of Humanity: A Criminologist's Testament

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An eye for an eye has long been abandoned. Is it time to universally ban its twin, a life for a life? Are prisons indispensable? Do they have a future? Can science find a more humane and less costly alternative? Is the war on drugs winnable? Would decriminalization and regulation provide a partial solution to the opioid crisis? If punishment is not an effective deterrent (and there is ample empirical research to show it is not) and if it is not an effective means of prevention (and the record number of offenders in prison in many countries proves it is not), what useful purpose does it serve? The conclusion is inevitably the same: there has to be another and better way of dealing with those who break the law. Is a non-punitive justice system such as restorative justice possible? Is it viable?