argumentative essay alcohol should be illegal

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Discussion on The Alcoholism and Why Alcohol Should Be Illegal

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5 Reasons Why Alcohol Should Be Illegal Or Banned

• 1. Addictive
• 2. Harmful To Health
• 3. Compromises Judgement
• 4. Gateway Drug
• 5. Doesn't Solve Anything
• Treatment For Alcohol Abuse

From 1920 to 1933, the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages was illegal in the United States. 

The Prohibition movement ended in failure, and today there are a range of economic, social, and cultural reasons why alcohol remains available for adult purchase and consumption.

But, just because alcohol is legal, highly accessible, and celebrated does not mean that it cannot be harmful.

Here are five arguments that can be made for why alcohol should still be illegal in the United States.

1. Alcohol Is Addictive

Alcohol is a drug. It’s a central nervous system depressant with psychoactive properties, and it is addictive.

How addictive alcohol is depends on the individual, their genetics and upbringing, and other social and environmental factors. 

But, according to a 2015 study funded by the National Institutes of Health, 29.1% of Americans will meet the criteria for Alcohol Use Disorder at some point in their lives, and 13.9% met the criteria in the previous year.

Heavy drinkers may develop physical dependence, leading to potentially severe or even life-threatening withdrawal symptoms if you stop drinking all at once. These symptoms can include tremors, blood pressure changes, trouble sleeping, hallucinations, and seizures.

And for those who do stop, maintaining sobriety is often a lifelong struggle.

2. Alcohol Abuse Is Harmful To Your Health

Alcohol overdose ( alcohol poisoning ) can be fatal. If too much alcohol is absorbed from the digestive system into the bloodstream following binge drinking , heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature can fall to dangerous levels, causing brain damage and organ failure.

But, this isn’t the only way that alcohol causes harm.

Long-term, excessive alcohol consumption can lead to serious health issues including high blood pressure , heart disease , liver disease , cancer , dementia , depression, and anxiety.

Alcohol also has devastating negative effects when consumed by pregnant mothers. Even drinking only a moderate amount of alcohol can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome or a greatly increased risk of miscarriage or serious developmental issues.  

3. Use Of Alcohol Compromises Judgement

Many of us have stories of the adventures and mistakes we’ve made under the influence of alcohol. But too often, given its ability to suppress one’s inhibitions, the over-consumption of alcohol ends in stark tragedy.

In particular, binge drinking is commonly associated with cases of:

• drunk driving and car accidents
• domestic violence
• financial imprudence
• violent crime
• other severe accidents

And in the long term, heavy drinking can erode your relationships with family members, deaden your ability to feel pleasure from natural sources, and steal your motivation to study, work, and prosper.

4. Alcohol Is A Gateway Drug

A gateway substance is one that leads to the abuse of harder/more harmful drugs.

According to a 2012 investigation, alcohol, not tobacco or marijuana, is the primary gateway drug leading to other substances and illegal drug use among underage Americans.

And, according to a study by the National Institutes of Health, 55.3% of high school seniors (all under legal drinking age) have used alcohol in the past year.

This figure is especially concerning because, as with cannabis, alcohol use is known to have harmful developmental effects on children and teenagers, negatively impacting problem solving and memory. 

5. Alcohol Does Not Solve The Real Issues In Your Life

Many who drink alcohol do so as an escape, to mask negative feelings of stress, depression, or anxiety with intoxication and artificial feelings of well-being.

But abusing alcohol only makes these issues worse in the long run. 

As alcohol use and dependence escalate, they can lead to a spiral of increasingly negative feelings and compulsive substance abuse with no easy way out. This may continue until you’re drinking alcohol because you feel like you have to, not because you want to.

Treatment For Alcohol Use Disorder

If you struggle with problematic drinking, help is available.  

Substance abuse treatment centers host programs that can help you:

• safely detox and manage alcohol withdrawal symptoms
• address co-occurring mental health disorders including anxiety and depression
• develop stress-management and coping mechanisms to help maintain your sobriety
• consider why you’ve had difficulties with drinking in the past and make helpful changes to those feelings and thought processes
• connect with others also working through the rehabilitation process, for mutual support and encouragement

For more information regarding inpatient or outpatient alcohol use disorder treatment programs , including medication-assisted treatment (MAT) , please contact us today.

Written by Ark Behavioral Health Editorial Team

©2024 ark national holdings, llc. | all rights reserved., this page does not provide medical advice..

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - Alcohol Use and Your Health National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - NIH study finds alcohol use disorder on the increase National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - What are symptoms of alcohol use disorder? PubMed - Alcohol as a gateway drug: a study of US 12th graders PubMed - Harmful Alcohol Use

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4 Reasons Why Alcohol Should Be Banned Or Illegal

Medically Reviewed By: Kimberly Langdon, M.D.

Although drinking alcohol is a popular activity, it can have serious consequences. That’s why some people think it should be banned. Banning alcohol could result in fewer alcohol-related accidents and crimes, and also reduce the rate of alcohol-induced health problems like alcohol addiction.

• Alcohol Causes Accidents
• Alcohol Causes Crime
• Alcohol Harms Your Health
• Alcohol Is Addictive

Alcohol is the most popular drug in the United States. Unfortunately, drinking alcohol can have serious consequences, especially if you drink too much. About 19% of Americans struggle with excessive drinking (also called alcohol abuse ). Among Ohio residents, that rate jumps to 20.2%. 

