Deck 5: Drugs and Addiction

Question 1

According to Michael Huemer, the harm of drug use to individual drug users

A) justifies state prohibition of drug use.
B) does not justify state prohibition of drug use.
C) justifies a massive campaign of public health awareness.
D) does not justify a massive campaign of public health awareness.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

According to Huemer, even if drug use harms a person's friends, families, and other relations,

A) this would still not justify drug prohibition.
B) this would justify drug prohibition.
C) this would only justify drug prohibition if drug use was extremely likely to cause these harms.
D) this would only justify drug prohibition if drug use was more likely to cause these kinds of harms than other prohibited activity.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

On Huemer's view, it is wrong to think that

A) the government should prohibit things that do not degrade our dignity.
B) the government should prohibit things that on the basis of likely outcomes.
C) the government should prohibit things that cause people to harm themselves.
D) the government should prohibit things that fail to realize certain basic values.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

According to Huemer,

A) it is just bad for the government to fail to recognize natural rights.
B) it is sometimes alright for the government to disregard natural rights, when the harms are bad enough.
C) it is sometimes alright for the government to disregard natural rights to as to protect someone from themselves.
D) failures by the government to recognize natural rights count as injustices.

Question 5

Huemer argues that there is no reason to think that the harms of drug use are in an important sense

A) more harmful on average than legally permitted harmful activities.
B) differing from the harms of other legally permitted harmful activities.
C) more detrimental to a person's character than others legally permitted harmful activities.
D) All of the above.

Question 6

Huemer worries that the employment of a "war" metaphor when describing government policies about drug use

A) masks a bad argument by analogy.
B) does not really describe the situation well at all, since it is more like a game than a war.
C) is perfectly apt.
D) makes it hard to think and discuss the rights of drug users.

Question 7

Which of the following best characterizes de Marneffe's view?

A) The use, sale, and manufacturing of drugs should be legal.
B) The use, sale, and manufacturing of drugs should be illegal.
C) The use of drugs should be legal, but the sale and manufacturing of them should be illegal.
D) The use of drugs should be illegal, but the sale and manufacturing of them should be legal.

Question 8

According to de Marneffe, which of the following is a reason we might call someone a drug addict?

A) They use a drug to relieve a craving.
B) They use a drug even though they obviously shouldn't.
C) Although they believe they should use the drug when they decide to use it, at other times they believe they should not use the drug anymore.
D) all of the above

Question 9

De Marneffe explains that we might call someone a drug addict to show that

A) it is a mistake to suppose that drug use is sometimes evidence of low self-control.
B) drug addiction is a problem that drug legalization cannot address.
C) it is a mistake to suppose that drug use, even heavy drug use, is not autonomous.
D) none of the above

Question 10

Which of the following is evidence that de Marneffe cites in support of the claim that increased availability of a drug leads to increased use of that drug?

A) Heroin use was much higher among military personnel in Vietnam than it was among veterans who returned to the United States.
B) The percentage of physicians who use psychoactive drugs is much higher than the general population.
C) Alcohol abuse declines when the law restricts the times it can be legally sold.
D) all of the above

Question 11

Which of the following is one of de Marneffe's responses to the objection that drug prohibition would be paternalistic?

A) Drug prohibition would be done for the benefit of others, not the benefit of those who wish to produce/sell drugs, so it is not paternalistic in an objectionable sense.
B) Drug prohibition would be paternalistic, but its consequences would be good enough to outweigh considerations about paternalism.
C) Drug prohibition would be targeted to adults, and one can only be paternalistic toward children.
D) Paternalism is always justified when the paternalistic practices truly are in the best interest of those affected.

Question 12

According to de Marneffe, what is the central difference between drug legalization and mere decriminalization?

A) Legalization allows for the manufacture and sale of drugs; mere decriminalization doesn't.
B) Mere decriminalization allows for the manufacture and sale of drugs; legalization doesn't.
C) Legalization is a federal issue, but decriminalization is a state issue.
D) none of the above; de Marneffe believes legalization and decriminalization are equivalent.

Question 13

In response to the objection that it would be wrong to prohibit the manufacture and sale of fatty foods and tobacco products, de Marneffe argues that

A) fatty foods and tobacco products are not actually harmful.
B) there is nothing wrong with limiting people's access to products that are harmful to them.
C) the benefits of prohibiting these products would not outweigh the costs.
D) all of the above

Question 14

Shapiro claims that surveys have been confirmed by longitudinal studies that indicate that

A) excessive use of illegal drugs is the norm.
B) moderate and/or controlled use of illegal drugs is the norm.
C) an individual's illegal drug use inevitably diminishes over time.
D) those who begin using illegal drugs typically do not stop until they become addicted.

Question 15

According to Shapiro, the standard view has to explain the preeminence of controlled use by arguing that

A) controlled use is preeminent.
B) drug laws have no effect on access to illegal drugs.
C) drug laws reduce access to illegal drugs.
D) drug laws increase access to illegal drugs.

Question 16

Shapiro cites a study of Vietnam veterans, which showed a significant decrease in heroin use after the veterans returned home. Which factor does Shapiro cite as explaining this decrease?

