how can you differentiate between law and ethics?

Answer 1

Ethical is what is morally correct. The Law is bolllocks it does not equate with what is wrong but that which is illegal. If an adult person with MS wants to smoke cannabis to ease pain then they should be allowed, the law should not be allowed to intervene, ethically the government has no right to prohibit the sufferer from using that, a substance which is grown in a natural form. Instead, they immorally, by law, allow that person a man made chemical but of course that produces a revenue to the government, side effects to the patient and is totally within the law. It is unethical and immoral.

Answer 2

Ethics, that stand the test of time and cultural patterns, evolve into law tenets: there are always gaps, as cultural patterns, behavioral norms keep changing. the gaps are 'ethics' in a given society and time frame! in a sense, ethics chase law, never catching up with it fully: law tries to fulfill ethics to create the ideal judicial governance for people, never able to fill the gaps, which also result from the whims and fancies of people, who are the users of law!