Because drinking can lead to alcohol abuse and other issues, some people think the drug should be banned. Here are four reasons why banning alcohol could benefit public health . 

1. Alcohol Causes Accidents

Alcohol impairs your judgment and coordination. It also lowers your inhibitions, making you more likely to engage in risky behaviors. That’s why people who drink face a higher risk of burns, falls, drownings, and other accidents. 

Alcohol is also a leading cause of motor vehicle crashes. In 2017, 405 Ohio residents died in alcohol-related car accidents . You’re more likely to experience an alcohol-related crash if you binge drink. 

Binge drinking occurs when your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) reaches 0.08 percent or higher. Most women reach this BAC after having 4 or more drinks in about 2 hours, and most men reach it after having 5 or more drinks in about 2 hours. 

A “drink” is any alcoholic beverage that contains about 14 grams of pure alcohol, which is found in 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine, and 1.5 ounces of liquor. 

Banning alcohol could make it harder for people to binge drink and reduce the number of lives lost to alcohol-related car crashes and other accidents. 

2. Alcohol Causes Crime

Because alcohol impairs your judgment and lowers your inhibitions, it makes you more likely to commit various crimes, such as trespassing, vandalism, and theft. 

Theft is particularly common among people with alcohol addiction. That’s because many people with the disease experience financial difficulties because they spend so much money on alcohol. 

Regular alcohol consumption has also been linked to violent crimes, including intimate partner violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and homicide. That’s because alcohol not only affects your judgment but can also cause moodiness, irritability, and aggression. 

In addition, alcohol disrupts your ability to understand social cues. For example, you might mistake an innocent comment as an insult and respond with violence.

Many proponents of an alcohol ban claim that making alcohol illegal could reduce both violent and non-violent crimes. They also point out that alcohol has a much stronger link with violence than marijuana , which is still an illegal drug in many states. 

3. Alcohol Harms Your Health

Alcohol is a toxin that can raise your risk of serious health problems. The most common health risks associated with alcohol include:

• high blood pressure
• heart disease
• liver disease
• pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
• certain cancers, including breast cancer, colon cancer, esophagus cancer, liver cancer, and head and neck cancer

When left untreated, these diseases can be fatal. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), about 95,000 Americans die of alcohol-related deaths each year. 

Regular alcohol use can also weaken your immune system and leave you more vulnerable to infectious diseases.

Alcohol Poisoning

Even if your alcohol use does not lead to a disease, it could cause alcohol poisoning. Alcohol poisoning (also called an alcohol overdose) is a life-threatening condition that occurs when you drink too much alcohol. Common symptoms include:

• slow heart rate
• slow or irregular breathing
• low body temperature                          
• pale, clammy, or bluish skin
• trouble remaining conscious
• seizures 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alcohol poisoning causes about 2,200 American deaths per year. An alcohol ban could reduce these and other alcohol-related deaths. 

4. Alcohol Is Addictive

Like other harmful drugs, alcohol is highly addictive. In 2017, about 6% of Ohio residents aged 12 and older experienced alcohol addiction (also called alcohol use disorder). This disease makes you feel unable to control your alcohol use. 

Common symptoms of alcohol use disorder include:

• experiencing strong cravings for alcohol
• drinking alcohol in unsafe situations, such as when you’re driving
• neglecting your personal hygiene
• needing an increasingly larger or more frequent amount of alcohol to feel the desired effects (also called tolerance)
• experiencing mood swings
• avoiding friends and family members so you can spend more time drinking alcohol
• losing motivation at work or school
• losing interest in activities you once enjoyed

When left untreated, the disease can wreak havoc on your life. Some of the most common negative effects of alcohol addiction include damaged relationships, job loss, and homelessness. Banning alcohol could save many people from addiction and its consequences. 

If you or a loved one struggles with alcohol use or another type of drug use, please contact Ohio Recovery Center . Our substance abuse treatment providers offer personalized, evidence-based services such as medical detox , mental health counseling, and medication-assisted treatment .

• 24/7 Tempo - Drunkest States in America https://247tempo.com/drunkest-states-in-america/
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Alcohol Poisoning Deaths https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/alcohol-poisoning-deaths/index.html
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Alcohol Use and Your Health https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - Alcohol's Effects on the Body https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/alcohols-effects-body
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - Alcohol Facts and Statistics https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/alcohol-facts-and-statistics#:~:text=Alcohol%2DRelated%20Emergencies%20and%20Deaths%20in%20the%20United%20States&text=An%20estimated%2095%2C000%20people%20

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Alcohol Should Be Banned (Argumentative Essay Sample)

Alcohol should be banned.

Alcohol is widely used and abused by many people all over the world; alcohol consumption is legal making the product easily available in liquor stores, restaurants, and all supermarkets. Traditionally, alcohol consumption is widely accepted during special occasions like family get together or for leisure. However, such traditions have been misused, causing addiction among some users.  People who abuse alcohol develop several problems affecting not only his family but also the society. The negative impact of alcohol consumption has been a constant debate as people wonder if banning of alcohol consumption would minimize some of these effects.

