Sick or criminal? revisiting the speeches and debates of sanction of law No. 23737

Abstract

This article aims to analyze and revisit the discourses and debates surrounding the enactment of Law No. 23,737/1989, which organizes the core of Argentina's public policies on drug control through criminal law. The bill that led to the enactment of Law No. 23,737 originated as an initiative from the ruling party in 1984, during the first government following the "return to democracy." The official enactment and regulation occurred in 1989, coinciding with the commencement of Carlos Saúl Menem's presidency. A series of national and international milestones occurred between the original proposal and the final design, notably the "Copernican turn" in foreign policy; a new way of engaging with "the world" that positions the United States as the center and "model". The discourses that provided the definitive sanction to Law No. 23,737 were structured around the category of "scourge," in relation to this "Copernican turn" and its geopolitical implications. The categories and depictions of the dangerousness of drug users, framed as contagious patients and dangerous criminals, serve as the foundations of Law No. 23,737.