Deck 21: Drugs

Question 1

Talk about:
-Binge drinking

Answer 1

consuming an excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time to become severely intoxicated.

Question 2

Talk about:
-Drugs

Answer 2

chemicals that, when introduced into the bloodstream, predictably alter the way we feel.

Question 3

Talk about:
-Drug addiction

Answer 3

a chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences.

Question 4

Talk about:
-Moral rights

Question 5

Talk about:
-Overdose

Question 6

Talk about:
-Tolerance

Question 7

Talk about:
-Wrongs

Question 8

According to the text, which of the following is true?

A) If we settle the question of whether drug use is immoral, we will have also settled the question of whether drug use should be legalized.
B) If we settle the question of whether drug manufacture is immoral, we will have also settled the question of whether drug use is immoral.
C) If we settle the question of whether drug use should be legal, we will have also settled the question of whether drug manufacture is immoral.
D) None of the above

Question 9

Which of the following is a premise in the Harm to Others Argument?

A) If any activity is rightly outlawed, then it must ordinarily impose serious and wrongful harm on others.
B) If an activity ordinarily imposes serious and wrongful harm on others, then it is rightly outlawed.
C) Drug use occasionally results in harming others.
D) Drug use always imposes wrongful harm on others.

Question 10

In which of these scenarios would it be true that use of a drug ordinarily imposes wrongful harm on others?

A) A person reliably fails to meet personal goals when taking a drug.
B) A drug reliably causes its users to become violent toward others.
C) People under the influence of a drug sometimes start fights.
D) Having a drug makes a person relax more than they usually would.

Question 11

Someone who believes that paternalism is a legitimate goal of criminal law would likely agree that if a drug user _______ when they take a drug, taking that drug should be criminalized.

A) undertakes any risk of harm to others
B) undertakes any risk of harm to themselves
C) is at significant risk of harm to others
D) is at a significant risk of harm to themselves

Question 12

What is a reason that consequentialists might reject the Paternalism Argument?

A) They doubt that criminalization is the most effective way to reduce the harms associated with drug use.
B) They believe risking one's own life, if it does not affect others, is an inalienable human right.
C) They doubt that criminalization is the most virtuous drug policy.
D) All of the above

Question 13

A proponent of the Efficiency Argument for Legalization claims that

A) criminal sanctions against drug use are the most efficient means of reducing harm.
B) recreational drug use is not the most efficient way to experience personal pleasure.
C) criminal sanctions against drug use are not the most efficient means of reducing harm.
D) recreational drug use is the most efficient way to experience personal pleasure.

Question 14

Which of the following is not an argument for the legalization of drug use?

A) The Tobacco-Alcohol Argument
B) The Paternalism Argument
C) The Efficiency Argument
D) The Legal Punishment Requires Immorality Argument

Question 15

Which of the following is an argument for the conclusion that actions are justifiably criminalized only if they are immoral?

A) Actions are justifiably criminalized only if it is morally justified to condemn their performance, and it is morally justified to condemn the performance of an action only if it is immoral.
B) Actions are morally justifiable only if it is not justifiable to condemn their performance, and any action can be justifiably criminalized.
C) Actions are justifiably criminalized only if they are morally acceptable, and a morally acceptable action is always unsuited for criticism.
D) It is morally justified to condemn the performance of an action only if it is immoral, and an action is immoral only if it is morally justified to condemn its performance.

Question 16

Which of the following statements is used to support the idea that drug use is immoral?

A) Drug use wrongfully harms others.
B) Drug use is against the law.
C) Drug use harms drug users themselves.
D) All of the above

Question 17

Which of the following is not true of legal punishment?

A) It is not intended to hurt.
B) Punishment is designed to convey condemnation.
C) Punishment can include the denial of citizenship.
D) Punishment involves actual harm.

Question 18

The conclusion of the Rights Argument is that in _______ cases, punishing people for taking drugs is _______.

A) a few; unjust
B) most; unjust
C) all; unjust
D) all; just

Question 19

Which of the following is a premise in the Rights Argument?

A) All people have a moral right to live in a drug-free society.
B) All people have a moral right to take drugs.
C) In most cases, people have a moral right to live in a drug-free society.
D) In most cases, people have a moral right to take drugs.

Question 20

One argument for the legalization of drugs relies on the claim that if the use of _______ and _______ should be legal, then recreational use of other drugs should be legal.

A) heroin; fentanyl
B) tobacco; alcohol
C) medically necessary drugs; medically beneficial drugs
D) antidepressants; marijuana

Question 21

What is one objection to the Tobacco-Alcohol Argument mentioned in this chapter?