Alcohol contains ethanol one of the compounds used to make beverages; it is true that moderate consumption of ethanol minimizes stress, increases the feeling of happiness and even reduces the risk of acquiring coronary heart diseases.  Nevertheless, heavy consumption of ethanol mostly found in alcohol causes addiction and increases the risk of acquiring several heart diseases. Alcohol is a depressant that can easily cause addiction if taken in larger portions. Alcohol controls the body’s central nervous system and slowing down the body functions. Alcohol also alters the brain functions, causing hallucination, anxiety and other psychological problems among alcohol addicts.

Even though many people argue that alcohol consumption should be legal to the older population because of its positive effects on the economy, health care experts have raised concerns over the misuse of alcohol among teenagers during entertainment. Many deaths are caused by teenagers who drive under the influence of alcohol. Besides, alcohol consumption causes several health problems, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic illnesses like lung problem, diabetes are common even among moderate drinkers. Heavy drinking of alcohol causes psychological problems like insomnia, hallucination, confusion and anxiety.

Alcohol contributes to a larger percentage of crimes in America; more than 60 percent of crimes committed in the US, including sexual abuse, murder, and child abuse and domestic violence are all caused by heavy alcohol consumers.  There is no doubt that alcohol is the leading cause of public disorder in the modern society. Banning alcohol will not only reduce the incidences of alcohol, but also restore public order. According to several research studies, the damage caused by frequent alcohol consumption is considerable, like other drugs, alcohol causes negative effects in the brain in the long run causing addiction.

Some of the common side effects associated with alcohol consumption include poor health, lost career opportunities, broken families, and disorientated society. Many research studies have analyzed some of the long-term effects of alcohol consumption, in all the research studies reveals that alcohol consumption causes severe damage to the body in the end.  After reviewing all the study findings, there has been intense debate whether alcohol consumption should be completely banned or not. Alcohol is still a legal drug. Alcohol consumption is acceptable by law with minimal restrictions that prohibit younger people and adults from driving when under the influence of alcohol, despite the fact that alcohol consumption causes more harm to users and their loved ones in the end.

I believe that alcohol consumption should be banned and laws should protect innocent people from suffering by making alcohol consumption to be illegal. Alcohol has limited benefits, but the consequences of its misuse cause negative impact to the society. That is why I believe that alcohol needs to be banned.

Ban on All Advertising of Alcohol Essay

Introduction, works cited.

The major reason for the call to outlaw advertising of alcohol is its abuse. The term abuse can have various meanings from one section of society to another. For example, to a college student, drinking to the extent of vomiting uncontrollably is abuse. In religious groups, even a taste of alcohol is termed to be illegal. In a family setting, abuse of alcohol occurs when couples are in constant strife. Most societies have however illegalized underage drinking.

According to a WHO Charter, all states have the responsibility of ensuring that all children are raised in an environment secluded from negative influences and consequences of liquor consumption. This includes the promotion of these beverages. For a better understanding of this, the agreement suggests that all states exercise strict control on adverts addressed to young people.

However, reports from the U.S and elsewhere in the world indicate that beer companies spend a lot of money on promotional activities either directly or indirectly. The activities usually take the form of organizing sports contests, academic sponsorship, music concerts, or support to charity organizations. To make matters even worse, most of the alcohol adverts tend to neglect references to the bad effects associated with the consumption making it look like an alternative to soft drinks.

Most alcohol adverts especially on TV use animation, music, comedy, and celebrities to pass across their message. Research has established that this technique is more appealing to teenagers and adolescents who believe that the adverts target them. Some of the adverts also associate drinking with excellent and sporting success hence influencing the emotionally sensitive young minds. A recently concluded research indicated that most young people will recognize many beer brands labels that the portraits of their former presidents. This is because alcoholic beverages ads are more popular than the patriotism associated with the recognition of the national heroes by the younger generations.

Other than pulling underage people into excessive consumption, econometric techniques have indicated the close relations between alcohol adverting and the rise of accidents. An example is the lifting of a ban on television and radio advertising of spirits after 1996 which led to the rise in road accidents to about 3000 annually. This heavy loss of life results from cases where individuals attending social parties involving alcoholic drinks ignore the role of designated drivers. Some of the companies run adverts which can at times make drivers lose concentration from the steering wheel to thoughts of pleasure associated with alcohol drinking leading to road accidents.

Medical researchers in New Zealand have categorized alcohol as a psychoactive drug. This is due to its ability to alter the mind by making one be subconscious. In this state, one can unconsciously engage in some dangerous activities including sexual immorality thus increasing risks to STDs and HIV infections. The subliminal state can create physical body injuries while walking due to the inability of maintaining a good body posture. This has led some religious groups to blame alcohol advertisements for promoting promiscuity and moral decay in societies, hence support for the ban on alcohol.

On the other hand, breast cancer is greater among women who drink than those who abstain. The other health risk among these individuals is complete liver damage translating into hepatitis C. Therefore, patients found with the illness must quit drinking completely. All these health problem cases will continue to be on the rise as long as alcohol consumption increases through advertisements in the national mass media.

Despite all these misgivings, breweries and advertising industries argue that alcoholic drinks are legal products contributing tax to the economy. To them, alcohol is legal and should be advertised. They claim that were the advertisements to be banned, it would greatly affect businesses and the media. They also say that outlawing the drink is not justifiable because advertising is only concerned with promoting an individual product’s sales and that there’s no proof to relate the adverts and the number of harms associated with alcohol consumption. This means that advertising is not concerned with new membership recruitment into becoming drinkers of a particular brand but just raises the sales within the existing customers. The other point is that successful advertisement will increase the company’s market share at the expense of fellow competitors’ share index in the business.

