Levente Moro - Assessing Serious Evil: Bioethical Issues of Drug Control

Drug control policies and international treaties are examined through a bioethical lens, questioning the moral foundations of how states address addiction. Current international conventions categorize the perceived immorality of drug addiction as a serious evil, yet lack a coherent framework grounded in secular ethics, rational logic, or empirical evidence. Policy responses relying on the prohibition of substances often disregard the nuanced relationship between drug, dose, set, and setting. By applying biomedical ethical principles - autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice - the speaker highlights logical failings in implementing restrictive legislation. These frameworks suggest that current control systems, instead of mitigating harm, frequently exacerbate social distress and fail to offer effective mechanisms for self-correction or evidence-based decision-making.