A) Only children and adults who do not know the dangers of using tobacco and alcohol should be exempt from punishment for the harms they cause.
B) Tobacco and alcohol use should not be punished because these drugs do not have any negative effects on the user or society.
C) Unlike harms from other drugs, harms from tobacco use are harms to the users themselves and therefore should not be punished.
D) None of the above

Question 22

According to proponents of the Social Harm Argument,

A) drug use, drug manufacturing, and drug sale should all remain illegal.
B) drug use, drug manufacturing, and drug sale should all be decriminalized.
C) drug use should remain illegal, but drug manufacture and sale should be decriminalized.
D) drug use ought to be decriminalized, but drug manufacture and sale ought to remain illegal.

Question 23

What support is there for the claim that laws criminalizing drug manufacture and distribution greatly reduce social harm and do not violate anyone's rights?

A) Prohibiting manufacture and distribution will reduce drug supply. Reducing drug supply will reduce drug use. Reducing drug use will reduce many harms.
B) People do not have a moral right to make or sell drugs.
C) Criminalizing drug manufacture and distribution does not violate anyone's right to use drugs.
D) All of the above

Question 24

Which of the following is not an objection to the Social Harm Argument?

A) Criminalizing drug manufacture and sale will cost the government a great deal of money that could be better spent on other methods of reducing harm.
B) Perhaps people do have a right to use drugs.
C) Criminalizing drug manufacture and sale may create lucrative and violent black markets.
D) Perhaps people do have a right to manufacture and sell drugs.

Question 25

Why might selling cigarettes, alcohol, or other drugs to minors be understood as violating minors' rights?

A) They may suffer serious harm without being able to adequately understand the risks.
B) They may experience significant benefits without experiencing any risks.
C) Minors can make informed decisions about whether to use these drugs.
D) None of the above

Question 26

Those who say that it is society's responsibility to reduce harm and that the most effective way to do so is by criminalizing drug use would likely recommend what policy for the contemporary United States?

A) Stricter penalties for manufacturers
B) A full abolition of drug laws
C) A radical revision of existing drug laws
D) Maintaining the status quo

Question 27

Which of the following is an argument for the decriminalization of drug use?

A) The Paternalism Argument
B) The Social Harm Argument
C) The Harm to Others Argument
D) None of the above

Question 28

Some people think that drug use is immoral if it harms the drug user, even if it does not harm anyone else. Do you agree? Defend your answer with an example. Do you think self-harm is immoral more generally?

Question 29

What do you think is the strongest argument for the criminalization of recreational drug use? Do you think this argument generalizes to the manufacture and sale of drugs? Why or why not?

Question 30

If drug use is immoral, does that mean it should also be illegal? Can you identify a standard for determining when an immoral action should also be criminalized? Illustrate this standard with one or two examples involving drug use and/or manufacture and distribution.

Question 31

Do people have the right to use drugs? Do they have the right to manufacture and sell drugs? Explain your answers by contrasting rights you think we have with rights you think we do not have. How can we tell whether something is right?

Question 32

In your own words, present and defend the Social Harm Argument. In your view, what is the strongest objection someone could raise against the hybrid view advanced by this argument? What is the best response available to a defender of the hybrid view?

Question 33

Which of the following best characterizes de Marneffe's primary reason for thinking that drugs should not be legalized?

A) Doing drugs is immoral.
B) Profiting from drug use is immoral.
C) Legalizing drugs will increase drug abuse.
D) Drugs degrade users' personality.

Question 34

De Marneffe cites Prohibition to show that

A) making a drug illegal reduces its use.
B) no law is 100 percent effective.
C) drug laws increase crime.
D) black markets are less efficient than legal markets.

Question 35

What does it mean for a law to be moralistic?

A) It is sanctioned by religious leaders.
B) It imposes a controversial moral view.
C) It is morally permissible.
D) It is morally impermissible.

Question 36

De Marneffe thinks that a law _______ would violate people's rights.

A) punishing the use of cocaine
B) banning the manufacture of heroin
C) banning the sale of alcohol
D) punishing the manufacture of tobacco

Question 37

The right of self-sovereignty is the right to

A) control your own mind and body.
B) vote in an election.
C) own and use property.
D) pursue happiness.

Question 38

De Marneffe argues that laws that prohibit people from using recreational drugs should be

A) strengthened.
B) more consistently enforced.
C) kept but weakened.
D) repealed.

Question 39

De Marneffe maintains that the choice to manufacture or sell drugs

A) should be legal.
B) should be illegal.
C) does not involve an important form of control over one's own mind or body.
D) Both b and c

Question 40

According to de Marneffe, the fact that an underground drug market exists

A) makes drug control easier to justify.
B) makes drug control more difficult to justify.
C) shows that drug control is pointless.
D) is irrelevant to whether drug control is justified.