In siding with the advertisement and brewery industries, those opposing the ban on liquor drinks adverts have indicated that alcohol consumption has many health benefits if used correctly. One of the positive impacts of alcohol consumption on the body is that it reduces the risk of a heart attack. Cardiovascular health improves by lowering heart disease or stroke based on the sick-quitter theory. From this point of view, it is right to argue that the liquor drinks’ advertisement is less like promoting a curative remedy but not illicit and abusive drinks.

The health benefits of alcohol mostly occur to moderate drinkers leading to a longer life than abstainers or those drinking a lot. In addition to a reduction in the possibility of a heart attack, consumption of alcohol reduces the likelihood of hypertension, Alzheimer’s, common cold, and high blood pressure. Other possible conditions minimized by moderated alcoholic drinking include stress, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, moderated drinking can be important for healthy living just like eating a well-balanced diet and regular exercising. Therefore, imposing a ban on advertising of such important products in the human lifestyle, just because some people misuse it, will amount to increasing the citizens’ susceptibility to poor health and lower life expectancy.

The rise in alcohol adverts appearing on different television channels in Colombia led to increased survivability among patients with heart attacks, who admitted to being moderate drinkers. According to medical research, moderate consumption of alcohol throughout the year reduces the risk of dying in case of serious myocardial infection, and men drinking frequently after a cardiac attack are not likely to experience it again unlike the none-drinkers. These kinds of gain will be lost if the ban on the advertisement of alcohol is enforced. The reason for this is that liquor drinks help in controlling and repairing damages in the heart following an attack.

Despite condemnation for evil deeds in society, alcohol consumption can also offer solutions to people suffering from obesity by its ability to accelerate the libido of the blood hence destroying bad cholesterol as well as improving the blood clotting ability-checking bleeding in case of injury. Therefore, the ban on alcohol will deny the public to access different brands of products important for their daily health. (Biays & Wershoven 232)

Though alcohol has its benefits to the human body, its side effects far outweigh the benefits. Alcohol advertisements should not be carried out during prime time on national broadcasters. The picture portrayed by these adverts that one will feel good after taking beer should also be discouraged at all costs. Underage people should also not be allowed to play an active role in these campaigns. The ban on underage drinking should be enforced in every state and those who ignore it prosecuted. Beer companies should also show the negative side of drinking in order to allow people to make informed choices. At the end of the day, we should ask ourselves if we want to build a nation of working people or drinking people. If we evaluate everything, all of us will conclude and with good reason that alcohol advertising should be banned.

Biays, John, & Wershoven, Carol. Along these Lines: Writing Paragraphs and Essays .5 th ed.Prentice Hall, 2008.

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IvyPanda. (2021, November 28). Ban on All Advertising of Alcohol. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ban-on-all-advertising-of-alcohol/

"Ban on All Advertising of Alcohol." IvyPanda , 28 Nov. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/ban-on-all-advertising-of-alcohol/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Ban on All Advertising of Alcohol'. 28 November.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Ban on All Advertising of Alcohol." November 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ban-on-all-advertising-of-alcohol/.

1. IvyPanda . "Ban on All Advertising of Alcohol." November 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ban-on-all-advertising-of-alcohol/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Ban on All Advertising of Alcohol." November 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ban-on-all-advertising-of-alcohol/.

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On Moral Arguments Against Recreational Drug Use

Rob lovering considers some of the arguments, and what they amount to..

December 5, 2015, marked the eighty-second anniversary of the United States’ repeal of the National Prohibition Act, an erstwhile constitutional ban on ‘intoxicating beverages’. The Act’s repeal did not bring an end in the U.S. to the legal prohibition of every intoxicating substance, of course – the recreational use of cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, and many other intoxicating substances remains illegal; but it did reinstate alcohol as one of many intoxicating substances – of many drugs , lest there be any confusion – that Americans are legally permitted to use recreationally. The list also includes caffeine and nicotine.

One might wonder why all countries currently legally permit the recreational use of some drugs, such as caffeine, nicotine, and (usually) alcohol, but prohibit the recreational use of others, such as cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and (usually) marijuana. The answer lies not simply in the harm the use of these drugs might cause, but in the perceived immorality of their use. As former U.S. Drug Czar William Bennett once put it, “I find no merit in the legalizers’ case. The simple fact is that drug use is wrong. And the moral argument, in the end, is the most compelling argument” ( Drugs: Should We Legalize, Decriminalize or Deregulate? , ed. Jeffrey A. Schaler, 1998, p.65). Yet, despite strong rhetoric from the prohibitionists, it is surprisingly difficult to discern their reasons for believing that the recreational use of certain drugs is morally wrong. Most of the time, no reasons are even provided: it is simply declared, à la Bennett, that using some drugs recreationally is morally impermissible.

This is not to say that there are no reasons for believing that using some drugs recreationally is wrong. Indeed, there is a wide array of arguments for the immorality of certain recreational drug use, ranging from the philosophically rudimentary to the philosophically sophisticated. But the vast majority of these arguments are unsuccessful, and those that succeed are quite limited in scope.

Some Rudimentary Arguments

Take, for example, one of the philosophically rudimentary arguments: Recreational drug use is generally unhealthy for the user; therefore, recreational drug use is wrong.

