Moral Outcomes

The use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs presents a dilemma to society. On the one hand, some of these drugs, like alcohol, have long been used socially, and their use is widely accepted as appropriate under at least some circumstances. Other drugs, like the opiates, have clear and compelling medical uses. Many people want access to these drugs. It is clear that alcohol, tobacco and other drugs (ATOD) can be harmful, and that their use (and especially their abuse) can carry significant costs to individuals, families, and society. The dilemma society faces is how to control the availability of ATOD in ways that permit their appropriate use, but minimize their abuse. This is a dilemma about balancing beneficial and harmful effects. In addition to the harm/benefit dichotomy, many people evaluate the use of ATOD in a moral context. For these people, questions about drug use are phrased as decisions about good vs. bad, rather than as analyses of benefit vs. harm. In our society, the moral perspectives reside within the social ones, and social policies and laws intended to control drug use have reflected this relationship with confused and confusing attitudes, policies, and laws. These can be dissected in the following table