Question 41

De Marneffe argues that laws against the manufacture and sale of alcohol and cigarettes

A) are wrong in principle.
B) would be just as effective as laws against other drugs.
C) would violate the right of self-sovereignty.
D) None of the above

Question 42

Which of the following does de Marneffe identify as a relevant difference between alcohol and other drugs?

A) Drinking alcohol is part of a social ritual, while using other drugs is not.
B) Drinking alcohol is less addictive than using other drugs.
C) Drinking alcohol is less harmful than using other drugs.
D) All of the above

Question 43

Explain right of self-sovereignty. How do drug laws violate it? Do you think that there are any other rights that drug laws violate? What implications does this have for the legality of drugs? Explain and defend your response.

Question 44

Explain the difference between drug legalization and drug decriminalization. What is de Marneffe's view on each? Do you think his view is consistent? Do you agree with it? Why or why not?

Question 45

In what ways are alcohol and tobacco similar to other drugs? In what ways are they different? What does de Marneffe's think about the legality of alcohol and tobacco? Do you agree with his position? Why or why not?

Question 46

In Huemer's article, what is the case involving Howard supposed to show?

A) Drug use is not very harmful.
B) The harms caused by drug use are not the sorts of things for which we should punish people.
C) Drug use is harmful only to users, not to others.
D) Drug use can be beneficial in some instances.

Question 47

In response to the argument that drugs should be prohibited because they harm users, Huemer

A) denies that drugs are harmful.
B) argues that the harms of drug use are outweighed by the positive effects.
C) points out that we do not punish a number of behaviors that are self-destructive.
D) None of the above

Question 48

Huemer invokes which of the following principles?

A) People have a right to do whatever they like with their bodies, provided that they do not violate the rights of others.
B) If it is wrong to punish people for engaging in a certain behavior, then it is wrong to punish them for doing things that might lead them to engage in that behavior.
C) It is morally wrong to imprison people for exercising their natural rights.
D) All of the above

Question 49

Huemer concludes that the prohibition of drugs is

A) not a good idea, primarily because the drug war is ineffective.
B) unfair but not nearly as bad as other injustices in our society.
C) a moral wrong on a par with slavery.
D) None of the above

Question 50

According to Huemer, what is true of tobacco use?

A) It is less harmful than the use of other drugs, which explains why it is legal.
B) It is harmful to the same degree as other drugs, so we should either legalize both or neither.
C) It is more harmful than the use of other drugs and therefore, we ought to legalize drugs.
D) It is more concerning than the use of other drugs because it causes greater harm to others.

Question 51

According to Huemer, if an individual is not truly acting freely in deciding to use a drug, what follows?

A) They are not exercising their rights, so they may be punished.
B) They are nevertheless exercising their rights, so they may not be punished.
C) They are not morally responsible for their action, so they may not be punished.
D) None of the above

Question 52

Huemer argues the fact that we have a right to exercise control over our own body explains why many

A) pro-choice advocates think that an individual has a right to an abortion.
B) pro-life advocates think that an individual lacks a right to an abortion.
C) Both a and b
D) None of the above

Question 53

Under what conditions does Huemer think that the government should prohibit people from doing things that harm themselves?

A) When they do not undertake the action freely
B) When the action damages the person's moral character
C) When the action diminishes the person's quality of life
D) None of the above

Question 54

Which of the following does Huemer think should be legal?

A) Using a drug that corrodes one's sense of sympathy and duty
B) Operating heavy machinery while using a drug that impairs one's ability to do so
C) Using a drug while pregnant that is harmful to fetuses
D) None of the above

Question 55

How does Huemer respond to the claim that drug use harms third parties?

A) He claims that we should not prohibit all behavior that harms third parties.
B) He allows that certain restrictions should be placed on what one may do while intoxicated.
C) He claims that drug use is an exercise of one's natural rights.
D) All of the above

Question 56

Describe Huemer's case of Howard, the irresponsible person who does not use drugs. What does Huemer intend to show by using this case? Do you find the case convincing? Explain and defend your response.

Question 57

How does Huemer respond to the argument that drug use should be prohibited because it causes harm to users? Do you find his response convincing? Why or why not?

Question 58

Why do you think that Huemer claims that dangerous driving "is clearly the business of the state?" What would Huemer say is the morally relevant difference between dangerous driving and drug use? What do you think the morally relevant difference is? Can Huemer successfully maintain his view that dangerous driving should be illegal while drugs should not be? Defend your response.

Question 59

The kind of paternalism Goodin endorses is restricted to forcing people to realize

A) objectively good values.
B) the values their parents wish for them.
C) their own subjectively held values.
D) the values that ideal people would subjectively hold.

Question 60

The kind of paternalism Goodin endorses encompasses

A) only the big decisions in people's lives.
B) any decisions people make that affect their health.
C) only the small decisions in people's lives.
D) any decisions people make that affect their education.