Now it is true that recreational drug use is generally unhealthy for the user in one respect or another, to one degree or another. Just how unhealthy it is for the user depends not only on which drug, but on the amount and frequency of its use, the manner in which it is administered, the health of the person using it, and more. In any case, there is little question that recreational drug use is generally unhealthy for the user.

But does it follow then that recreational drug use is wrong ? It does if the mere fact that an activity is generally unhealthy – or, more broadly, generally harmful – to the one who engages in it renders that activity morally wrong. However, this idea is very difficult to justify. Indeed, there seem to be conditions under which harming oneself, even damaging one’s health, does not involve wrongdoing, such as when the harm is done with one’s voluntary, informed consent. From boxing to BASE jumping, playing contact sports to mixed martial arts, snowboarding to bull-riding – each of these activities can be and often is unhealthy to the individuals who engage in them; but none of them seem to be thereby morally wrong when those engaging in them do so with their voluntary, informed consent. Imprudent, perhaps, but not immoral. Or consider people who eat unhealthy food and refuse to exercise. Their voluntary and informed eating of unhealthy food and refusing to exercise does not seem to be morally wrong in and of itself.

Here’s another philosophically rudimentary argument: Recreational drug use is unnatural; therefore, recreational drug use is wrong.

Now there are at least seven different meanings of ‘unnatural’ that one may employ in this argument: statistically abnormal or unusual; not practiced by nonhuman animals; does not proceed from an innate desire; violates an organ’s principal purpose; gross or disgusting; artificial; and contrary to divine intention. But regardless of which meaning is employed, this argument is also unsuccessful.

Consider just one meaning of ‘unnatural’: ‘artificial’. What’s typically meant by the claim that recreational drug use is artificial is that it involves inducing mental states that would not have occurred were it not for human intervention or contrivance. But what’s wrong with artificially inducing mental states? This is precisely what individuals taking medication for depression or bipolar disorder do; yet hardly anyone believes that taking medication for depression or bipolar disorder is wrong. Granted, artificially inducing mental states for depression or bipolar disorder differs from artificially inducing mental states for recreational purposes in a particular and perhaps morally significant way: the former use is medical in nature while the latter is not. But if the claim, as here, is simply that it is wrong to artificially induce mental states, then why the mental states are artificially induced makes no difference to the argument. Furthermore, even if the reason the mental states are artificially induced were relevant to the argument, this would not necessarily entail that artificially inducing mental states for recreational purposes renders doing so wrong. Indeed, we have good reasons to think that artificially inducing mental states for recreational purposes is morally permissible in some cases: by way of listening to music or reading a novel, for instance. Both the music and the novel are products of human contrivance. To that extent, the mental states induced by listening to music or reading a novel are induced artificially. Nevertheless, there seems to be nothing immoral about artificially inducing mental states by doing either of these things.

There are many other philosophically rudimentary arguments: one grounds the supposed wrongness of recreational drug use in the claim that it squanders the user’s talents; another in the claim that the pleasure of recreational drug use is unearned, and so on – but let this suffice for now. Equivalent analogies can be cited to show why these other arguments don’t work either.

More Sophisticated Arguments

More philosophically sophisticated arguments for the moral wrongness of certain recreational drug use fare no better. Consider the following argument: By using drugs recreationally, the user instrumentalizes himself; therefore, recreational drug use is wrong. To instrumentalize oneself is to use oneself for a purpose to which one, as a rational moral agent, cannot in principle agree. (A rational moral agent is someone who can think in terms of moral reasons and act on that basis.) Most simply put, to instrumentalize oneself is to agree to behavior to which one could not rationally assent. For instance, if Joe necessarily desires x , then Joe cannot rationally agree to behavior that thwarts x , since doing so would involve contradicting himself – for were Joe to assent to behavior that thwarts that which he necessarily desires, Joe would be at once desiring both x and not- x .

So, does recreational drug use involve using oneself for a purpose to which one cannot in principle agree? That depends on what the purpose of recreational drug use is. This, in turn, depends partly on the drug in question. For the sake of space, let us consider the recreational use of just one drug: marijuana.

Typically, the purpose of using marijuana recreationally is to get high. The question, then, is whether the marijuana user can in principle rationally agree to the end of getting high. At first glance, it appears she can – the individual agreeing to get high does not on the face of things seem to be contradicting herself in doing so. But to be sure about this, we need to determine whether a pot smoker necessarily desires something that getting high thwarts.

Although lots of things might be proposed here, but again for the sake of space, I will consider just one: Perhaps as a rational moral agent, the pot smoker necessarily desires all that is required for the preservation and exercise of rational moral agency. And it may be that not being high – in a word, sobriety – is required for the preservation and exercise of rational moral agency. Two questions now arise: do rational moral agents necessarily desire all that is required for the preservation and exercise of rational moral agency? And, is sobriety required for the preservation and exercise of rational moral agency?

Properly addressing the first question would involve a lengthy digression into the nature of rational moral agency. Instead, I will simply assume that rational moral agents do necessarily desire all that is required for the preservation and exercise of rational moral agency.