A) the type of drug used
B) the duration over which the users used the drug
C) the pharmacological effects of heroin
D) the difference in social setting

Question 17

Shapiro claims that humans are social or cultural animals, which is significant for his view because it implies that

A) social norms or rules play a significant role in influencing behavior.
B) we are just products of our biochemistry.
C) past experience plays a significant role in influencing behavior.
D) none of the above

Question 18

Which of the following is a central claim in Shapiro's argument?

A) With easy access to drugs, we can expect a significant increase in drug addiction.
B) Even with easy access to drugs, most drug users don't become addicts.
C) Legal restrictions on drug use are justified because illegal drugs are inherently addictive.
D) Only by restricting access to drugs can we solve the drug problem.

Question 19

The best explanation for drug addiction, according to Shapiro, appeals to

A) one's individual mindset and social setting.
B) the pharmacological effects of drug use (e.g., withdrawal).
C) one's genetic profile, which explains why some people have "addictive personalities."
D) specific psychological disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Question 20

Shapiro discusses Mediterranean cultures' use of alcohol to show that

A) even cultures with very low levels of alcohol consumption can have comparatively high levels of alcoholism.
B) the consumption of alcoholic beverages (e.g., wine) can have surprising health benefits.
C) increased use of a drug does not always lead to increased addiction.
D) all of the above

Question 21

Shapiro discusses experiments about the role of expectations in the experience of drug use to show that

A) drug effects are inherently biological and are not influenced at all by expectations and other psychological factors.
B) users who do not expect to get addicted to "hard" drugs almost always do.
C) there is no such thing as drug addiction.
D) sometimes a drug's effects are the direct result of what one expects from the drug.

Question 22

Michael Huemer offers a consequentialist argument in favor of drug legalization.

Question 23

Huemer suggests that drug prohibition is not unjust, even if it is not the best policy.

Question 24

Huemer argues that harms to family, friends, and relations do not justify drug prohibition.

Question 25

According to Huemer, people have an unrestricted right to their own bodies.

Question 26

Huemer argues that it should be shameful to stay silent about the injustice of America's drug war.

Question 27

According to de Marneffe, the fact that people like "dead heads" choose to orient their lives around activities that involve smoking marijuana provides a strong argument for legalizing the manufacture and sale of marijuana.

Question 28

De Marneffe admits that the costs of prohibition might outweigh its benefits, and he leaves it an open question whether drug prohibition would lead to increased crime and corruption.

Question 29

The basic argument for drug prohibition, says de Marneffe, is that drug abuse will increase substantially if drugs are legalized.

Question 30

De Marneffe argues that if drug legalization will lead to an increase in drug abuse, then drug decriminalization will do the same.

Question 31

Shapiro argues that cravings, increased drug tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms can explain drug addiction.

Question 32

According to Shapiro, most users of illegal drugs do not become addicts.

Question 33

Shapiro argues that being addicted to smoking, an activity, cannot be reduced to being addicted to cigarettes, a drug.

Question 34

According to Shapiro, the view that drug addiction is the result of one's individual mindset and social setting has played an important role in the legal prohibition of drugs.

Question 35

Shapiro claims that drug addicts, before they start using drugs, were generally just as psychologically healthy as nonaddicts.

Question 36

Michael Huemer argues that it is inappropriate to prohibit something on the grounds that it will indirectly bring about a result if is also inappropriate to prohibit doing things which _________ bring about that same result.

Question 37

Huemer argues that people have a natural _________ to use their own bodies as they wish, within certain limits.

Question 38

One argument in favor of drug _________ says that since drug use causes harms to the individuals who use them, the government should ban drug use.

Question 39

Huemer argues that if drug users do not use drugs _________, then there is great injustice in punishing them.

Question 40

Huemer analogizes mass incarceration on the basis of illegal drug use to _________.

Question 41

De Marneffe claims that drug prohibition can be justified as reducing drug abuse even if it does not _________ it.

Question 42

According to de Marneffe, the _________ principle says that the government may not limit a person's liberty in ways that impose a burden on him or her that is substantially worse than the worst burden anyone would bear in the absence of this policy.

Question 43

De Marneffe defines drug _________ as drug use that either harms the user or creates a significant risk of harm for the user.

Question 44

De Marneffe bases his case for the decriminalization of drugs largely on an appeal to respect for the _________ of individuals (i.e., their freedom to make their own decisions).

Question 45

De Marneffe states, "Taking rights seriously also involves commitment to _________, according to which we may not evaluate government policies solely by subtracting aggregated costs from aggregated benefits, but must also make one-to-one comparisons of the burdens that individuals bear under these policies."

Question 46

According to what Shapiro calls the "standard view" of addiction, certain drugs are highly addictive largely because of their _________-that is, their chemical composition and their effects on the brain.

Question 47

The disagreeable effects that a drug user may experience upon trying to stop using the drug are known as _________ symptoms.

Question 48

Shapiro claims that understanding addiction to smoking requires introducing the _________ of set and setting with pharmacology.

Question 49

"Expectations," says Shapiro, "explain the well-known _________ effect: if people consume something they mistakenly believe will stop or alleviate their pain, it often does."

Question 50

In response to the objection that legalizing hard drugs would make addiction to these drugs as prevalent as cigarette addiction, Shapiro states that, at worst, legalizing hard drugs would create a new _________ problem, rather than a large increase in the number of people ruining their lives.