Question 61

On Goodin's view, which of the following would be true in an ideal case of paternalism?

A) Public officials interfere in both small and large decisions in a person's life.
B) Public officials override your preferences with objectively better ones.
C) Public officials will better respect your own preference than you would have through your own actions.
D) All of the above

Question 62

Goodin argues that the government should refrain from paternalistic interference only if the preferences you're acting on have which of these features?

A) They are your own.
B) They are settled.
C) They are relevant.
D) All of the above

Question 63

Preferences are not relevant when they

A) are based on purely factual mistakes.
B) are unreflectively adopted.
C) change rapidly.
D) are not the preferences the person prefers to have.

Question 64

Which of these options describes a settled preference?

A) It is a temporary phase.
B) It is likely to arise at some later time.
C) It is something you might change your mind about later.
D) None of the above

Question 65

According to Goodin, which of the following is Rose Cipollone's preferred preference?

A) To smoke
B) Not to smoke
C) To prefer to smoke
D) None of the above

Question 66

Which of the following might be a source of preferences that were not actually Rose Cipollone's own preferences?

A) Subliminal suggestion
B) Misleading advertisements
C) Pictures of movie stars smoking
D) All of the above

Question 67

Which of the following is an instance of paternalism that Goodin would endorse?

A) Americans value fast internet for work and pleasure. The federal government passes legislation that reduces internet speeds for many people.
B) Public officials are concerned that popular music is leading citizens to have bad taste in music, so they mandate that all radio stations must play more classical music.
C) Residents of a city want to stop texting while driving but are having trouble stopping on their own. The city enacts a law against texting while driving that helps them abstain from the practice.
D) All of the above

Question 68

Which of the following does Goodin believe about paternalism?

A) Paternalistic antismoking policies are always permissible.
B) Paternalistic antismoking policies are permissible if they promote objectively good values.
C) Paternalistic antismoking policies are never permissible.
D) Paternalistic antismoking policies are permissible only if they advance a person's subjectively held interests.

Question 69

Explain Goodin's argument that paternalistic policies can sometime be morally permissible. Identify the premises and conclusion. What do you think is the best available objection to his argument? How could Goodin respond to this objection?

Question 70

Assume that Goodin's account of when paternalistic policies are permissible is correct. How can a government develop permissible paternalistic policies when their constituents have diverse subjectively held values? What current laws do you think would satisfy Goodin's account? Are there any current laws that you think would violate it?

Question 71

Explain the four conditions that Goodin thinks must be met for a paternalistic policy to be met. Do you think all of these conditions are necessary for the policy to be permissible? Do you think they are sufficient for the policy to be permissible?

Question 72

Case Study
Sarah is a 23-year-old woman. Her parents died when she was in college and left her a multi-million-dollar inheritance. She does not have children, a romantic partner, or any pets. She is in good health, has a college degree, and has shown herself to be a capable and intelligent person. Instead of pursuing one of the many career paths open to her, Sarah has decided to devote her life full-time to the enjoyment of heroin and other opioids. She abandons the other hobbies and activities she once enjoyed, but she does not miss them. If you asked her, she would tell you she is happy with her life.
Sarah can easily afford her new way of life. She has no close friends or family members, so no one is left devastated in the wake of her addiction. She recognizes that her new way of life is incredibly risky, but she accepts the possibility that she may overdose or inadvertently acquire a bad batch of heroin as a risk worth taking. In her estimation, the immense pleasure that she receives from taking heroin and other opioids is worth the risk, as well as the opportunity cost.
-Is Sarah living a morally acceptable life? Is she living a good life? Is Sarah is harming herself through her drug use?

Question 73

Case Study
Sarah is a 23-year-old woman. Her parents died when she was in college and left her a multi-million-dollar inheritance. She does not have children, a romantic partner, or any pets. She is in good health, has a college degree, and has shown herself to be a capable and intelligent person. Instead of pursuing one of the many career paths open to her, Sarah has decided to devote her life full-time to the enjoyment of heroin and other opioids. She abandons the other hobbies and activities she once enjoyed, but she does not miss them. If you asked her, she would tell you she is happy with her life.
Sarah can easily afford her new way of life. She has no close friends or family members, so no one is left devastated in the wake of her addiction. She recognizes that her new way of life is incredibly risky, but she accepts the possibility that she may overdose or inadvertently acquire a bad batch of heroin as a risk worth taking. In her estimation, the immense pleasure that she receives from taking heroin and other opioids is worth the risk, as well as the opportunity cost.
-Should Sarah's way of life be legal? Would she be better off if a paternalistic drug policy prevented her from gaining access to these drugs for recreational purposes?