This brings us to the second question: Is sobriety required for the preservation and exercise of rational moral agency? Arguably not . To be sure, sobriety may be required for the optimal exercise of rational moral agency, but it is not required for the exercise, much less the preservation, of rational moral agency. The high individual can and typically does think in terms of moral reasons and act on that basis. As Jeffrey Reiman writes, “Even drug-beclouded individuals know the difference between right and wrong and can understand when they are hurting others and so on” ( Critical Moral Liberalism: Theory & Practice , 1997, p.89).

Getting high, then, does not necessarily thwart all that is required for the preservation and exercise of rational moral agency. Accordingly, the marijuana user can indeed agree in principle to the end of getting high, even given that she necessarily desires all that is required for the preservation and exercise of rational moral agency. Substitute alcohol, cocaine, heroin, or ecstasy for marijuana here, and similar arguments may be proffered for the view that users of these drugs can also agree in principle to the end of these drugs’ intoxicating effects – at least up to the point of the incapacity of rational thought.

Another philosophically sophisticated argument for the wrongness of recreational drug use is worth mentioning, given its popularity: By using drugs recreationally, the user may become addicted and thereby diminish his autonomy; therefore, recreational drug use is wrong.

Perhaps the most important word in this argument is ‘autonomy’. And although there are many definitions of this word, for present purposes we will use ‘the capacity to govern oneself’.

It is clear that, generally speaking, recreational drug users may become addicted to their drug of choice. Indeed, in Drug Legalization: For and Against (eds. Rod L. Evans and Irwin M. Berent, 1994), psychiatrist Michael Gazzaniga estimates that there is a ten per cent chance that any user of any drug will become addicted to it.

To what extent a drug is addictive may be determined in a number of ways, two of the more common ways being by establishing how likely it is that an occasional user of a drug becomes a habitual user of it; and by establishing how difficult it is for the habitual user to quit (see for instance Jim Leitzel, Regulating Vice: Misguided Prohibitions and Realistic Controls , 2008, p.61). Under both methods, nicotine is considered the most addictive of commonly-used drugs. Marijuana is much less addictive. Alcohol, heroin, and cocaine all fall somewhere in between nicotine and marijuana. And some recreational drugs, such as LSD and other hallucinogens, are considered virtually non-addictive, if at all: as Brian Penrose writes, “Whatever else may be true of [hallucinogens], they’re more or less universally recognized as non-addictive” ( Regulating Vice ).

However, even given that recreational drug users may become addicted to their drug of choice, and, in turn, diminish their autonomy to a greater or lesser degree, this does not itself render recreational drug use wrong. After all, most of us diminish our capacity to govern ourselves from time to time in ways that appear to be morally innocuous. Consider someone who is having trouble sleeping and decides to take a sleeping pill. In doing so, the individual chooses a course of action that will result in the diminishing of his capacity to govern himself. But does he thereby do something morally impermissible? It seems not.

Of course, taking a sleeping pill involves the use of a drug. And since what is at issue here is the moral status of using drugs – recreationally, of course, but using drugs nonetheless – it might be helpful to invoke a case that does not involve the use of a drug. So consider enlisting in the military. Those who do so diminish their capacity to govern themselves rather severely – with respect to where and with whom one resides, when one goes to and gets out of bed, what and when one eats and drinks, whom one considers to be an enemy, whom one considers to be an ally, whose commands one deems authoritative and obeys, what one considers to be acceptable conduct, under what conditions one will kill another human being, and so on. Even so, it does not seem to be morally wrong to join the military – at least, not on the grounds that doing so diminishes one’s capacity to govern oneself. (It may be imprudent in some ways, of course.) This suggests that other cases involving a less-than-extreme diminishing of one’s capacity to govern oneself are not morally wrong either.

To be sure, the diminishing of one’s capacity to govern oneself that occurs through joining the military is not the result of using a drug. But again, this fact is inconsequential to the argument. If it is precisely the diminishing of one’s capacity to govern oneself that renders certain recreational drug use wrong, as is alleged here, then any activity that involves the diminishing of one’s capacity to govern oneself will also be wrong, regardless of the means by which this is achieved.

To make this clear, suppose that what makes murder morally impermissible is that it involves the intentional permanent destruction of an innocent individual’s consciousness against their will. On this supposition, any activity that involves the intentional permanent destruction of an innocent individual’s consciousness against their will should be morally impermissible – including the intentional rendering of an innocent individual permanently comatose against their will. The means by which the permanent destruction of the individual’s consciousness is achieved is different in the comatose case, of course; but it is the permanent destruction of the individual’s consciousness nonetheless – so rendering someone comatose will be wrong for the same reason that murder is wrong. Similarly, if diminishing one’s capacity to govern oneself is morally wrong in and of itself, then joining the military is thereby morally wrong. But this is implausible.

There are many other philosophically sophisticated arguments – one which grounds the wrongness of recreational drug use in the claim that it blocks basic goods; another which grounds it in the claim that it degrades the user, and so on – but the preceding considerations will do for now.

Much more can also be said about each of the arguments above, and I have done just that in my book A Moral Defense of Recreational Drug Use (2015). Suffice it to say that if the objections that I have raised against these arguments for the immorality of recreational drug use are cogent, then to that extent the moral case for legally prohibiting recreational drug use is undermined.

© Rob Lovering 2016

Rob Lovering is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York. His book A Moral Defense of Recreational Drug Use is available from Palgrave Macmillan.

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How bad is vaping and should it be banned?

Professor at the National Drug Research Institute (Melbourne), Curtin University

PhD Candidate (Psychiatry) & Research Assistant, University of Newcastle

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Nicole Lee works as a consultant in the health sector and a psychologist in private practice. She has previously received funding by Australian and state governments, NHMRC and other bodies for evaluation and research into alcohol and other drug prevention and treatment.

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Vaping regularly makes headlines, with some campaigning to make e-cigarettes more available to help smokers quit, while others are keen to see vaping products banned, citing dangers, especially for teens.

So just how dangerous is it? We have undertaken an evidence check of vaping research . This included more than 100 sources on tobacco harm reduction, vaping prevalence and health effects, and what other countries are doing in response. Here’s what we found.

How does vaping compare to smoking?

Smoking is harmful. It’s the leading preventable cause of death in Australia. It causes 13% of all deaths , including from lung, mouth, throat and bladder cancer, emphysema, heart attack and stroke, to name just a few. People who smoke regularly and don’t quit lose about ten years of life compared with non-smokers.

Nicotine, a mild stimulant, is the active ingredient in both cigarettes and nicotine vaping products. It’s addictive but isn’t the cause of cancer or the other diseases related to smoking.

Ideally, people wouldn’t be addicted to nicotine, but having a safe supply without the deadly chemicals, for instance by using nicotine patches or gum, is safer than smoking. Making these other sources available is known as “harm reduction”.

Vaping is not risk-free, but several detailed reviews of the evidence plus a consensus of experts have all estimated it’s at least 95% safer to vape nicotine than to smoke tobacco. The risk of cancer from vaping, for example, has been estimated at less than 1%.

These reviews looked at the known dangerous chemicals in cigarettes, and found there were very few and in very small quantities in nicotine vapes. So the argument that we won’t see major health effects for a few more decades is causing more alarm than is necessary.

Is ‘everyone’ vaping these days?

Some are concerned about the use of vaping products by teens, but currently available statistics show very few teens vape regularly. Depending on the study, between 9.6% and 32% of 14-17-year-olds have tried vaping at some point in their lives.

But less than 2% of 14-17-year-olds say they have used vapes in the past year. This number doubled between 2016 and 2019, but is still much lower than the rates of teen smoking (3.2%) and teen alcohol use (32%).

It’s the same pattern we see with drugs other than alcohol: a proportion of people try them but only a very small proportion of those go on to use regularly or for a long time. Nearly 60% of people who try vaping only use once or twice .

Smoking rates in Australia have declined from 24% in 1991 to 11% in 2019 because we have introduced a number of very successful measures such as restricting sales and where people can smoke, putting up prices, introducing plain packaging, and improving education and access to treatment programs.

But it’s getting harder to encourage the remaining smokers to quit with the methods that have worked in the past. Those still smoking tend to be older , more socially disadvantaged , or have mental health problems.

Read more: My teen's vaping. What should I say? 3 expert tips on how to approach 'the talk'

Should we ban vapes?

So we have a bit of a dilemma. Vaping is much safer than smoking, so it would be helpful for adults to have access to it as an alternative to cigarettes. That means we need to make them more available and accessible.

But ideally we don’t want teens who don’t already smoke to start regular vaping. This has led some to call for a “ crackdown ” on vaping.

But we know from a long history of drug prohibition - like alcohol prohibition in the 1920s - that banning or restricting vaping could actually do more harm than good.

Banning drugs doesn’t stop people using them - more than 43% of Australians have tried an illicit drug at least once. And it has very little impact on the availability of drugs.

But prohibition does have a number of unintended consequences, including driving drugs underground and creating a black market or increasing harms as people switch to other drugs, which are often more dangerous.

The black market makes drugs more dangerous because there is no way to control quality. And it makes it easier, not harder, for teens to access them, because there are no restrictions on who can sell or buy them.

Read more: Learning about the health risks of vaping can encourage young vapers to rethink their habit

Are our current laws working?

In 2021, Australia made it illegal to possess and use nicotine vaping products without a prescription. We are the only country in the world to take this path.

The problem is even after more than a year of this law, only 8.6% of people vaping nicotine have a prescription, meaning more than 90% buy them illegally.

Anecdotal reports even suggest an increase in popularity of vaping among teens since these laws were introduced. At best, they are not helping.

It may seem counterintuitive, but the way to reduce the black market is to make quality-controlled vapes and liquids more widely available, but restricted to adults. If people could access vaping products legally they wouldn’t buy them on the black market and the black market would decline.

We also know from many studies on drug education in schools that when kids get accurate, non-sensationalised information about drugs they tend to make healthier decisions. Sensationalised information can have the opposite effect and increase interest in drugs . So better education in schools and for parents and teachers is also needed, so they know how to talk to kids about vaping and what to do if they know someone is vaping.

What have other countries done?

Other countries allow vapes to be legally sold without a prescription, but impose strict quality controls and do not allow the sale of products to people under a minimum age. This is similar to our regulation of cigarettes and alcohol.

The United Kingdom has minimum standards on manufacturing, as well as restrictions on purchase age and where people can vape.

Aotearoa New Zealand introduced a unique plan to reduce smoking rates by imposing a lifetime ban on buying cigarettes. Anyone born after January 1 2009 will never be able to buy cigarettes, so the minimum age you can legally smoke keeps increasing. At the same time, NZ increased access to vaping products under strict regulations on manufacture, purchase and use.

As of late last year, all US states require sellers to have a retail licence, and sales to people under 21 are banned. There are also restrictions on where people can vape.

A recent study modelled the impact of increasing access to nicotine vaping products in Australia. It found it’s likely there would be significant public health benefits by relaxing the current restrictive policies and increasing access to nicotine vaping products for adults.

The question is not whether we should discourage teens from using vaping products or whether we should allow wider accessibility to vaping products for adults as an alternative to smoking. The answer to both those questions is yes.

The key question is how do we do both effectively without one policy jeopardising the outcomes of the other?

If we took a pragmatic harm-reduction approach, as other countries have done, we could use our very successful model of regulation of tobacco products as a template to achieve both outcomes.

Read more: It's safest to avoid e-cigarettes altogether – unless vaping is helping you quit smoking

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Alcohol And Tobacco Advertising Should Be Heavily Regulated Or Banned Altogether Argumentative Essay

Type of paper: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Business , Health , Products , Company , Alcoholism , Tobacco , Alcohol , Smoking

Published: 03/02/2020

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Alcohol and Tobacco Advertising should be Heavily Regulated or Banned Altogether? Agree or Disagree? In an attempt to reach a massive potential market, companies have array of options to choose from, but over time advertisement has proven to be an avoidable choice in this pursuit. Since all the companies have the right to buy air time on any media to advertise their product, alcohol and tobacco manufacturing companies have taken this advantage to spread their products (Harrison, Roy, and Waun 59-65). However, there have been debates for decades now, whether these two products need to abolished. Because high health risks are associated with consumption of alcohol and tobacco products, women, adolescences, and expectant mother are the most vulnerable. Besides being naturally dangerous, they are causal factors of various diseases. These include varied cancers, respiratory complications, liver cirrhosis, and heart diseases (Watson, Victor, and Sherma 284-289). In cases of long term use, they result in deaths. Therefore, since lives are precious than economic gains attain from alcohol and tobacco, their advertisements should be block and efforts directed to sweep them out of the community completely. During the advertisement of alcohol and tobacco product, persuasive approaches are implemented where images of health people drinking and smoking while having merry moment are used. According to research by Haustein and David, the mythical imageries applied have a tremendous impact on adolescence (5-8). Annually, there have been programs trying to save fifty percent of adolescences indulged in these harmful substances, but with the frequent adverts on media, the effort and resource channeled for it go to waste. As a result, school dropouts, early pregnancy, high infection rates of sexually transmitted diseases has been registered in adolescences under influence of alcohol and tobacco. Notably, their academic performances also deteriorate alongside their health (Schmitz, and Richard 68). Ultimately, they become societal bothers since they stair head societal problems including crimes, rapes cases, and poverty. Therefore, to curb these menaces and also save the innocent adolescences, alcohol and tobacco advertisement masterminding the whole mess should be abolished. When it comes to diseases, statistics depicts that approximately more than a million people perish from direct and indirect effect of alcohol and tobacco annually in United States alone. Cigarettes alone, contributes seventy percent of the statistics through cancer and respiratory related infections (Bayard 34). Also, nonsmokers who by accident inhale unfiltered chemical content of tobacco smoke are highly vulnerable. Pregnant women using both or either tobacco or alcohol risk themselves and the babies they are exacting. As a result, they are likely to give birth to babies with fatal alcohol disorder (FAD) and or fatal alcohol effects (FAE) (Watson, Victor, and Sherma 305). Further, these children are prone of suffering mental disorientations in the future. On the other hand, deaths emanating from a fire started by carelessly dropped cigarette filters have claimed thousands of lives every year. Considered the two in terms of human health and physical safety and wellbeing, cigarettes and alcohol advertisement should be abolished Economically, these two products are among the highly taxed thereby, making them large gross domestic product contributor. The heavy taxes levies have been applied in an endeavor to discourage the users (Bayard 43). But, there are advertisements by the companies to count tackle that, where consumers of these drugs have an opportunity to win prizes out of continues consumptions. This has not only swayed people, but it has also deteriorated users of these substances economically. Both being addictive substances, their users are unable to control their consumption rate and this has impacted financial irresponsibility on parents affected since they overspend on the drags forgetting their family responsibilities (Harrison, Roy, and Waun 78). Therefore, why should alcohol and tobacco advertisement still stand with these kinds of damages they cause? In summation, health hazards impacted by both alcohol and tobacco as a result of misleading adverts is worrying and need urgent responses measures to curb further damages. Lack of informed and autonomous decisions by adolescences makes them gullible to false adverts on alcohol and tobacco. In totality, this drugs need to be completely made illegal starting with completely banning their adverts.

Works Cited

Bayard, Steven P. Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders. Washington, DC: Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1992. Print. Harrison, Louis B, Roy B. Sessions, and Waun K. Hong. Head and Neck Cancer: A Multidisciplinary Approach. Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008. Print. Haustein, K.-O, and David Groneberg. Tobacco or Health?Berlin: Springer, 2010. Print. Schmitz, Cecilia M, and Richard A. Gray. Smoking: The Health Consequences of Tobacco Use : an Annotated Bibliography with Analytical Introduction. Ann Arbor, Mich: Pierian Press, 1995. Print. Watson, Ronald R, Victor R. Preedy, and Sherma Zibadi. Alcohol, Nutrition, and Health Consequences. New York: Humana Press, 2013. Print.

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